Transcript Manifest Destiny and the Metaphysics of Slaveryx - fchs

“Manifest Destiny” & The
Metaphysics of the Slavery Debate
Expansionism and Imperial Design from 1803 - 1848
The Prelude
Before the Civil War began, only a handful of radical
abolitionists declared their intention to ban slavery in
the Southern States. There was no intention to end
slavery in the South, even within the Republican Party:
the free-soil party. The most important point of
contention was this:
Would slavery be allowed in the West?
There were virtually no slaves in the West. Very few
pioneers brought enslaved people to the West. Any
policy defining the limits of slavery in the West would
influence only a few hundred people. And yet 625,000
Americans would die over the course of a bloody Civil
War to determine the future of slavery in America.
The Declaration of Independence
From the creation of the United States of
America, slavery was our nation’s “original
sin.” Everyone involved with the
Declaration of Independence – and later
the writing of the Constitution –
recognized the hypocrisy of establishing a
nation on the premise that “all men are
created equal” and simultaneously
protecting the institution of slavery.
Jefferson’s hypocrisy was endemic in
America; the vast majority of the nation’s
first fifteen Presidents were slave-owners;
and, the defense of slavery was a project
engaged in by all classes in the South –
from the poor white farmers who aspired
to own slaves themselves, to the
plantation owner trying to expand his
wealth, to the ministers, who justified the
institution of slavery through their
Christian faith.
1783 – THE TREATY OF PARIS
Not only did the Treaty of Paris of 1783 grant the United States its independence from England, but also, it expanded
the boundaries of the nation. Within the mind of newly independent Americans, the West represented the future.
And control one’s destiny in the future depended – in the minds of many – on controlling one’s property in the
present. During the years under the Articles of Confederation, this became a major concern. Consider Shays
Rebellion, for example. But also consider what the implications of “property rights” were to the Southern elite…
Competing land
claims for
western territory
were a major
concern which
had to be
resolved under
the Articles of
Confederation.
The Northwest Ordinance
Despite the obvious devotion of
slaveholders to the notion of
“property rights,” there are also
some clear indications that the
nation as a whole envisioned a
future in which slavery would
disappear. The Northwest
Ordinance of 1787, which forbid
the expansion of slavery into the
West, is an excellent example of
the intentions of the Founding
Fathers, as well. They may have
permitted slavery to exist in the
short term in the South, but it
should not expand to the West –
into the future.
The Constitution
The Constitution, instituted to create a
more vigorous government – and some
would say to protect property rights
from the democratic mobs – was clearly
an instrument to protect the institution
of slavery. There are at least three ways
that the US Constitution preserved and
defended the institution of slavery, and
some of the carefully weighted choices
made by the Founding Fathers regarding
the institution of slavery are absolutely
indefensible. Even the Founding Fathers
were embarrassed – they carefully
excluded the words “slave” and “slavery”
in the Constitution, despite mentioning
enslaved people and the institution of
slavery in a number of passages.
Slavery in the United States
Constitution:
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The Three-Fifths Clause, which
counted enslaved people as a fraction of
a person for the purposes of taxation
(lessening their tax burden on
“property”) and for representation in
Congress (increasing their
representation.)
The Fugitive Slave Law – requiring
the Northerners, and all Americans for
that matter – to assist in capturing and
returning all runaway slaves.
The Compromise Over Regulating
Trade – In exchange for the power to
regulate trade between the states, the
Founding Fathers agreed that they
would not ban the international slave
trade for at least twenty years following
the ratification of the Constitution. The
International Slave Trade was not
forbidden until 1808.
The Invention of the
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin increased the productivity of every
cotton plantation in the South. The rise in the cultivation of
cotton also led to an increased reliance on slave labor.
Prior to the invention of the cotton gin,
it had taken so long to clean cotton that
it was counterproductive to plant the
crop. Even with hundreds of enslaved
workers picking the cotton by hand,
only a few hundred pounds could be
harvested each season, and the amount
of money to be gained was small. Once
the cotton gin was created, however,
tons of cotton could be shipped
overseas to England or to France. The
land cultivated for the production of
cotton increased dramatically, and so
did the number of enslaved people
required to oversee the production of
the crop. Slavery expanded to the west
– all the way to Texas, and the number
of enslaved people increased
dramatically as well.
Gabriel’s Revolt, Richmond, 1800
Gabriel’s Rebellion took place in
Richmond,Virginia at the turn of
the 19th Century. Although the
uprising never really came to
fruition, it was especially
concerning to slaveholding
Virginians because the plot
involved both free blacks and
cooperating whites. Given the
language of liberty which flowed
freely during the Revolutionary
Period, enslaved people were
bound to be inspired to seek
emancipation – and since
American colonists had gained
their independence through armed
insurrection, it followed, logically,
that armed insurrection might do
will to end slavery as an institution
as well. Some blamed Thomas
Jefferson for the uprising. He was
running for President that year, and
many believed that the promotion
of democratic values and the
language of liberty inspired the
revolt indirectly.
Lewis & Clark and the Corps of
Discovery
We often think of the Lewis & Clark
expedition as a great adventure
which explored the flora and fauna
of the West, mapped the rivers, and
visited foreign lands. But the mission
was also one of conquest. Each
Native American tribe was advised
that the United States was their new
“Great Father.” The Corps of
Discovery also claimed the Oregon
Territory for the United States
during their expedition. There is also
a point of trivia about the expedition
you may not know. One enslaved
person,York, the personal servant of
Meriwether Lewis, also accompanied
the men into the West. Many Native
American tribes had never seen an
African-American before, and so York
became an object of their curiosity.
BANNING THE INTERNATIONAL SLAVE TRADE
In 1808, at the first opportunity, the United States of American banned the international slave trade.
The horrifying “Middle Passage” came to an end in the United States of America – at least legally.
The War of 1812
The War of 1812 doesn’t seem to have very much to do with
the extension of slavery into the West; however, the devil is in
the details. At the end of the War major changes were at work:
1. New England factories – including textile mills – were
becoming more and more self-sufficient. Southern cotton
would serve to supply their needs.
2. Native Americans had been forced west of the
Mississippi River, opening up the lands of the Southwest
(Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas) to plantation
agriculture.
3. Trade with England and with France was restored, and
new markets were opened for cotton in Europe.
4. “Cotton is King!” became a southern mantra, and the
United States became increasingly committed to the
hierarchy of the slave system and the development of the
cotton trade abroad.
THE CONVENTION OF 1818
In the Convention of 1818, the United States and England further solidified their relationship, agreeing to
jointly occupy the Oregon Country and to peacefully coexist.
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After the War of 1812, the United States sought
to normalize relations with Great Britain.
The Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817 demilitarized the
Great Lakes Region.
The Convention of 1818 set the 49th Meridian as
a boundary between the United States and
Canada, and resolved that Americans and
Englishmen would peacefully coexist in the
Oregon Territory.
The Missouri Compromise
When Missouri applied for
statehood in 1820, many
Americans feared that the
United States Senate would shift
to favor slaveholding states. In
order to maintain a balance of
power between slaveholding
states and free states, the
Missouri Compromise was
negotiated. It consisted of three
aspects:
1.
Maine would enter the
Union as a free state
in 1820.
2.
Missouri would enter
the Union as a slave
state in 1821.
3.
A line from the
southernmost border
of Missouri, at 36˚ 30’,
would be created. To
the south of the line,
slavery would be
permitted. North of
the line, it would not
be permitted.
Denmark Vesey’s Revolt
Denmark Vesey was a
free black who lived in
Charleston, South
Carolina. He was well
versed in Christian
theology and his antislavery exhortations had
whites in the city
concerned enough to
shut down his ministry.
Vesey began to organize
an armed insurrection in
response – even
recruiting whites to aid
his efforts, but he was
discovered before the
plot was put into motion.
In the end, over 100
slaves, free blacks and
conspirators were
arrested – and 35,
including Vesey, were put
to death in Charleston.
The Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was articulated in December of 1823. James Monroe
declared that the entire Western Hemisphere – North America, South
America, the Caribbean, and Latin America – was off limits to European
nations for future colonization. To a large extent, the United States issued
the policy in order to claim the Western Hemisphere as our own sphere of
influence. Monroe’s major concern at the time was, surprisingly, Oregon.
David Walker’s Appeal, 1829
The first abolitionist
appeal directed towards
African-Americans was
David Walker’s appeal in
1829. It was radical
abolitionism in its most
threatening form.
Walker called enslaved
African-Americans to
arms, and advocated for
violence. Declaring that
slavery was perpetuated
by violence – and that
the state of slavery was
a state of war, he
advised, “believe this,
that it is no more harm
for you to kill a man
who is trying to kill you,
than it is for you to take
a drink of water when
thirsty."
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
In 1830, Nat Turner – believing he
had been called to arms by God –
and a group of his followers,
began the largest slave revolt in all
American History. Fifty-five
whites would eventually be put to
death, and Nat Turner would
remain on the lam for over a
month, leaving the state of Virginia
in a state of sheer panic. When
he was captured, Turner was
hanged, and then skinned. Over
two-hundred slaves – virtually
anyone who had ever spoken to
Turner regarding the planning and
execution of the revolt – would
be put to death. What made
Turner lash out so violently?
Many historians postulate that the
“new Middle Passage” – selling
slaves to the Southwest, caused
anxiety which turned into
violence.
The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison
The manumission of slaves had begun in Northern states during the
early 19th Century. In states like New York, slaves were bound to
their owners for a certain number of years, and then emancipated.
By the 1820s, slavery was virtually non-existent in the North. It was
in this period that a movement towards abolitionism became more
pronounced in the United States. William Lloyd Garrison’s The
Liberator declared in it’s first edition,
“On
this subject [slavery], I do not wish to
think, or to speak, or write, with moderation.
No! No! Tell a man whose house is on fire to
give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately
rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher;
tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe
from the fire into which it has fallen; – but
urge me not to use moderation in a cause like
the present. I am in earnest – I will not
equivocate – I will not excuse – I will not
retreat a single inch – AND I WILL BE
HEARD.”
Texas War for Independence
In the early 1820s, Stephen F.
Austin brought close to 300
families to the northernmost
province of Mexico, Tejas. They
had promised to remain loyal to
Mexico, to convert to the
Catholic faith, and not to
continue the practice of slavery.
They kept none of those
promises, and in the middle
1830s, found themselves at war
against Santa Anna, a reactionary
president and military leader.
After the battles of the Alamo
and Goliad – merciless defeats
of the Texas Army – the
prospects for independence
appeared bleak. But at the
Battle of San Jacinto, Sam
Houston defeated Santa Anna’s
army, captured the leader of the
nation, and coerced him into
signing a treaty granting Texas
it’s independence with the Rio
Grande River as the border
between the two nations.
The Debate over Annexation
Once they gained
independence, Texans
immediately asked to be
annexed by the United States.
But they were rebuffed.
Always concerned about the
possibility that the slave
states would have an
advantage in the United
States Senate, the powers in
Congress refused to annex
the state. They feared that
Texas might be divided into
three, four, or five slave states
due to its expansive size.
Texas would not be annexed
until 1845.
James K. Polk and the “Gag Rule”
Meanwhile, the House of
Representatives had decided
that the debate over slavery
had become far too
contentious. James K. Polk, as
Speaker of the House,
instituted a “Gag Rule” to
forbid any abolitionist
petitions from being
introduced in Congress. John
Quincy Adams – serving as a
backbench Congressman
after his Presidency – railed
against the “Gag Rule” in
spite of Polk’s defiant posture.
Polk would become President
himself in the 1844 Election.
The Mexican-American War
Once he was nominated as the Democratic Party’s
nominee for President, James K. Polk, or “Young
Hickory” – a reference to Andrew Jackson, “Old
Hickory” – openly postured towards war with both
Mexico and England. He declared his intentioins to take
both California and the entire Oregon Country, running
on the campaign slogan, “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!”
Once the Mexican American War started, it hastily
came to an end. The overmatched Mexican Army was
crushed within weeks. Generals Winfield Scott and
Zachary Taylor became heroes. Meanwhile, antiimperialist Americans like Abraham Lincoln and the
Whig Party argued against the war, declaring it a war of
aggression waged to spread slavery into the West.
The Oregon Territory
When he ran for President,
James Polk insisted that he
would declare war on
England to take over the
entire Oregon Country. His
campaign slogan?
“Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!”
In 1846, facing a two front
war against both England and
Mexico – simultaneously –
he opted to negotiate with
the more formidable English.
The United States took most
of the territory to the South
of the 49º N latitude line;
England got the territory to
the North and Vancouver
Island.
The Mexican Cession
The United States forced Mexico to cede most of their land in the Southwest,
paying approximately $20 Million to take the territory. Later, in 1853, the US would
buy the Gadsden Purchase as well – just for the railroad right of ways.
CALIFORNIA
After taking the territory by force as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Americans in the state
almost immediately discovered gold. The 49ers came forth en masse and rapidly. By the year 1850,
California had applied for statehood as a free state, and another major Compromise was in the works.
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was not much of a compromise
at all for the Southern States:
1. California entered the Union as a free state.
2. The slave trade would be abolished in Washington,
D.C.
3. Texas gave up territory in the New Mexico region, in
exchange for the US governments assumption of its
debt.
4. Popular sovereignty would be used in order to
determine the slavery issue in the Western territories
– Utah and New Mexico - regardless of the previous
agreement under the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
5. The Fugitive Slave Law would be strictly enforced, and
Northerners would be required to participate in the
execution of the law.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Abraham Lincoln once called her the “little lady that
started this great war” during the Civil War. The book she
wrote, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, did much to polarize the nation.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 pushed the issue of slavery onto the states residents.
Each territory could vote – squatters and resident alike – as to whether or not slavery
would be allowed in the territories. Soon, conflicts escalated into violence.
“BLEEDING KANSAS”
There is still plenty of question as to how much bloodshed took place in Kansas over the issue of
slavery; however, there was a miniature version of the Civil War being staged there long before the Civil
War began. Popular sovereignty only served to escalate the confrontation to the point of violence.
“BLEEDING KANSAS” –
THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY
IN THE TERRITORIES
1854 – The Kansas-Nebraska Act resolves that
popular sovereignty would determine the
future of slavery in the west. “Bleeding
Kansas” a microcosm and fore-runner of the
Civil War, breaks out in the Kansas Territory.
The act essentially reversed previous
agreements – the Missouri Compromise Line,
for example – by allowing citizens of the
territory in question to determine the future
of slavery in their region.
Violence erupted in Kansas during the 1850s –
most notably when John Brown and his sons
massacred five pro-slavery men along the
banks of Pottawatomie Creek. Rival
governments were established in Kansas – one
pro-slavery and one against. The spilling of
blood over the future of slavery was a
precursor to the Civil War.
PRESTON BROOKS AND CHARLES SUMNER
After Sumner had given a speech disparaging on of his relatives, Preston Brooks savagely beat Sumner on the
floor of the United States Senate. He brutalized him so severely that he snapped a thick walking cane over
Sumner’s skull. From the North, horrified Americans demanded Brooks ouster from the Senate. In the
South, though, Brooks was celebrated as a hero. His constituents sent him new canes.
The Republican Party
Founded on a college campus in
Wisconsin in 1856, the
Republican Party was devoted to
“Free Soil, Free Labor, and Free
Men,” the party was steadfastly
opposed to the expansion of
slavery into the West. The party
first ran a candidate for
President in 1856, John C.
Fremont. It was in 1860,
however, that the Republican
Party finally rose to prominence,
as Abraham Lincoln, with a
minority of the vote – managed
to win a majority of the
Electoral College.
The Dred Scott Case
In the case of Dred Scott V. Sandford, the
Supreme Court issued a ruling which
essentially legalized slavery in every state in
the Union. Dred Scott was not freed when
his master took him into a free state –
because Southerners property rights were
inviolable no matter where they should
choose to relocate. While politicians
considered the contentious issue of the
expansion of slavery into the Western
Territories, the Supreme Court unilaterally
determined that the rights to private
property of Southern slaveholders could
not simply be waived when a he or she
moved from one state in the Union to
another. Hence, if slaves legally owned by a
citizen of a slaveholding state were moved
to a “free state” – well, the free state did
not have the legal right to seize – or free –
his or her personal property: in this case, an
enslaved person.
CHIEF JUSTICE ROGER TANEY
In his ruling, Chief Justice Roger Taney
determined that enslaved AfricanAmericans – and indeed, even free
blacks – “had no rights which the
white man was bound to respect; and
that the negro might justly and lawfully
be reduced to slavery for his benefit.
He was bought and sold and treated
as an ordinary article of merchandise
and traffic, whenever profit could be
made by it."
Taney’s ruling was met with outrage
and defiance on the part of
abolitionists, who redoubled their
efforts to undermine the Fugitive Slave
Law and forbid the expansion of
slavery into the West.
John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry
In 1858, radical abolitionist John Brown and
a handful of his followers marched into
Harper’s Ferry,VA intending to provoke a
slave rebellion on a massive scale. Brown
was a veteran of the fighting in
Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas, and had
devoted his live to the destruction of
slavery. He vowed to purge the land of the
sin of slavery with blood, if necessary.
Although the uprising in Harper’s Ferry was
quickly put down, the South was
nonplussed by the event. A white man had
led slaves into battle, openly advocating
murder, revolution, and bloodshed. And
what was worse in the eyes of most
Southerners, Brown was considered a hero
by many Northern abolitionists, from
Frederick Douglas to Ralph Waldo
Emerson, to William Lloyd Garrison.
Depictions of Brown as a martyr and hero
were inexplicable to those who favored
slavery, yet, they persisted.
The Election of 1860
South Carolina
Secedes, 1860
“South Carolina is too small to be a nation – and too large
to be an insane asylum…” – James Petigru