AGHT: week 10 quiz
Missouri compromise
"Compromise of 1820" over the issue of slavery in Missouri. It was decided Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine entered as a free state and all states North of the 36th parallel were free states and all South were slave states. - when Missouri was about to be submitted as a slave state, they were scared, but when Maine came in as a free state, everyone was cool
Henry David Thoreau, Walden
"On Civil Disobedience" "that government is best which governs not at all" (like libertarians)
James Henry Hammond
"The difference between [North and South] is, that our slaves are hired for life and well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, no want of employment among our people...." - slavery is good - helped the slaves worry about anything except their health and basic needs "Yours are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated.... Why, you meet more beggars in one day, in any single street of the city of New York, than you would meet in a lifetime in the whole South." - slaves are good - arging that the economic/political system is better than the north - better to be in bondage than in constant insecurity of well being
Lincoln's parable
"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing." - different conceptions of liberty "The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty, especially as the sheep is a black one. Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the word liberty..." - wolf wants negative liberty - sheep wants positive liberty - shepherd is the government
Martin luther king civil disobedience
"one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws"
Frederick Douglass
(1817-1895) American abolitionist and writer, he escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer. He published his biography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and founded the abolitionist newspaper, the North Star. - america reigns without rival and he is saying that doesn't count and America is hypocritical because they are not living up to the declaration of independence "what to the Slave is the fourth of July" - no following DOI -> not the constitution and not the bible - slavery is a contradiction/ hypocrisy to the nation - the constitution needs the DOI to guide it The slave cannot rejoice on this day. - "America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future." The country neither follows the Bible nor the Constitution. - "Interpreted as it ought be interpreted, the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT." Slavery is a contradiction and hypocrisy at the heart of America.
political process as a constitutional failure
(elections) - morally questionable, unstable 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act - Stephen Douglas - Popular sovereignty: Allow each state to vote on slavery
major developments (1861-1876)
- Debate over secession as expression of popular government - concern over willingness of electoral losers to acquiesce - concern over rise of regional parties - debate over imposition of martial law in the south
Expansion in slavery in the west:
- Missouri Compromise prevents slavery from spreading - kansas-Nebraska act nullifies Missouri compromise - dred Scott case Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in a territory or state
Summary
- The South argues that slavery has important economic and moral benefits - . The Southern argument spreads and develops into a larger set of differences between North and South. - Constitutional structures fail to resolve those differences.
Southern way of life
- argued that slavery is the way of life - aristocratic society based on honor, gallantry, and glory (aristocracy) - gone with the wind - there are orders in society and people have to follow those orders - slavery was not just a necessary evil that would go away, it was a positive good
Susan B. Anthony
- arrested for voting - trial speech - fined $100 - refused to pay - helped make women's suffrage a national issue - judge dismissed the case to prevent it from going to the supreme court Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote?"
Constitutional failure
- congress, Supreme Court, presidency fails - congress: need to maintain the power between the North (free states) and the south (slave states) and the issues were the Missouri compromise and the Kansas Nebraska act (2 conflicting acts) - Supreme Court: Dred Scott v. Sanford (worst court case ever decided) - presidency: election 1860 (Lincoln, Douglas, Bell, Breckinridge) The Democratic Party had 2 people running and the votes were split ALSO, extremism won instead of middle-of-the-road politics Madison's Large Republic, Federalism, Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances, Political Process, The Supreme Court, the presidency
Failure of Federalist No. 10
- factionalism turned into sectionalism
Jane Addams
- hull house - national American woman suffrage association - NAACP - presents hypothetical of matriarchy "If Men Were Seeking the Franchise" "If the women should say, first, that men would find politics corrupting; second, that they would doubtless vote as their wives and mothers did; third, that men's suffrage would only double the vote without changing results; fourth, that men's suffrage would diminish the respect for men; fifth, that most men do not want to vote; sixth, that the best men would not vote?"
Civil war disagreements
- importance on state sovereignty to the south (federalism) - tariffs - govt. subsidized transportation projects
James Mcpherson: Civil war Historian
- isaiah berlin's positive vs negative liberty negative liberty: "freedom from" - congress shall not... (1st amendment) Positive liberty: "freedom to" - congress creates conditions for people to flourish - requires government action 14th-15th The "new birth of freedom"
Why are men not allowing women to vote?
- it would just double (implying that women are stupid) - men are saving them from the horrors of politics - men's suffrage would diminish respect for men - most men do not want to vote - the best do not vote
Summary
- neither the supreme court nor a presidential election could solve the conflict - the civic virtue of ordinary people ultimately preserves the union - the meaning of war changes over time - The country and its political institutions emerge from the war in a very different state.
the growth of slavery follows the growth of cotton gin
- people assumed it would leave - 1790, 1860 (rose) and will not go away on its own - economics slavery affected South and North
why would women not let men vote?
- savage people
Kansa-Nebraska act (1854 7 years before civil war)
- slave/free status determined by popular sovereignty - the people can choose whether they want to be a slave or free state - bleeding Kansas - congress came up with this
Aftermath: reality
- southern leaders came and advised cooperation with the federal government - time to move on and rebuilt (the reconstruction period)
The union
- the north - against the confederate states of America (sout) - larger army because they are industrialized - better access to supplies (industrial north) - inferior military leadership - 1863 Emancipation Proclamation (in areas of insurrection = the south) HAS NOT IMPACT because south seceded
Constitution failures
-Madison's Large, Republic, Federalism , Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances, Political Process, The Supreme Court The Presidency
Post-War Amendments
13, 14, 15 13: prohibits slavery 14: defines citizenship and restricts states from violating rights of citizens, and extends the protection to EVERYONE 15: connects the right to vote directly to citizenship Using the power of the national government to protect the rights of citizens
How does Frederick Douglass' speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" respond to an argument that Thomas Jefferson made to justify slavery in "Notes on the State of Virginia"? a. Douglass asserts the humanity of the slaves and subsequently demands the protection of their human rights, including liberty. b. Douglass denies that slavery is an economic benefit to both the enslavers and the enslaved. c. Douglass dismisses the idea of race, referring to it as a social construction rather than a physical distinction. d. Douglass rejects the notion that the Constitution protects slavery of any kind.
A
Concurrent Majorities
A constitutional method of enabling minorities to block the actions of majorities by allowing minority groups veto power over laws.
Cotton Gin
A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 a man can process 50 thousand cotton - supported the rich in the south - spread further west
Property in man
A person who gathers and looks after props.
"Cotton is king"
A phrase referring to the social, economic, and cultural importance of cotton the South. Cotton had become such a huge import by the time of the Civil War it was 60% of all American Imports. Southerners believed that it was so essential to Europeans that they would intervene in the Civil War. The term "Cotton is King" comes from Senator J. H. Hammond's fro South Carolina boast "Without firing a gun...should they make war on us, we could bring the whole world to our feet...What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years?... England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her save the South. No, you dare not to make war on cotton. No power on the earth dares to make war upon it. Cotton is King." Phrase from Senator James Henry Hammond's speech extolling the virtues of cotton, and, implicitly, the slave system of production that led to its bounty for the South. "King Cotton" became a shorthand for Southern political and economic power.
Bleeding Kansas
A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-Slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska Territory. The dispute further strained the relations of the North and South, making civil war imminent. - extended for several more years - Violence - Disruption from partisans on both sides
George Fitzhugh
A social theorist who published racial and slavery-based sociological theories in the antebellum era. He argued that "the Negro is but a grown up child" who needs the economic and social protections of slavery. He went as far as to say that black slaves were in a much better situation than poor, freed blacks Cannibals ALl! Or, Slaves Without master - capitalism is bad because he believes in slavery - anti-consent of the governed - pro slavery - white slave trade: where the northerners were worst than slavery - Northern manufacturers relationship to their workers is much worse than slavery. - Free laborers in the North "are slaves without the rights of slaves." - Northern manufacturers relationship slaves are "free" "The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and in some sense, the freest people in the world.... when the labors of the day are over, and free in mind as well as body; for the master provides food, raiment, house, fuel, and everything else necessary to the physical well-being of himself and family." - slaves of the south are the happiest, and the freest. - There is an economic system that will burden them, but the south slaves are being "protected" "Masters treat their sick, infant, and helpless slaves well, not only from feeling and affection, but from motives of self-interest." - The interests of labor and capital are brought together - Masters grow to love their slaves because they live so closely together - bring the interest of the slave to capitalism - he and others take the declaration of independence strenly ("we do not agree with the authors of the Declaration of Independence" Slave "WE DO NOT AGREE WITH THE AUTHORS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, that governments 'derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.' The women, the children, the negroes, and but few of the non-property holders were consulted, or consented to the Revolution, or the governments that ensued from its success...." In the North, "they hold that all men, women, and negroes, and smart children are equals, and entitled to equal rights... The experiment which they will make, we fear, is absurd ..."
slavery
A system of enforced servitude in which some people are owned by other people. - Slaves were a profitable investment. Slaves were - - highly productive. With the cotton gin, slavery and - - cotton production expanded. By 1860, 4 millions - slaves 75% involved in cotton production
A second founding
A way of referring to the transformative effect (and potential) of the Reconstruction Amendments. - new definition of citizenship for all, regardless of race - new understanding of rights: our rights (civil, natural, political) are tied to citizenship - implications of equality (difficult lingering questions of how to deal with racism and local control of federalism?, what happens to local and state power?)
13th Amendment (1865)
Abolition of slavery w/o compensation for slave-owners - freed slaves in the United States - banned it in the future - however, there is still discrimination and not enough rights
Second Inaugural Address
Abraham Lincoln the phrases "with malice toward none" and "charity for all" were used by Lincoln in his second inaugural address where Lincoln sought to assure the South that the North would be kind in reuniting the North and South after the war... he wanted to finish the business at hand with the South and allow them to rejoin the Union
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln - republican - preserve the union, but gradually abolish slavery - antislavery - we cannot be half slave and half free Stephen A. Douglas: - Northern democrat - north - popular sovereignty - slave or free status decided by vote - half slave and half free and that's okay! John Bell: - constitution Union Party - preserve the union - no firm stand on slavery John Breckinridge: - democrat - south - pro slavery - preserve the union lincoln wins and this questions the nature of the union: can states secede? (how binding is the constitution and who has ultimate sovereignty, when it comes to big issues: the states or the national government? - lincoln wins without any south support and the south panics and lincoln is worried on how to keep the union stops at Philadelphia - argues that all human beings should be equal with natural rights - believes that the declaration requires an equality we should all live up to.
Gettysburg Address (1863)
Abraham Lincoln's oft-quoted speech, delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg battlefield. In the address, Lincoln framed the war as a means to uphold the values of liberty. commemorate the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg. brings the DOI back in and argues that we have to consider the purpose of government from the Declaration especially the definition of equality Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. argues that our job is to live up to those ideals that the men of Gettysburg fought for. UNITES instead of divides commitment to equality leads to a new birth of freedom and democracy It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. If we will have true liberty, it will only come from a commitment to equality (if you're not equal, I am not equal) - realize the ideals of the declaration leads to the second founding Uses the power of the Constitution to realize the ideals of the Declaration
slavery and federalism
After the Civil War slaves were free in the federal government's eyes but not equal unde the law. Segragation and Jim Crow. - were left vague in the constitution so the constitution can be ratified. 75 years later, it became a problem! which started the Civil war. - the north did not want slavery and liked national sovereignty (think companies, industrialized) the south did want slavery and liked state sovereignty (depended on cotton)
Based on his forum address, how might McPherson interpret the "new birth of freedom" that Lincoln mentions in the Gettysburg Address? (A) As a rebirth of the negative liberty protections that the Declaration of Independence calls for by saying that "all men are created equal" (B) As a call for increased government power and action in order to provide for the expansion of individual liberties (C) As a celebration of the restoration of the Union that would lead to greater prosperity than before (D) As a warning to southerners that the North would not soon forget the atrocities of the Civil War
B
Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz, the 19th century Prussian general and military theorist, defined war "as an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will." However, Clausewitz was not in favor of conflict as an end in itself. He stressed and warned that war should be a means to an end. In terms of fighting, it was a war of what Clausewitz referred to as attrition. War is "an extension of politics by other means" - when our constitution is broken down, we fight (ex: slavery)
The supreme court as a constitutional failure
Dred Scott v. Sandord (Sandford) - dred Scott was a slave and he traveled to the free territories and he is no longer a slave. However, the supreme court said NO. - radically altered the status of every black person in America - Congress had no authority to spread slavery in different territories - had the potential to legalize slavery and turn the entire nation into a slave nation - instead of solving/compromising, he doubles down and radicalizes the idea of slavery Dred Scott decission - Blacks "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States." - "On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings." The writers of the Declaration of Independence "perfectly understood the meaning of the language they used, and how it would be understood by others; and they knew that it would not in any part of the civilized world be supposed to embrace the negro race, which, by common consent, had been excluded from civilized Governments and the family of nations, and doomed to slavery." - Chief Justice Roger Taney uses 2 founding documents to argue that blacks do not deserve rights - Dred Scott is not a citizen because of his race - Blacks were not intended to be in the constitution and therefore insubordinate - the writers of DOI did not include black people - Congress has no power to outlaw slavery, property rights are protected, far-reaching decision - Dred Scott is not free. - Simply going to a free territory or free state does not make you free. - Congress has no power to outlaw - slavery in the territories. Slavery is allowed by the Constitution, and slaveowners' property rights must be respected in all territories.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred and his family moved from Missouri to Wisconsin, where slavery didn't exist, for a few years. Then, they moved back to Missouri, but some abolitionists from Chicago heard of Dred in Wisconsin and sued Missouri on his behalf. Court rule that they would throw out this case because slaves aren't allowed to use court system. - Dred Scott sued for his freedom - Justice Taney ruled that blacks had no rights - congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in states or territories - set abolition movement back
Secession of Southern States
Formal withdrawal of a state from the Union. South threatened to do this many times and finally would in 1861. It was in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who sought to contain slavery. greatest crisis that Americans had faced since the Revolution - called into question whether stable democratic government was even possible
Secession
Formal withdrawal of states or regions from a nation
Negative Liberty
Freedom from constraints or the interference of others
14th Amendment (1868)
Grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the US"; it forbids any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of its laws." Most important law ever passed besides original Constitution and Bill of Rights. It has been the vehicle for the expansion of civil rights, women's rights, gay rights among other movements. It also allowed for the "incorporation doctrine" which means the application of the national Bill of Rights to the states. - basically guarantees rights to all citizens especially slaves - but there was still voter suppression - lincoln's legacy - guarantees protection under the law - feminist movement used this - "equal protection under the law" - imperfect but provided a foundation for civil rights activists
Emancipation Proclamation
Issued by abraham lincoln on september 22, 1862 it declared that all slaves in the confederate states would be free Lincoln declared that al slaves in the rebel states were free but without freeing slaves in the slaveholding states that were under the control of the union army during the civil war - freed slaves in the south (confederacy) not necessarily the union
Eric Foner, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution, "Introduction: Origins of the Second Founding"
It is almost like founding the nation again - framers were worried about natural rights (life, liberty, or property) but they left federalism and slavery were left to future generations - the civil war discovering these answers is considered the Second Founding draws distinctions of different kinds of rights - different kinds of rights being included in society 1. natural rights (first founding was based off of) - American founding was based off of 2. Civil rights (legal entitlements, legal property, issues of economics) (this was not necessarily free in the first founding because women and slaves could not practice this) 3. Political rights (ancient liberty, freedom to participate in politics and society such as voting (participate in what the government is doing)) 4. Social rights (rights in our personal and business relationships, ability to associate with people how we want.
Politics (1861-1876)
Jacksonian politics and the slavery issue put increasing strains on the established ways of doing things - the democratic and whig parties attempted to finesses the slavery issue - democrat vote split and Lincoln claimed the White House with less than 40% of the vote and no significant support in the southern states but Whigs still survived - "Conscience Whigs" = antislavery war and slavery - Republicans largely inherited Whig views on issues such as the scope of national power and economic policy, but conflicts over economics were pushed into the background until the issues of union and slavery were settled - northern Democrats had little interest in continuing the war or in freeing the slaves and stumped for negotiating peace south surrendered in the spring of 1865 - northern politics shifted towards terms of peace - Andrew johnson assassination - the former border-state Democrat proved more interested in a quick return to a peaceful union - 1865: formal abolition of slavery was given - Johnson's plan of rapid restoration of the southern states to the Union meant the return of democratic majorities and limited racial or economic reform in the south - 1866: Congressional reconstruction which kept the southern states under military occupation while working to create a viable Republican Party in the south composed of union loyalist and former slaves
Moderate candidates
John Bell (Constitutional Union Party) - No firm stand on slavery, must keep union together Stephen A. Douglas (Northern Democrat) - Popular sovereignty: Let the states decide
More extreme candidates
John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat) - Preserve the Union with slavery Abraham Lincoln (Republican) - Preserve the Union, but gradually abolish slavery - Nation cannot survive half-slave and half-free
concurrent majority.
John Calhoun's theory of democracy, which holds that the main function of government is to mediate between and among the different economic, social, and sectional interests in U.S. society.
Battle of Little Round Top (Day 2)
Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine regiment charged with bayonets
Junteenth
June 19th, one of the oldest festivals celebrating the emancipation of the slaves anniversary of Emancipation Day for enslaved people in Texas
Sectionalism
Loyalty to one's own region of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole. States were split into 2 conflicting, opposite ideas. each region develops a separate identity. Maybe, political and south Is worried by the northern region (tyranny of the northern majority)
What were they fighting for?
North - preserve union - save American democracy - human freedom and emancipation south - combat northern aggression - preserve the southern way of life - defend the "true constitution slavery as the root cause of these conflicts
Douglas
Popular sovereignty
Abraham Lincoln
Preserve the union and anti slavery - Lincoln wins the election of 1860 and the south starts to secede. (The south left the country) - led to civil war He disapproves slavery but in his gettyburg address and 2nd inaugural speech, he tried to not polarize/be biased so that "All the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in and were given to the world from this Hall. I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." - over the course of the civil war, he develops a clearer vision of the moral connections between the Declaration, the Constitution and the Union
Bell
Preserve the union no firm stance on slavery
Beckinridge
Proslavery
Flow chart
Slavery -> southern states secession -> ratification/nullification? -> sovereignty? Who has ultimate sovereignty? -> federalism? Balance between state and national government -> war war war war
"And the War Came"
Slavery cannot be resolved through normal political debates and conversations - Lincoln elected, November 1860 - South Carolina secedes, December 1860 - By March, 1861, 7 more states secede - Lincoln's First Inaugural, March 1861 - South does not have right to secede - S.C. attacks Fort Sumter, April 1861 the seven states forming the Confederacy have siezed federal forts without a single shot by Lincoln was inaugurated. Lincoln and administrators wanted South to leave peacefully. Confederacy was looking to take Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. Sumter was raided and Union surrendered with Robert Anderson. Union believed war would not last long while 4 more southern states entered the confederacy. The war was mainly to see if Union was indivisible in State and in thoughts - election is elected, SC leves, and after inauguration, 7 more states seced, and his first inaugural he states that south does not have the right to seced - fort Sumter and the war begins! (fall of fort Sumter) .
John C. Calhoun
South Carolina Senator - advocate for state's rights, limited government, and nullification A disquisition on government Disquisition: long drawn document of something (going off) - discussed the origins of society/ government - main point: normal/ numerical majority vs consensus - trying to find power for south so North does not overpower them - North will always overpower (numerical majority) so he is trying to find the agreement - trying to keep slavery without the majority always winning - concurrent majority - there is a difference between the constitution and the government. There is a stern way the government should rule due to the constitution. Compiling to one main argument (nullification) "Many in the South once believed that it was a moral and political evil; that folly and delusion are gone; we see it ow in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world...." - against some DOI - points out the tension between DOI and Constitution national government is ignoring state rigjts - states have a right to practice their own constitution. Slaveru is left to je state - worries that the government is changing because he does not think the government can protect them - little confidence that constitution would protect slavery
Positive Liberty
The freedom and ability to pursue one's goals
Separation of powers/ checks and balances as a constitutional failure
The powers granted to the new State governments were purposely divided among three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch was given powers with which to check (restrain the actions of) the other branches of the government. - constitution did not solve problem South Argument - Sectionalism meant that the South had no confidence in constitutional structures. - John C. Calhoun: "The North has acquired a decided ascendancy over every department of this Government, and through it a control over all the powers of the system." - Calhoun's "concurrent majority": "Give to each division or interest, through its appropriate organ, either a concurrent voice in making and executing the laws, or a veto on their execution." Southerners did have considerable power in both the Senate and the Supreme Court. Checks and balances resulted in gridlock.
Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)
The refusal to obey a law out of a belief that the law is morally wrong. Author Henry David Thoreau wrote an important essay justifying such action "The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right."
Antebellum Period
The time period before the Civil War during which there were many reforms, including the establishment of free (tax-supported) public schools, improving the treatment of the mentally ill, controlling/abolishing the sale of alcohol, winning equal legal/political rights for women, and abolishing slavery.
More questions to consider
To what moment in American History does Lincoln allude with the phrase "fourscore and seven years ago"? What does this suggest about the relationship between the nation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution? What is the "interest" to which President Lincoln refers as "the cause of the war?" Can you use the Gettysburg Address to expand on why this "interest was somehow the cause of the war?" What does Lincoln's Second Inaugural suggest about how he feels the South should be treated during the reconstruction period? What does Stephens mean by "perfect equality?" According to Stephens, what is the "great physical, philosophical, and moral truth," upon which the confederacy was built? Why does Stephens argue that the North is being hypocritical? In what ways could Northerners and Southerners both point to the Declaration of Independence to bolster their arguments about secession and slavery? How does the shift in Lincoln's use of the words union and nation between 1860 and 1865 illustrate the changing nature of federalism in the United States as a result of the Civil War? As described by McPherson, what distinction exists between the first 12 amendments to the Constitution and a majority of the next 15? How does Lincoln's parable of the shepherd and wolf help explain the North and South's distinct notions of liberty? Which best corresponds to negative liberty? To positive? Prior to the Civil War, was the Constitution seen more widely as a pro-Slavery or pro-abolition document? What were the defining attributes of citizenship in the Antebellum period of U.S. history?
Gettysburg: the beginning of the End
Turning point of the War that made it clear the North would win. 50,000 people died, and the South lost its chance to invade the North. - the south needs to change the war. It knows it can't win a war of attrition - invades the north and shadows army - Union army prevents Confederate army and shadow blocks them in Washington - bump into each other in Gettysburg (3 day battle) first day Confederates raid seminary ridge second day union is scared and gets the high ground third day union wins - The South needs to change the war. It knows it cannot win a war of attrition. - It invades the North. The Union army shadows the Confederate Army. - Union army keeps itself between the Confederate army and Washington, D.C. - The two armies meet almost unexpectedly in a little Pennsylvania town.
15th Amendment (1870)
U.S. cannot prevent a person from voting because of race, color, or creed - guarantees the right to vote - lincoln's legacy
Slavery and the founding
Were slaves people or proerty? - the people: Did slaves have rights - if property: (buying and sellling like corn or any other forms of property) (abuse is okay) - can you prevent this form of abuse
Important questions to consider when reading
What does Calhoun believe are the features of human nature? What distinction does Calhoun make between government and Constitution? How does Calhoun's solution to the problem of faction differ from Madison's in Federalist 10? Why does Douglas say the 4th of July is a time for "scorching irony?" In what ways does Douglas' argument mirror the argument that Banneker made to Jefferson? Why does Fitzugh consider southern slave owners to be more benevolent than northern capitalists? What does this have to do with "moral cannibalism"? What does force have to do with the origins of government? How does Fitzhugh connect these ideas to the Declaration of independence? How does Fitzugh's notion of freedom compare to a libertarian's? What does Hammond assert is the relationship between social and political institutions? What is the difference for Hammond between slavery as a "thing" and slavery as a "name"?
White Slave Trade
When men kidnapped women and forced them into prostitution. By conservative estimates, 10% of prostitutes were part of this.
Jamelle Bouie "why Junteenth Matters"
Who freed the slaves? - Neither Abraham Lincoln nor the Republican Party freed the slaves. They helped set freedom in motion and eventually codified it into law with the 13th Amendment, but they were not themselves responsible for the end of slavery. They were not the ones who brought about its final destruction. - The slaves freed the slaves. "Slave resistance," as the historian Manisha Sinha points out in "The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition," "lay at the heart of the abolition movement." "Prominent slave revolts marked the turn toward immediate abolition," Sinha writes, and "fugitive slaves united all factions of the movement and led the abolitionists to justify revolutionary resistance to slavery." legacy of Junteenth - trends in public opinion (the growing racial liberalism of left-leaning whites)r - rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. if Americans are going to mark and celebrate Juneteenth, then they should do so with the knowledge and awareness of the agency of enslaved people. Emancipation wasn't a gift bestowed on the slaves; it was something they took for themselves, the culmination of their long struggle for freedom, which began as soon as chattel slavery was established in the 17th century, and gained even greater steam with the Revolution and the birth of a country committed, at least rhetorically, to freedom and equality. In fighting that struggle, black Americans would open up new vistas of democratic possibility for the entire country.
Freedom National
_____ was the day where the free-soilers believed the nation's democratic ideals would extend to the whole country. Republican rallying cry in 1856, meaning not abolition but ending the federal government's support of slavery
20th Maine
a combat unit of the United States Army during the American Civil War, most famous for its defense of Little Round Top at the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.
Battle of Little Round Top
a pivotal battle can rest on the bravery and valor of a few men. - starts in the morning - confederate army tries to retreat - 20th maine - union defends high ground using bayonets - Note how a pivotal battle hinges on the bravery and valor of a few men at a critical juncture of the war (prevents the confederate army from storming and the hill into Washington DC) - Union wins and is considered the "high water mark" (turning point) - the war is over - Never again would the Confederate States of America seriously challenge the North for supremacy.
The civil war
a war between citizens of the same country. union vs confederates
What were you taught in school about the primary cause of the Civil war? a. slavery b. state rights c. respond to aggression D nothing
a. slavery
Why wasnt a democratic solution morally correct?
church and state are separate and it impedes slavery rights
the declaration of independence
core values
Comity Clause
each state must grant the residents of all other states the same rights its own residents enjoy prohibits states from enacting laws that treat the citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution, which prohibits states from enacting laws that treat the citizens of other states in a discriminatory manner
Alexander H. Stephens
former vice president of the Confederacy, who claimed a seat in Congress during reconstruction under Johnson. Congress denied him and other Confederates seats in Congress - Southern whig and regarded as a moderate in the antebellum era - adviced against secession - after war, defended secession , including a number of relevant document as appendices - denied originality in the cornerstone metaphor, said he borrowed it from the judicial opinion of a Supreme Court Justice, who had said "the rights of property in slaves" represented a cornerstone of the US government. Cornestoned address (1861) - statements on slavery (as one northern publication titled the speech, "African Slavery, the Corner-Stone of the Southern Confederacy"), and the speech was widely reprinted in the North as well as the South - argued that the new Confederate government was based upon "the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man." - declared that disagreements over the enslavement of Africans was the "immediate cause" of secession. "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth, that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth...." - addresses conflict of slavery - slavery is a natural and born condition - truth of inequality - these positions that we develop are universal - the declaration is wrong
Madison's large republic as a constitutional failure
functionalism becomes sectionalism - 2 primary opinions based on regions - north v south
Where do our rights come from?
inherent rights because female are people
unresolved
lack of resolution of moral dilemmas to states decision. Leaving it to a vote will not help
Presidency as a constitutional failure
limits of the presidency - Until 1860, most presidents still relied heavily on Southern support. - The election of 1860 did not mean victory for a centrist candidate. the presidency - on order to win, presidents needed the southern states and the majority of the electoral college, - 1860 was unusual because there was no middle-of-the road politics
Can we resolve this moral issue with a vote?
lincoln says no but douglass says yes (democratic process) and different ideas of democratic process
sectionalism
madison believed this would work because faction would allow no one to overpower one another (no one area would dominate) however, the country did not play out that way: the south v the north v the west and divided the coutry
numerical majority
majority dictated by votes (numbers)
Society (1861-1876)
more military conflicts since the revolution - industrial innovation and capacity - generating money and disrupting old economic relationships war and reconstruction - opportunities for reconsidering social relations - ending slavery pt on par with saving the union as a northern war - anti slavery activist were welcomed into the Republican White house - blacks demanded and receive new civil and political rights - black suffrage seemed improbable - End of reconstruction: against had been made but durability was doubt - questioned black and female rights
questions clarified - federalism - slavery
national > states (power is shared but the national government has more power and the final say) no slavery and used the Amendments 13-15 as a justification and execution of slavery
Calhoun believed in the
national government is ignoring state rigjts Federalism: the south should keep slavery - "The [Constitutional] Convention meant to leave slavery in the States as they found it, entirely under the authority and control of the States themselves." - "The character of the Government has been changed ... from a federal republic, as it originally came from the hands of its framers, into a great national consolidated democracy
Patterwitz Poll: slavery How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The founding fathers made a mistake by not eliminating slavery in 1787
no, because the union would not have existed and the constitution would not have been ratified yes, it has always been morally wrong. tension where political compromise is the driving force for our
the problem of the factions/ the founding
none of these key elements was able to prevent war
Factionalism (Madison's plan)
party strife and intrigue. Group of people against the common good. Madison's plan was that it could compete against each other (the great water balloon) where they could beat out the weak and only the best would survive
evolving arguments from the south pertaining slavery
positive good - appealed to history, science, religion, economics
James McPherson
positive vs negative liberty, civil war will move the US toward positive liberty (seen in 14,15 amendments) The historian who has noted other ways in which the Civil War extended the authority of the Central Government. It expanded the federal powers of taxation. It encouraged the government to develop the National Banking System, print currency, and conscript an army. And it also made federal courts more influential. He provides information to contrast the popular belief that the Civil War resulted in more individual rights (which it did through slavery, but these new extensions to authority decreased the power of the individual). ✤ Isaiah Berlin's positive vs. negative liberty ✤ Negative liberty: "freedom from" ✤ Congress shall not ... (1st Amendment) ✤ Positive liberty: "freedom to" ✤ Congress shall ... (14th-15th Amendments) - 2% of the American population - the distinction between 2 kinds of liberty after the civil war - shift: a new birth of freedom (positive liberty) during the civil war (we see during the 13th amendment). A shift in the language of how we see our rights. For example, the first amendment "Congress shall make no law..." vs the 16th amendment "congress shall have power..." the first 12 amendments are negative liberties which forces Congress to "make no law" and after the civil war, there is a shift, we need to be protected through the government (the people made people slaves yk?) which made positive liberty "congress shall have power..." (government will protect us)
federailsm as a constitutional failure
power rests on people or state If we are going to divide sovereignty, what hapens if a deep conflict and sover North Argument - North: Keep the Union together - Lincoln: "I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. South Argument - South: National government is ignoring states' rights and trampling on the "true" Constitution. John C. - Calhoun: "The [Constitutional] Convention meant to leave slavery in the States as they found it, entirely under the authority and control of the States themselves." -"The character of the Government has been changed ... from a federal republic, as it originally came from the hands of its framers, into a great national consolidated democracy.
Amendments 13-15
reconstruction amendments
Ideas
secession gave new urgency to ideas that had been circulating since the founding - American independence and ratification for constitution did not fully settle the terms of union - threats of sucession, worries about disunion - as southern states declared their secession from the union, their supporters drew on a tradition of Jeffersonian arguments favoring states' rights, while their critics drew on ideas of American nationalism collapse of slavery - antebellum arguments surrounding African- Americans focused on the problem of slavery and emancipation
the constitution
structure of the government
Civil war
the bloodiest war in American history (2% of our population died) - impacted every part of American life - north wins (impossible but they did - possibly have to reject the loss and protracted guerilla war - 4 years of bloody battles
reconstruction
the period after the Civil War in the United States when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union - 12 years - ended 1877 - northern troops withdraw - return "home" rule (white, democrat rule) difficulties - finding a new economic source instead of cotton (because they relied on slaves so it will be a lot more expensive to pay their workers) - completely new way of life - lincoln assassinated 5 days after the war end - freed slaves need employment and housing - racisim and prejudice did not disappear - remodeling political institutions to include freed slaves
lincoln's argument on federalism
the union is essential North: Keep the Union together - Lincoln: "I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments."
What does it mean to be equal?
to be human
What was the cause of the Civil war?
unfair taxation, states' rights, and the slavery issue. - slavery and federalism but ultimate cause was slavery because it led to question federalism
How was the crisis solved?
war - war of attrition - technology outpaced strategy - disease/starvation
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
was honored at gettysburg and was present to accept lee's surrender at appomattox
Key elements of the founding
✤ Declaration of Independence - ideals and philosophy ✤ Two-party Politics ✤ Market Economic System ✤ Structure and the Constitution ✤ Consent ✤ Separation of Powers ✤ Checks and Balances ✤ Federalism ✤ Bill of Rights puzzle piece that could protect individual liberties and preserve public good
