Script under Read More
Lindsey Above is a poster threatening all colored people that they could be taken under the Fugitive Slave Law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slave_kidnap_post_1851_boston.jpg
When the Compromise of 1850 was approved by Congress in September of that year The Fugitive Slave Law was inherently approved as well since it was a part of the Compromise. The Fugitive Slave Law, or the Bloodhound law as referred to by abolitionists, stated that slaves were to be captured and returned to their masters. Furthermore, it required that citizens aid in procuring the fugitives and not interfere with the law. If caught helping a runaway in any way could mean up to six months of imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. On the other hand, if you were an officer who had procured and returned a runaway slave you were liable to gain a promotion or bonus. All suspected runaway slaves who were captured were not entitled to a trial by jury and were “proved” a slave owner’s property often times simply by nothing but their sworn word. This meant that many free blacks were illegally taken and sold into slavery under the protection of the Fugitive Slave Law. The law itself was believed to be unjust to many abolitionists so it really drove the issue of slavery home for them. They would be forced to make the decision to defy the law thereby placing themselves in danger and stand for what they believed in, or admit defeat and abide by their country’s bidding sacrificing others instead of themselves. Not long after, Harriet Beecher Stowe published her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin partly in response to this law and also to highlight the true evil of slavery. Eventually, in 1864 the law was repealed due to widespread opposition to it which rendered it impractical and inoperable. All in all, only about 300 slaves were caught and returned to their masters, therefore, even at the start it wasn’t much of a law at all and morality persevered in the end. · Citations: "Fugitive Slave Acts." n.pag. History. Web. 1 Apr 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts>. Stephen After the Civil War, thousands of emancipated slaves inhabited the south. These freed blacks were supposed to have equal rights in the government and in their towns. However, This was not the case as many southern states passed laws that inhibited blacks from participating freely in legislative processes, especially those related to suffrage. These so called “black codes” were designed to keep blacks at the same socioeconomic level they had maintained before the war. In many ways, they succeeded. After emancipation most blacks only had experience in farming and because of this could not elevate their status as free men. They were often forced to work as sharecroppers for their original slave owners, which was almost just as bad as slavery. Southern whites assumed that blacks would fall back into the cheap labor source that they always had been, while northerners assumed that blacks were receiving their freedom in
the south. Life in the south became increasingly difficult for blacks especially with the rise of terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the continued oppression of Jim Crow laws and black codes. It came as a surprise to many Americans both northern and southern when a great number of blacks started migrating from many southern states to Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. These blacks, also known as exodusters, started leaving the south in the early 1870s but their migration didn't become extremely noticeable until the great exodus of 1879. Prominent blacks like Benjamin Singleton and Henry Adams helped to publicize the movement and encouraged a great deal of blacks to make the move west. Singleton organized the Tennessee Real Estate and Homestead association which helped blacks from Tennessee move to settlements in Kansas. The reason Kansas was so attractive to freed blacks was because famed abolitionist John Brown had started it and blood had been spilled to keep slavery out of the state. To freed blacks in the south, Kansas became a holy land. In 1879 over 6,000 blacks emigrated there from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. There were tales of complete freedom in Kansas and free passage. Although this wasn’t the case, blacks still experienced much more peace in Kansas then there was to be had in many places in the south. Between the years of 1970 and 1980 over 50,000 blacks migrated to Kansas Oklahoma and Texas. Stephen The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a bill written and backed by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois. He pushed it through congress in 1854 with the hopes of opening up the new territory to settlers and completing the transcontinental railroad. The only problem Douglass faced was the issue of slavery. If Douglas decided to go with the precedent set by the Missouri compromise the new states would become free-states. If he decided to try and make them slave states it would be in direct violation of the Missouri compromise. Douglas decided that he would try and shoot for something in the middle. He came up with the idea of popular sovereignty, which mandated that the states inhabitants vote on whether the state would become a free or slave state. He thought that he wouldn’t make any enemies by not taking a side on the issue of slavery. Instead, he angered almost every northerner in the U.S. The creation of popular sovereignty in the Kansas-Nebraska territory meant that the Missouri Compromise, which had dealt with the issue of slavery in states for over thirty years, was unconstitutional. The Missouri compromise stated that no slave state could be admitted to the union if it was above the 36˚ 30’ latitude and in the Louisiana territory. The Kansas Nebraska territory fit both of those qualifications but was once again being opened to the idea of slavery. Many Northerners saw this as an aggressive maneuver by pro-slavery southerners and democrats to create more slave states. The Republican Party was formed as a result of the act because of the great number of people uniting in opposition to it. When it came time to vote on the future of the states pro-slavery and anti-slavery people flooded the two states to try and win the state for their cause. This resulted in bloodshed and what is now known as “Bleeding Kansas.” Douglass was successful in the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska act and did create a more prosperous future for his home-state of Illinois. He did, however, make many enemies by ending the Missouri compromise and probably cost himself the presidential election of 1860.
Citations: Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, Thomas Andrew Bailey, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print. Popular Sovereignty, the foundation of not just ours, but others government. The people can decide for themselves what they want, and vote for people to represent their opinions. In situations like these a large populous tends to stay happy, but what if there are people in that population who don't quite agree with the principle itself? This was the case in 1850's America. The concept of popular sovereignty was spearheaded by the late 18th century thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke. Their idea of the social contract spread globally with their writing, and sparked the fires of revolution across the world. The people wanted power, so they took it, and that power still stands. As the times changed a divide grew between the states. The North needed their goods protected, and the south needed theirs cheap. They both wanted power, so as the laws of man would predict: conflict ensued. By the mid 1800s Westward expansion had led to statehood past the Mississippi. The south had Missouri and Texas, and the north had gotten Maine. Kansas and Nebraska were next to become states, but their preference on slavery was undecided. Popular Sovereignty was reborn by Steven Douglas. The Democratic senator proposed that the voters in the dew states determine its discretion on slavery. The issue was this was the lack of documentation when voting, so anyone from the slave-state Missouri could come and vote for slavery in nearby Kansas. Eventually this led to a fight between pro and anti-slavery voters called “bleeding Kansas.” This calamity caused an opposition to popular sovereignty, not quite the same as the idea that founded this country, but popular sovereignty nonetheless. What we can take from this that compromise over any issue is a difficult task. A task so difficult that it can rip a nation apart from the inside out. The conclusion the tale of popular sovereignty was a civil war, but the union weathered the storm, and we're here now still voting for what we believe in, just maybe not as democratically as we did then. By- Patrick McPherson Primary Source- Common Sense Railroad- The railroad was a tremendous innovation and was heavily used by the Confederate army. The railroad allowed immensely large amounts of troops to be moved very quickly and effectively around the country. Armies were able to move quickly so that they could respond to the areas that were of concern.
Rifle musket- The rifle musket and the Minie ball were very significant advances in weapon technology. Conventional firearms before the civil war had a range of only about 250 yards and at that range were not very accurate. The new firearms had a range greater than 1000 yards and were very accurate. This extended range greatly changed the way that battlefield tactics worked and that opposing armies attacked each other. Telegraph- The telegraph was a new invention at the time and was being used to send messages and orders to different generals so that they could converge at certain locations to best assist their allies. This was also beneficial in that it helped link the CSA and US governments, allowing communication to flow very quickly. Ironclad- The civil war was not just as war of armies, there were a few naval battles. The technology used by both navies was advancing. Both the Union and Confederate constructed ships called ironclads. These were the first iron ships of war. Barely rising above the surface, the ironclads were heavy but they were able to resist naval fire more effectively than wooden ships. This new technology was put to the test in the battle of USS Monitor vs CSS Merrimack. Balloons- Battlefield tactics were only able to be seen from the ground before the civil war. Hot air balloons were used to see enemy troop formations so that an army could be prepared for an enemy assault or so that they could most effectively defeat the opposing army. These balloon observers soon became a target and were often shot down. -Thomas The above image is Robert E. Lee’s resignation papers. He resigned from his position of the Union Army so that he could join the southern forces during the civil war. Lee also advanced in position significantly when he changed sides. When he was a member of the US Army, he was merely a colonel in the cavalry. Following his resignation, he became a Confederate general. Lee resigned because he could not fight against Virginia but he also received a much better position fighting for the confederacy. Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014 -Thomas During the age of abolition, the Emancipation Proclamation, and a steady yet slow trickle of blacks in political and public employment, misinterpreted words were floating around the nation. Many slaves who were “freed” always understood that when they were freed, they were literally free people. Living like whites; only because that’s what they expected from the term freedom- they were constantly treated unjustly and rarely ever received the greats benefits of their white brethren. Even prior to the end of the Civil War, blacks were enlisted in the Union forces to fight for a cause in their favor. Upon the end of the battles, however, the life that they lived was not what they hoped to have seen for them in years following their enlistment. Often times running from discrimination in the acts of violence, these free blacks were nothing but legal torment in a human. Looked at as property, they were never truly free, but rather a misunderstood facet to a white man’s dominion. This video depicts the sad yet true life of a ‘freed’ slave as he hides from his white supremacist slave hunter, Doug Whiler. Much like thousands of other “freed” slaves who thought slavery was over for them, there was a constant, never ending search to return slaves (valuable, expensive property) to their ‘rightful owners.’ Runaway Slave **Knocking on the door** Brenna Brown: Quick, hide! Washington Irene Metalflyer: *cry* Slavehunter Doug Whiler: Open up. Ma’am, I’m looking for a slave. He dun ran away from me. He thinks he’s free. May I search your premises? Brenna Brown: uhh sure. Doug Whiler: You ain’t be hiding no slave, are you? Brenna Brown: No sir. Doug Whiler: You sure? Brenna Brown: Yes sir! **Loud crawling across the room** Doug Whiler: What was that noise, ma’am? Brenna Brown: Ohh, umm, the chickens. Doug Whiler: Chickens? Brenna Brown: Chickens. Doug Whiler: I don’t think chickens crawl, ma’am, I heard some crawling. Brenna Brown: They-they- crawl and they peck. Doug Whiler: You sure? Brenna Brown: Yeah. Doug Whiler: Was this door like this when I entered? Brenna Brown: Yeah! Because, I opened it for you. Doug Whiler: **Screaming** There he be! There he b-ohh! Code blue, code blue! Washington Irene Metalflyer: I’m free, I ran away, I’m free! When runaway slaves like Washington Irene Metalflyer would embark on trips up north, they would often times have to scavenge in the dark, anonymous, outdoor worlds while avoiding attention from all people. Their routes were typically inconsistent over time and always had the possibility of housing a few slave hunters.
-Nick Fasanello |