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.”