THE HOUSE DIVIDING, 1848-60
CHAPTER 8
1. Describe the after-math of the John Brown/Harper’s Ferry incident. Include reactions from the following: the newspapers, politicians, citizens, etc.
John Brown was an abolishionist who thought that if he could collapse Virginia, he could end slavery. His group of 17 whites and 5 freed blacks stormed Harper’s Ferry armory. Their insurrection planned to arm the slaves in revolt on October 18, 1859. Unfortunately, reinforcements failed to show up before General Robert E. Lee’s forces surrounded and killed many of the rioters. Brown was bayoneted several times but lived to face trial. He was convicted and hung on December 2, 1859. This incident sparked a deep division between the north and the south.
SOUTH: triggered paranoia of slave rebellion in the south. They thought Brown to be crazy or insane. Many of his family members were in asylums and suffered from lunacy. They figured he was just a product of his family.
NORTH: Immortalized him as a true saint or martyr. Thoreau and Emerson wrote and eulogized him for good. A song written by David S. Reynolds, “John Brown’s Body” was later changed by Julia Ward Howe and renamed “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=amss&fileName=as1/as106750/amsspage.db&recNum=0
2. What was the “dark side, nether side” of society at this time? Growing population and influx of immigrants. Most cities unable to deal with or keep up with the physical needs of everyday living. New York’s Bowery, or “Hell’s Kitchen”, referred to by police because of its filth and crime. 30,000 orphans roamed the streets, prostitution. Gangs, Boss Tweed – a NY politician who swindled between $25-45 million from NY city taxpayers. (one historian estimated $75-200 million!) He was tied to Tammany Hall – similar to the unions and would attempt to intimidate voters going to the polls.
3. Early America was made up of energetic and motivated immigrants. Generally, what contributions were the Irish known for? Germans? After the potato famine in Ireland, there were more Irish in the US than in Ireland! At this time, the gov. took no income tax. The Irish suffered great persecution (Catholics) got involved in politics, government jobs such as policemen, Germans: more skilled than Irish: steel, mechanical, musical instrument trades, pianos, breweries, rifles, eyeglasses, Heinz ketchup,
4. Slavery is stronger and woven more deeply into the fabric of American society. What three reasons are cited for this? NOTES: Profits – although the northern factories were more profitable, free market system that promotes the slave trade was also striving to abolish it, southerners needed the force of gov. to maintain and expand slavery and without it, a combination of the market and slave revolts would have ultimately ended the institution. NOTES: population of 3.84 million slaves in 1860 represented “60% of agricultural wealth in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina. The census showed that slaves accounted for $3 billion in wealth; an amount more than the railroad and manufacturing wealth combined! Definition of property rights:
5. Northern industrialists profited more on their return on their business investment than the south did with slavery. If this is true, why did the south continue with slavery? Why not transition into northern-like industry? Long-held family tradition of slavery. Southerners did not understand the industrial system, psychic gains – dominance and control. NOTES: laws were passed in the south making it illegal to educate slaves. They could not meet in groups, own land, or finance their own freedom. Capitalism could not work as long as slavery was permitted anywhere. The government provided loopholes for slave owners to circumvent the system.
6. Describe George Fitzhugh’s Marxist view of man. What were Fitzhugh’s beliefs about slavery? George Fitzhugh believed in the Marxist labor theory of value http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/labor-theory-val.html and that all men were basically slaves; including whites. Being a strong proponent of slavery, he taught that those employed in the evil Northern factories were really the ones being enslaved. He said that “African slaves probably lived better than the Northern factory worker and that they were liberated from all decision making.” Their masters kindly did that for them! And he added (p 261)… “a Southern farm is the beau ideal of Communism; it is a joint concern, in which the slave consumes more than the master… and is far happier, because although the concern may fail, he is always sure of support.”
7. How did perverted Christian views and doctrines to attempt to justify slavery? Mid-1800’s said that the bible condoned slavery as a positive good and was the only hope of salvation for Africans. Believed that “Christianizing” Africans was not possible without the intervention of slavery. Came to view slavery as “social control”
8. Who fomented and perpetuated slavery uprisings? What affect did the uprisings have? Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey. Nat Turner won his freedom in a lottery and started a Methodist Church with over 1,000 members. Vesey started a rebellion that was later determined to not be a rebellion at all. Denmark Vesey was born on the island of St. Thomas in 1787 and was captured by the owner of a slave ship, Capt. Joseph Vesey. Became educated and won $1,500 in a lottery; $600 of which he used to buy his freedom. Day after day, he witnessed the injustice suffered by his people and therefore planned a rebellion sort of like the one John Brown would attempt years later. Vesey had approx. 9,000 slaves at the ready to revolt. A white house servant got wind of the plan and told his master. Vesey called off the insurrection but many, including him, were hanged. Affect was that southerners became even more paranoid about blacks uprising. It was a crime to teach a slave to read or write. White masters’ determined that blacks had to be kept away from Christianity and Christianity away from blacks. Religion and government worked together to enforce slavery laws. Civil disturbances, censorship of mails and newspapers from the North, infringement of free speech, right to assemble. One Maryland county enacted a resolution requiring vigilante committees to visit the houses of every free black “regularly” for “prompt correction of misconduct.” http://www.nndb.com/people/937/000110607/
*Turner felt that he was lead by God to lead an insurrection. “The last shall be first.” Sight of a solar eclipse in February 1831 would be the sign to begin. He and several others stormed the house of his master, Joseph Travis and murdered all inside. They stole horses, liquor and guns and repeated this at other homes until U.S. troops and marines stopped them. He was later hanged after hiding out for six weeks.
9. Who was William Lloyd Garrison? What did he contribute? A fanatic who badgered others for vices that he did not agree with: drinking, gambling, lotteries, Sabbath violations, and war. Abandoned by his father when he was 3 years old, he spent his life trying to get attention and his “15 minutes of fame” by meddling in others’ lives. He became a celebrity and posted his beliefs in the National Philanthropist. He accused a merchant of slave atrocities for which the man threw him in jail. This fomented his “martyr” personae. He ripped up his copy of the constitution because many people believed that the document promoted slavery. Joined with Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and other abolitionists to fight against slavery.
10. Define “popular sovereignty”. How did politicians use it to their advantage? People could decide the rules and regulations of each state; (slavery being the top issue) as opposed to the government making those decisions. Majority ruled. Crooked law makers could “rig” vote by bringing in immigrants for support of their cause. Many times, the immigrants would not know what they were voting for, but the structure was nonetheless in place.
11. Define the unintended consequences of the “Fugitive Slave Law”. Discuss a current law that has resulted in unintended consequences. Example: Prohibition in 1920 was to abolish alcohol and its evils. Unintended consequences were many small businessmen lost their livelihoods, increased violent crime, etc. This law contained several provisions that Southerners saw as reasonable and necessary but soon turned against them. Runaway slaves were denied any aright to jury trial. Commissioners received ten dollars for every runaway delivered to claimants, but only five dollars for cases in which the accused was set free. Any free citizen could help capture slaves. As a result, innocent people were captured, many Northerners were looked as accomplices to slavery as they were sending slaves back into slavery! Enforcement was expensive. Five thousand dollars was spent to capture one slave. And after that, the law was no longer enforced. The Underground Railroad played a huge role in this – assisting almost 50,000 slaves to escape.
NOTES: Henry Clay’s fifth time to run for president vs. Zachary Taylor!! He gets killed again because he is completely anti- slavery in new territories gained from the Mexican War. He also was against annexing Texas. That got him. Taylor, a Louisiana slave holder, was not affiliated with any party. Believed in “popular sovereignty” and that the Wilmot Proviso was not needed (permitting no slavery in lands accrued from the Mexican War.)
12. What was the “Kansas-Nebraska Act”? How did it lead to the Civil War? Desire for a mid-eastern transcontinental railroad with a major hub in Chicago, whose expenses would be offset by grants from public lands. Steven A. Douglas, attempting to assuage contention between north and south, and win potential votes for the upcoming presidential election, wrote into the bill the “popular sovereignty” law thereby abolishing a thirty year covenant and allowing possible slavery to the entire Louisiana Purchase. Turned out to be a disastrous bill. This nearly destroyed the Democratic party and started a national crisis. *NOTES: Virtually anyone could cross state or territorial lines to vote. People came from all over to “stack the deck” for their side. But if Kansas became a free soil state, it would cause a “free zone” below the slavery line for the first time in American history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Missouri_Compromise_Line.svg
13. Explain the media coverage of the “sack of Lawrence”, “Brook’s canes”, and the “Harper’s Ferry” incident. The press greatly exaggerated these stories to promote violence, inflame and propagandize their own ideology. The lid was finally starting to blow off the slavery pot.
*NOTES: Two new parties were partially responsible for dismembering the Whigs. One was the American Party whose platform was against the massive immigration of Irish and Germans. They banded together, secretly and voted in massive blocks of power. They became known as the “Know Nothings” because they would deny or not answer any questions asked about their group. They sealed their doom by shunning the very people who were also against slavery and could have gained much politically from their support. The other was the Anti-Nebraska Party or the Republicans. Attacked slavery head on instead of dancing around it.
14. What made the “Dred Scott” case so controversial? Why did the judges overturn the ruling? What affects did it have? Dred Scott was a slave who went all the way to the supreme court to appeal for his own freedom. The St. Louis circuit court ruled that he was free. Two years later, the Missouri supreme court stepped in and overturned the rule. He finally ended up at the federal supreme court where Justice Roger B. Taney made the shocking decision that “because he was black, he had no right to sue in the first place. Africans were not protected by the Constitution because they were not US citizens, and therefore had no rights at all.” The court overturned the rule because it was such a monumental and controversial issue. Even though he lost, it put slavery in the forefront of social discussion.
15. Define the Lecompton Constitution and its role in fomenting the inevitability of the Civil War. The Kansas election of 1857 was heated and in turmoil. Governor Walker observed much voter fraud as pro-slavery Democrats illegally wrote their own Lecompton Constitution. While free soilers, or Anti-slavery factions boycotted this constitution crying out the “popular sovereignty” rule, but to no avail. They then went to Topeka, Kansas and drew up their own constitution, both sides even elected their own state representatives which increased divisiveness and tensions! Both sides fought for their agenda as the legitimacy of the Lecompton constitution went back and forth through referendums and legalities only fomenting more tension.
The original application for statehood would have granted 23 million acres of federal land to pro-slavery Kansas if the people accepted the Lecompton Constitution but this was cut substantially to 4 million acres. There was also a bribe attached: If the people did not accept the constitution, they would not only be denied statehood, but they would not be allowed to reapply until the population reached ninety thousand. Buchanan was shocked and delivered a crushing blow when the people rejected the offer. In the ten years of fighting and negotiations, advocates had not achieved one inch of pro-slavery land.
16. What were Abraham Lincoln’s feelings about organized religion? About the separation of church and state? How would you describe his relationship to God? How did Gettysburg affect that relationship? Lincoln did not believe in organized religion until he experienced severe trials in his own life; the deaths of his mother, his son, Tad and especially what he saw at Gettysburg. He believed in the separation of church and state. He was a devout believer in the scriptures and in “doing good to all men”. He lived his “religion” in everything he did – based on his love of Jesus Christ.
17. Define the debates between Lincoln and Douglas. Why do you think Lincoln was more appealing to the masses than Douglas? Both parties agreed to seven debates – all centering on slavery - vying for the Illinois senator seat. Douglas was the incumbent and won despite the Republicans winning the popular vote – an ominous sign to Dems. Unlike political debates of today, these were festive gatherings where true debates about the issues prevailed. The opponents often took friendly jabs at each other, but left shaking hands leaving it up to the voters to decide which view they supported. Lincoln managed to shift the slavery issue to the morals of it not the economic value which had prevailed for so many decades. *What made Lincoln stand out and again credibility with the voters was that he embraced the moral and logical designation of slavery as an inherent evil, while distancing himself from the fanatics like the Grimke sisters of William Lloyd Garrison. He focused on the law of the constitution in the Republic. (READ: page 290 – red)
18. Why did 90 percent of southern congressmen vote to not reopen the African slave trade? At this point, Southerners had to rationalize their belief in the slave trade, but had to come up with a reason not to re-open the slave trade to Africa. They reasoned that slaves already here were content, and the blacks in Africa were “cannibals”. The issue of morality was at the heart of this debate. “If it was right to buy slaves in Virginia and carry them to New Orleans, why is it not right to buy them in Africa and carry them here?” asked William Yancey. Lincoln would have reversed the question. “If it’s wrong to enslave free people in Africa and bring them to Virginia, why is it acceptable to keep slaves in either Virginia or New Orleans.
19. What was the Wanderer and how was it involved in a crime? What happened to Charles A. L. Lamar? The issue intensified after the “Wanderer” case where cotton trader, Charles Lamar, purchased the ship that went to Africa. He purchased 600 slaves of which only 300 survived. When rumors of the docked slave ship reached authorities, a federal investigation ensued. Corruption in the southern courts was even more evident when Lamar was not arrested, and no legal action against the criminals was taken. When the ship was put up for auction, Lamar, the only bidder, ?” announced that “the episode had given him good experience in the slave trade and that he would apply it in the future.” It was obvious that the south had no intension of upholding anti-slave laws – or any laws, for that matter. This ultimately started the Civil War.
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