Ch. 18 & 19 Quotes
"i tell you the woman are in great demand in this country no matter whether they are married or not you need not think strange if you see me coming home with some good looking man some of these times with a pocket full of rocks....it is all the go here for Ladys to leave there Husbands two out of three do it there is a first rate Chance for a single woman she can have her choice of thousands i wish mother was here she could marry a rich man and not have to lift her hand to do her work"
(A married woman wrote from the California goldfields to her sister in New England in 1853): C: A married woman wrote to her sister about the demand of women in California in 1853. The population of California dramatically increased following the discovery of gold in 1848. Due to this population spike, California applied for statehood in 1850, completely skipping the territory phase. S: The demand for women was mostly due to massive male migration to California in search of gold during the California gold rush- just like in early colonial society, there was an abundance of men in the new settlement. California's population increased so rapidly that it applied for statehood as a free state, which would tip the ratio between free and slave states, angering the South. The Compromise of 1850 helped to avoid premature Civil War for ten years by creating agreement between the North and South.
"Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle."
(Daniel Webster, Seventh of March Speech, 1850): C. In his Seventh Of March speech in 1850, Webster would propose a compromise in order to quiet the secessionist fire-eaters in the South and preserve union between North, South,and, West. In his compromise he would support the application of a stricter Fugitive Slave Law which would make it easier for Southern farmers to reclaim escaped slaves. The new Fugitive Slave Law would appease the proslavery Southerners, but would infuriate the Northerners, causing a North South division on the topic of slavery. S. The tension between the north and south over the fugitive slave law would split the nation on the issue of slavery. The new Fugitive Slave Law would be pivotal in dissolving the Whig party on the issue of Wilfred Scott's support of the Fugitive Slave Law, splitting the party between proslavery Whigs and antislavery Whigs. The dissolution of the Whig party would allow for the rise of the antislavery Republicans, and cause a political split in the nation, cutting the last few strands of the rope that held the Union together.
"I presume you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the Legislature. My [Whiggish] politics are shot and sweet, like the old woman's dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor of the internal-improvement system, and a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall be thankful; if not it will be all the same."
(In 1832, when Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) became a candidate for the Illinois legislature, he delivered a speech at a political gathering): Context: In 1832, Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech at a political gathering for his candidacy of the Illinois legislature. At the time, Lincoln was an emerging political figure of humble backgrounds through his Whiggish policies of national banks, tariffs, and internal-improvements. Lincoln's speech was delivered before the death of the Whigs and formation of the Republican party in 1856, which marked the beginning of sectional (North vs. South) politics. Significance: Lincoln's speech demonstrates that homespun values and humble backgrounds were surefire ways to get votes and to appeal to many different groups of people, as he mentions/alludes to both. These values that Lincoln had later allowed him to become a nominee for the Republican party, a catchall party that was made up of mainly of unhappy Democrats and Whigs. Sectional politics in the mid 1800s caused slavery to become a prominent issue in politics and caused anger in the South when Northern/Republican nominees won the presidency.
"No! no! no! my soul an't yours. Mas'r! You haven't bought it, - ye can't buy it! It's been bought and paid for, by one that is able to keep it, - no matter, no matter, you can't harm me!" "I can't," said Legree, with a sneer; "we'll see, - we'll see! Here, Sambo, Quimbo give this dog such a breakin' in as he won't get over, this month!"
(In this closing scenes of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's brutal master, Simon Legree, orders the $1,200 slave savagely beaten (to death) by two fellow slaves. Through tears and blood, Tom exclaims) *Group did not finish context and significance.*
"The fault of the free States in the eyes of the South is not one that can be atoned for by any yielding of special points here and there. Their offense is that they are free, and that their habits and prepossessions are those of freedom. Their crime is the census of 1860. Their increase in numbers, wealth, and power is a standing aggression. It would not be enough to please the Southern States that we should stop asking them to abolish slavery: what they demand of us is nothing less than that we should abolish the spirit of the age. Our very thoughts are a menace."
(James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), the northern poet and essayist, wrote in the Atlantic Monthly shortly after the secessionist movement began): Context: James Russell Lowell wrote in the Atlantic Monthly discussing the grievances between the North and the South during the secessionist movement. The secessionist movement began due to the North and South states' inability to compromise after issues like Sumner-Brooks and the rights of slaves. These debates over issues of slavery and political debates drastically increased the split in the North and South leading to the South forming the Confederate states of America and later the Civil War. *Group did not finish significance.*
"I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong, having the superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to those rights as the white man I agree with Judge Douglas as he is not my equal in many respects - certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral of intellectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man."
(Lincoln expressed his views on the relation of the black and white races in 1858, in his first debate with Stephen A. Douglas): Context: In 1858, during one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln spoke this quote; he gives his viewpoint on the relations between whites and blacks. The Lincoln and Douglas debate became a contributing factor of the rising issues of the Civil War. This demonstrates the ongoing debate of nationalism and sectionalism in the US. Significance: As mentioned in Zinn, there was still an unconscious racism even in white abolitionists. Whereas whites may have wanted to abolish slavery, the white abolitionists did not always act in the best interests of the blacks. This unconscious racism led to the break between the black and white abolition movement
"annuls all past compromises with slavery, and makes all future compromises impossible. Thus it puts freedom and slavery face to face, and bids them grapple. Who can doubt the result?"
(Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner (1811-1874) described the Kansas-Nebraska Bill as "at once the worst and the best Bill on which Congress ever acted." It was the worst because it represented a victory for the slave power in the short run. But it was the best, he said prophetically, because it): Context: Charles Sumner is referring to the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and how it connected to the Missouri Compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska Act nullified the Missouri Compromise due to it being a compromise between the north Significance: Many abolitionists like Charles Sumner believed that there was a benefit to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, as it brought slavery to public attention. The bill made abolitionists furious, as it annulled the missouri compromise, and allowed slavery in northern territories.
"Although Mr. Brooks ought to have selected some other spot for the Altercation than the Senate chamber, if he had broken every bone in Sumner's carcass it would have been a just retribution upon this slanderer of the South and her individual citizens."
(One of the milder southern responses came from the Petersburg (Virginia) Intelligencer): Context The Sumner-Brooks clash of 1856 elicited varying responses from the Illinois State Journal (moderate antislavery) and the Virginia Intelligencer. The North supported Sumner,who condemned popular sovereignty and "Bleeding Kansas," whereas the South heartily supported Brooks and even sent him new canes. The Sumner-Brooks clash was part of the ongoing feud between the North and the South regarding slavery. Significance The caning of Sumner represents the drastic change of peaceful relations to a more violent one. The conflicting reactions from the North and South regarding the Sumner-Brooks clash resulted in increased Sectionalism. The increased sectionalism from conflicts such as Bleeding Kansas, Panic of 1857, and the Brooks-Sumner clash ultimately resulted in the Civil War.
"Fellow Christians! Remember it is for Christ, for the nation, and for the world that you vote at this election! Vote as you pray! Pray as you vote!"
(Spiritual overtones developed in the Frémont campaign, especially over slavery. The Independent, a prominent religious journal, saw in Frémont's nomination "the good hand of God." As election day neared, it declared): Context: A religious journal, The Independent, urged people to vote for Frémont for religious regions. The religious revivals of the early to mid 1800's affected politics and inspired new feelings towards slavery. This in turn falls into the context of the decrease in the division between politics and religion in America. Significance: As religion became more intermixed in politics, people found it harder for themselves to compromise as their view became more morally based. Because people were trying to save themselves by pushing their views on other people, politics became more sectionalist. Because it was becoming more sectionalist, people were less likely to compromise and it became a vicious circle leading to the Civil War.
"They had for more than a century been regarded as beings of an inferior order; and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect... This opinion was at that time fixed and universal in the civilized portion of the white race."
(The decision of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1777-1864) in the case of Dred Scott referred to the status of slaves when the Constitution was adopted) + (Taney's statement accurately described historical attitudes, but it deeply offended antislaveryites when applied to conditions in 1857): *Group did not finish context and significance.*
"Resolved. That the highwayman's plea, that 'might makes rights,' embodied the Ostend Circular, was in every respect unworthy of American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor upon any Government or people that gave it their sanction."
(The first platform of the newly born (antislavery) Republican party in 1856 lashed out at the Ostend Manifesto, with its transparent suggestion that Cuba be seized. The plank read): This is in the context of the Republican party in 1856 and the Ostend Manifesto. This is also about expansion into other areas with the threat of force. This is the larger concern of anti-slavery movements and Northern anger about slavery. The secret Ostend Manifesto took advantage of a distracted Europe to bargain for Cuba. The Northern industry and organization of the military combined with Manifest Destiny to make America sure that Cuba was theirs for the taking. The leaking of the secret attracted angry free-soilers and Uncle Tom's Cabin helped limit the South's influence as the slavery debate stagnated expansion.
"I've been studying, and studying upon it, and its clar to me, it wasn't John Brown that died on that gallows. When I think how he gave up his life for our people, and how he never flinched, but was so brave to the end; its clar to me it wasn't mortal man, it was God in him."
(Upon hearing of John Brown's execution, escaped slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman (c. 1820-1913) paid him the highest tribute for his self-sacrifice): Context: Harriet Tubman in 1859, after hearing of John Brown's execution because of what he did at Harper's Ferry, is complimenting how he was willing to die for the abolitionist cause, comparing him to God. Brown killed seven innocent people and injured 10 more when he raided a federal arsenal in western Virginia, all to start a slave rebellion to bring an end to slavery, but was put on trial and hung for treason and murder. Brown's Harper's Ferry incident was very controversial, resulting in mixed feelings in the North and hatred and fear of the North by the South. Significance: Abolitionists didn't all carry the same sentiment as Tubman, Zinn mentions how Douglas didn't join the insurrection because he didn't think it would work, and that it wasn't the right way to fight slavery. The South saw Brown as a murderer who was rightfully killed, and they were appalled by how some Northerners say him as martyr and were convinced that all "Northern, Republicans" loved Brown. This split of opinions (or "stereotyped" opinions) increased the sectionalism of the North and South, convincing the South that they could no longer be a part of a Union with "Brown-loving" Northern Republicans anymore, foreshadowing secession and the Civil War.
