Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev -- Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! These words were spoken by President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin at the Wall that separated East and West Germany. Many thought it was a provocative speech that would threaten efforts at Glasnost and Perestroika. It proved to be a turning point in the cold war. A year and a half later the “wall” was torn down. I did not agree with Reagan’s economic policies, but applauded his grit in facing down the Russians. I believe his stance on pursuing the “star wars” weapons initiative was what finally bankrupted the Soviets as they could not afford to compete with the United States anymore. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans -- born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. I remember this speech well. President John F. Kennedy inspired the youth of America to come and serve our country. Carl Sandburg was our poet laureate. We were all very idealistic. After the prosperity of the 1950’s and the cold war, we were ready for a new, young and vibrant president. Eisenhower had been grandfatherly and kept us safe, but President Kennedy told us the torch was passed to a new generation of Americans – that was us. We had no idea of the terrible things to come. The assassination of JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the tragedy of Viet Nam, and our cities burning with racial strife.

The Progressives Woodrow Wilson and FDR

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world. I have chosen a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s third term State of the Union Address to Congress in 1941. We had not yet entered the war or been bombed by Japan at Pearl Harbor. There were many who wanted to remain isolationists even though Europe was being devastated and Great Britain was putting up a brave front. In this speech known as the Four Freedoms speech, he outlines our purpose for supporting the allies in WWII. This is the basis for the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was also espoused by President Wilson in his Four Points speech.

December 3, 2013

"Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." This is Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and in it he takes the south to task for slavery. He says that he hopes that the war ends before every drop blood drawn from the lash shall be paid by the sword. He feels the Civil War is a scourge on both the North and the South for allowing slavery.

November 26,2013

"I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity. They defined with tolarable distinctness, in what respects they did consider all men created equal - equal in "certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I chose this quote of Lincoln's from his speech on the Dred Scott Decision. I agree with Lincoln that our forefathers meant that all men were created equal. Lincoln in one of his most famous speeches is quoted as saying "A house divided against itself cannot stand...this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free." Thomas Jefferson even though a slave owner knew it to be wrong and believed that slavery would eventually end. The Dred Scott decision would be a catalyst to the beginning of the Civil War. "Lincoln first sought to prevent secession and then to end slavery with compronise and compensation." Julia Ward Howe, a white abolitionist, felt that there should be more positive lyrics to the tune of "John Brown's Body Lies A Moldering in the Grave," so she wrote the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," to be used with the same tune. Howe's hus band had entertained John Brown in their home. The Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments published this broadside with the lyrics. Julia Ward Howe. "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments. Broadside. Rare Book and Special Collections. (4-20) I chose this article because I used to play John Brown's Body on the piano and never realized it was the same tune as the Battle Hymn of the Republic' It is indeed fitting that John Brown's heroism is commemorated in a song with better lyrics than John Brown's body lies a moldering int he grave to Glory glory halleluah his truth goes marching on. An African American Medal of Honor Winner Christian A. Fleetwood. Diary, September 24, 1864. Holograph manuscript. Christian A. Fleetwood Papers, Manuscript Division. (4-14) These pages of Christian Fleetwood's diary detail his actions during a battle at Chaffin's farm near Richmond, Virginia, on September 29, 1864, which led to his receipt of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Fleetwood was one of fourteen African American men who received the medal for meritorious service during the war. Christian A. Fleetwood in uniform. Albumen print, carte de visite, 1884. Manuscript Division. (4-15) Fleetwood's regiment, the 4th U. S. Colored Infantry, saw action in Virginia. His diary also documents North Carolina campaigns and President Lincoln's visit to the front lines in June 1864.

Frederick Douglas - Part 2

“In no sound philosophy can slavery be justified. 'Tis at war with the best feelings of the human heart. 'Tis at war with Christianity. Wherever we find an individual justify[ing] slavery on such a pretext you will find him also justifying the slavery of any human beings on the earth. 'Tis the old argument on the part of tyrants. Tyrants have ever justified their tyranny by arguing on the inferiority of their victims. The Slavery of only part or portion of the human family, is a matter of interest to every member of the human family; slavery being the enemy of all mankind.” http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/support8.html This is an excerpt from a speech that Frederick Douglas gave in Ireland around 1846 at the beginning of the famine that overtook Ireland. After escaping from slavery in 1838, Frederick Douglas met William Lloyd Garrison an avid abolitionist who hired Douglas as a lecturer. After Douglas published his book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave.” He traveled the country lecturing and his book became a best seller. His fame brought with it danger from people who opposed him. He left the country for a tour of England, Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, he met Daniel O’Connell, a great Irish Nationalist who was to become a great friend and major influence. He is pointing out that tyrants, in order to justify their crimes against humanity argue that their victims are inferior. We have seen this same tyranny by Hitler against anyone non-Aryan and the English against the Irish. And that slavery in any form diminishes all of mankind. I have chosen this quote because while I have always been against slavery and have much admired Frederick Douglas, I did not know that he helped or was involved in the fight for Irish sovereignty or “Home Rule” as it was called. In reading about Frederick Douglas’ life, I have been amazed at his strength and intelligence. He is almost self-educated and yet, a brilliant writer and lecturer. He even influenced our great president Abraham Lincoln.

Week 9 Elizabeth Cady Stanton Frederick Douglas

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. I choose a part of the Declaration of Sentiments which Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented at the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. This was the first convention in support of women’s rights. It was attended by over 300 people. The Declaration was signed by 64 women and 32 men. Frederick Douglas signed as the only black man. She cleverly used the Declaration of Independence which she amended to read that all men and women were created equal. Women were not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. I choose this passage because it is almost impossible to believe that women were not considered equal to men. These brave forward thinking women fought for the abolition of slavery as well as the rights of women. Women had no rights to vote or own property. They were treated as second class citizens under the law and subject to their fathers or husbands. Women did not get the right to vote until 1920.

Part 2 of Week 8

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 S. M. Africanus. The Fugitive Slave Law. Hartford, Connecticut, 1850. Rare Book and Special Collections Division. (3-5) This controversial law allowed slave-hunters to seize alleged fugitive slaves without due process of law and prohibited anyone from aiding escaped fugitives or obstructing their recovery. Because it was often presumed that a black person was a slave, the law threatened the safety of all blacks, slave and free, and forced many Northerners to become more defiant in their support of fugitives. S. M. Africanus presents objections in prose and verse to justify noncompliance with this law. Anthony Burns--Capture of A Fugitive Slave This is a portrait of fugitive slave Anthony Burns, whose arrest and trial in Boston under the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 incited riots and protests by white and black abolitionists and citizens of Boston in the spring of 1854. The portrait is surrounded by scenes from his life, including his sale on the auction block, escape from Richmond, Virginia, capture and imprisonment in Boston, and his return to a vessel to transport him to the South. Within a year after his capture, abolitionists were able to raise enough money to purchase Burns's freedom. The unfairness of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 along with the Mexican War are what finally drove David Thoreau to his civil disobedience protest. He did not pay his taxes and was thrown into jail as his way to protest in a non-violent manner. He did not want to be a part of a government who advocated these injustices.

Week 8

How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also”. I chose this Henry Thoreau quote because I think it sums up his feeling that as long as the government of the United States practiced and condoned slavery everything else they say and stand for is hypocritical. Our government professes that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With one exception, they did not extend these rights to slaves. It was a matter of greed over ruling morality. Thoreau considers civil disobedience a moral and social duty of American citizens.. The churches with the exception of the Puritans and Quakers did not oppose slavery. I admire Thoreau for voicing his objection to the wrongs he saw in our government. In his “civil disobedience” instead to advocating violence he simply believed in non-participation. He refused to pay his taxes and therefore refused to fund or be a part of a government he found to be morally wrong. His philosophy of “civil disobedience was later a model for future leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Benjamin Lay, a Quaker who saw slavery as a "notorious sin," addresses this 1737 volume to those who "pretend to lay claim to the pure and holy Christian religion." Although some Quakers held slaves, no religious group was more outspoken against slavery from the seventeenth century until slavery's demise. Quaker petitions on behalf of the emancipation of African Americans flowed into colonial legislatures and later to the United States Congress. Benjamin Lay. All Slave Keepers that Keep the Innocent in Bondage . . . . Philadelphia: Printed for the Author, 1737. Franklin Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division. (3-22) I have always wondered how the churches in the United States could call themselves Christian and condone slavery. I am happy to find that there was a church who was outspoken against slavery. The Roman Catholic and the protestant churches were a part of the system. They had a higher moral duty to stand up for their fellow man. They were very hypocritical. Slavery is against everything God and Jesus Christ stood for. I knew very little about the Quaker religion except for the fact that they oppose war. At this time in history they were very courageous people and it is good to hear that all men did not turn a blind eye to the horrors experienced by these innocent people. The Quakers, Benjamin Law and Henry Thoreau share a belief in non-violent protest and civil disobedience. Plea for the Suppression of the Slave Trade Anthony Benezet. Observations on the Inslaving, Importing and Purchasing of Negroes. Germantown, Pennsylvania: Christopher Sower, 1760. American Imprints Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division. (3-1) In this plea for the abolition of the slave trade, Anthony Benezet, a Quaker of French Huguenot descent, pointed out that if buyers did not demand slaves, the supply would end. "Without purchasers," he argued, "there would be no trade; and consequently every purchaser as he encourages the trade, becomes partaker in the guilt of it." He contended that guilt existed on both sides of the Atlantic. There are Africans, he alleged, "who will sell their own children, kindred, or neighbors." Benezet also used the biblical maxim, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," to justify ending slavery. Insisting that emancipation alone would not solve the problems of people of color, Benezet opened schools to prepare them for more productive lives.

Anti-Federalist

Assignment (Due 10/29): Choose a passage from one of the Anti-Federalist writers, write out the passage and give your interpretation of the passage, then explain what this passage means to you or why you chose it. Letter IV “…It is true, we are not disposed to differ much at present, about religion; but when we are making a constitution, it is to be hoped, for ages and millions yet unborn, why not establish the free exercise of religion, as part of the national compact. There are other essential rights, which we have justly understood to be the rights of freemen; as freedom from hasty and unreasonable search warrants, warrants not founded on oath and not issued with due caution, for searching and seizing men’s papers, property, and persons. The trials by jury in civil causes…” I chose this passage because it is the basis of our Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. I think that our founding fathers, some Federalists, some anti-Federalist came up with an amazing document. This document has stood up for over 200 years because it can be amended by the people governed. Just as our government is set up with checks and balances, I think that the argument between a powerful Federal Government versus the rights of the states has provided a balance of power. Go to the link for "American Politics." Look up the section "Federalism" and explain the differences between horizontal and vertical federalism. Veritical Federalism - The Constitution has granted to the Federal government power over foreign policy, defense, monetary policy and the regulation of commerce between the States. The rest of government is left, in theory, to the States and to local government which derive their authority from the States. http://toyatpol166.blogspot.com/2013/01/horizontalvertical-federalism.html Horizontal Federalism – is power divided between the 50 States. They have the power to establish laws, punish crime, build and staff schools, build roads. They receive funding from the Federal Government when they are in compliance with their policies.

Assignment 5

The Federalist No. 54 James Madison “We subscribe to the doctrine,” might one of our Southern brethren observe, “that representation relates more immediately to persons, and taxation more immediately to property, and we join in the application of this distinction to the case of our slaves. But we must deny the fact that slaves are considered property, and in no respect whatever as persons. The true state of the case is that they partake of both these qualities: being considered by our laws, in some respects, as persons and in other respects as property. This relates to the 3/5 rule which considered every 5 slaves as 3 people when it comes to representation under the Constitution. Southerners considered slaves property until it became an advantage to them to consider them people. The states representation was apportioned by the number of people in each state for the House of Representatives. “ If southern States counted all slaves their representation in congress would increase but so would their share of the government's tax load. Northern States would argue if slaves are property they should be counted in estimates of taxation which are founded on property but excluded from representation based on census. We know how this was resolved in the Constitution so that the southern States would ratify it. ....”. http://www.teaparty911.com/info/federalist-papers-summaries/no_54.htm Alexander Hamilton Federalist 78 There is no position which depends on clearer principles, than that every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than the principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid. I think that this is giving power to the Supreme Court to uphold the Constitution and to review decisions in light of this document. The Supreme Court has duty to strike down laws that are in opposition to the Constitution. It is in keeping with the separation of powers and our “checks and balance” system of government. Hamilton was making sure that the legislature would not be able to pass laws that would redistribute wealth.

Assignment 4

Article IV, Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several states. A person charged in any State with treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the Crime. No person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of an Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such service or Labour be due. I chose this Article because it is alarming to me that the Constitution has a clause referring to the escaping of slaves. I am a history major and did not know this fact. It is a disgrace. I know that it was a problem with the Framers who were for the most part against slavery, but knew that if they had a clause freeing the slaves the Constitution would not have passed into law.Read moreShow less

Assignment 3

All Men have a Right to remain in a State of Nature as long as they please: And in case of intollerable [sic] Oppression, Civil or Religious, to leave the Society they belong to, and enter into another.–When Men enter into Society, it is by voluntary consent; and they have a right to demand and insist upon the performance of such conditions, And previous limitations as form an equitable original compact. (p. 40) Samuel Adams We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness (p. 59). Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson I chose these quotes because they refer back to the principles of John Locke who espoused the idea of “natural rights” which consisted of representative government, individual liberty and private property. He is also considered one of the founding figures of The Enlightenment on which our Declaration of Independence is based. G.K. Chesterton considers these ideas to be the “creed of America.”

G.K. Chesterton - 2nd Assignment

.: it is founded on a creed, the meaning of the creed is best captured in The Declaration of Independence: The American Constitution does resemble the Spanish Inquisition in this: that it is founded on a creed. America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence; perhaps the only piece of practical politics that is also theoretical politics and also great literature. It enunciates that all men are equal in their claim to justice, that governments exist to give them that justice, and that their authority is for that reason just. It certainly does condemn anarchism, and it does also by inference condemn atheism, since it clearly names the Creator as the ultimate authority from whom these equal rights are derived. Nobody expects a modern political system to proceed logically in the application of such dogmas, and in the matter of God and Government it is naturally God whose claim is taken more lightly. The point is that there is a creed, if not about divine, at least about human things (p. 8). I think Chesterton is referring to his idea of a "civil religion" which he considers "friendship based on differences.' He believes it is a creed based on the principles of equalty and justice and it is universal like the Christian religions. Of course, we have seen abuses to these ideals women and men of different races were not afforded the same freedom and equality under the law. Still it is a magnificent idea that is unique to the United States. He points out the "Melting Pot metaphor as a mix of culture. We are not confined to the same influences as Europeans. We are not an exclusive Anglo-Saxon culture. We are a mix of many cultures that invigorate us with many different ideas and skills. America is not stagnant.

Homework 9/17/13 Bourne Quote

"But if freedom menas a democratic cooperation in determining the ideals and purposes and industrial and social institutions of a country, then the immigrant has not been free, and the Anglo-Saxon element is guilty of just what every dominant race is guilty of in every European country: the impostion of its culture upon the minority peoples." I think that Randolph Bourne is saying in his article in The Atlantic Monthly that if the immigrant is forced to give up his cultural heritage in order to become what the Anglo-Saxon thinks constitutes an American, this is tyranny. Most people who came to America were fleeing from some type of oppression whether it was religious, financial or any other type of servitude. The Germans, Bohemians or French did not come here to become Anglo-Saxons just as the Anglo-Saxons did not come to America to adopt the culture of the Native American Indians. I chose this quote because I feel that the greatness of America is the diversity of its people. Yet, though this article was written before the First World War, it is still true today. Each new wave of immigrants brings new vitality to our culture. Upon arrival each new immigrant group faces the same discrimination as the last group. People are afraid of change and not very inclusive at first.