American history
Date
Question: After independence, one of the recurring concerns of the American Republic was its survival in world hostile to any form of democracy. But the greatest threat was internal or domestic disunity. What led to the break-up of the country in the 1860s?
The breakup of America in the 1860s was mainly because of one reason, slavery. Seven states in the south that were followed later by four others declared their independence from the united states and stated a new union known as the confederate states (confederacy). The north however refused to let them go and therefore the American civil war ensued.
The north and the south had tension for decades because of slavery, but when Abraham Lincoln a republican become president the tension exploded and caused Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama to act on their threat of secession. Arkansas Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina joined them after a few weeks.
Even though small scale farming was still a major contributor to the economy, the north had started to rapidly modernize and diversify their economy. There was big investment in the transport sector such as roads and rails that lead to the industrialization of the north. Banking, insurance and other financial industries were starting to take root. Communicational and media was also growing with magazines, books and newspapers being widely available.
On the other hand, the souths economy was still run on large scale farming which was dependent on slaves. Slavery was very profitable for the south and so the south had invested a lot of money in the slavery institution. The price of cotton for example was skyrocketing and this meant that more slaves were needed and therefore slave trading become attractive as the slave’s value raised.
Because slavery was not a lucrative business for the north as compared to the south coupled with their interest in protecting free labor, the 1850s saw a rise in demands for the freeing of slaves. The southerners however felt that the eradication of slavery would mean the death of their large scale farming and the institution which they saw as a threat to their livelihoods. The election of Abraham Lincoln therefore only served to accelerate the civil war and the split as the southerners believed that his government would initiate legal action to make slavery illegal.
(a) What does the expression “the United States of America” mean? How does the definition reflect the question of “Who’s the Boss?” What are “States’ rights”?
The united states of America consist of 50 states one district and other jurisdictions. This name was adopted by the second continental congress of 1776, before that the it was known as the “united colonies.” Thomas Jefferson is credited with the name which he used in the declaration of independence when he titled, “the unanimous declaration of the thirteen united states of America”
It is not known where the name united colonies came from, but john Adams is known to have popularized it as he used the name in his letter to the inhabitants of Massachusetts in February of 1775. The united colonies was the name used to refer to the 13 colonies before the declaration of independence. It was John Adams who proposed that the colonies change into states in congress in march 1775. The articles of confederation drafts of July 8. 1776 had the “United States of America” when it was submitted to congress but it was in march 1781 that the articles were ratified (constitution center, 2021).
The united states of America therefore emerged from the American revolutionary war that brought together the 13 east coast British colonies and who later after independence incorporated other states through admitting them and also through war. There has always been the question of whether to use is or are when qualifying the United states i.e. the united states is or the United States Are. Is the united states of America a singular entity comprising of many states Or is it many independent states joining to form one? The united states of America is a federal republic where the people are represented by leaders whom they elect both in the state and at the national level.
The states are represented in the national government through congress which is dived into the upper house (senate) and the lower house (house of representatives). The house of representatives is where federal laws are made and passed. The seats that each state gets depends on the population residing in the state. The states are also represented in the upper house by two senators who are also elected by the voters. The senators confirm federal judges and cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and also approves treaties. The senate is also where trails for the impeached happens.
State rights are the rights and powers that are granted to individual states by the American constitution ( Longley, 2019). The federal government should not interfere with the rights of the state implied to them through the 10th amendment of the American constitution. However, the constitution supremacy clause states that if a state law conflicts with a federal law the federal law is to be applied and that the laws enacted by the state must not be in contravention of the constitution.
Who’s the boss? to me there can be no question of who is the boss between the state and the federal government because the people chose their representatives to represent their views both in the state and federal government therefore the people are the boss and all the laws passed weather in the federal or state level are a representation of their views.
(b) What is “sectionalism”? What issues did it involve besides slavery? Which one(s) nearly split the country before the later Civil War of the 1860s? Which issues favored the North – why/how? Which ones favored the South – why/how?
Sectionalism is when people align themselves with certain parts of the country especially when there are two opposing and competing views. Sectionalism occurs in many parts of the world and can be fueled by religious, political and even ethnic differences. In the 1800s America sectionalism was rampant especially between the north and the south because of the different lifestyles, political views and social structures that existed between the two.
The war in 1812 was one of the catalyst of the differences and tension between the south and the north. At the Hartford convention that was held as a result of this conflict the north complained about the trade embargo that the south had placed on them making it had to run their industries. The north was also not happy that all the presidents were coming from the south.
The differences in economic activity i.e. the north leaning more on industrialization and the south large scale farming meant that the interests often collided and this there lead to an increase in sectionalism. But of all the issues the north and the south had none was as divisive as the issue of slavery. The north wanted slavery abolished but the south felt that if it were to be abolished its economy would be at risk.
Slavery in colonial times (1600s-1700s) and in the early Republic (late 1700s) existed in both the North and South. How did it come to be abolished in the North? What is the difference between American Abolitionism and the American Anti-Slavery movement? (Don’t confuse the American movements with the British ones.) How did the North’s economic interests help to perpetuate slavery?
Although it was less entrenched in the north slavery was practiced both in the north and the south. The north profited from slavery as there were norther merchants who profited through trading slaves rum and molasses (Klein, 2019). The north also gained economically by importuning law materials such as cotton and from the south for their industries. These industries provided employment for thousands of people in the north. The industries also created very wealthy people in the north as the textile industries become some of the largest textile producers in the world.
The state constitution of Vermont of 1777 was one of the first constitution to attempt to pass anti-slavery laws. By the early 1800s only over a quarter of the norths African Americans population were enslaved. By the 1840s slavery had virtually disappeared in the north, although abolishing slavery in the north was easier than the south, the northern abolitionist still had to dismantle the institution legally.
It took time to abolish the slavery institution in the north because there was a powerful resistance to the abolitionist in almost all the northern states. Attempts that were made by several colonies to restrict slavery mainly to prevent interbreeding and also to encourage more European migration. Religious institutions such as the northern Quakers helped in abolishing slavery as their members were prohibited from holding slaves. Other Christian sect such as the puritans also held that slavery was in contrast with their beliefs.
Abolitionist also used the war for independence to argue their case that the ideology of natural justice also applied to the enslaved. The war served as a disruption making slavery less economically important. Many colonies began prohibiting importation of slaves as a step towards abolition of slavery. In order to force the repeal of the intolerable acts by the British the continental congress of 1774 banned the colonies from the importation of slaves as part of the trade boycott. Some states such as Connecticut and Rhode Island offered freedom for slaves if they enlisted.
The first laws that attempted to barn slavery outright were ignored and after several attempts some states including Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania came up with the after post nati (after birth) statutes. The statutes meant that children born in slavery after a specific date were to be freed after attaining a certain age. In Connecticut and Rhode Island children born in slavery after 1st march 1784 were to be freed after attaining the age of 18 for girls and 21 for boys. In Pennsylvania those born in slavery were to be freed at 28 years of age.
In Massachusetts a court decision in 1783 held that slavery was incompatible with the granted rights in the1780 constitution therefore abolished slavery. New York and new jersey had resisted abolition bills, eventually New York finally passed an act that freed all children born as slaves after the 4th of July 1799 after attaining the age 25 for females and 28 for males. In 1817 there was a new statute that provided that all slaves were to be freed in 1827. In New Jersey statute was passed to free all children born in slavery after 1 July 1804 at age 21 for girls and 25 for males.
(d) Did opposition to slavery mean support for racial equality? How were blacks treated in the “free” North? Why did some runaway slaves flee to British Canada instead of staying in the North? Were free-born blacks and legally-freed ex-slaves safe in the North from enslavement or re-enslavement? What was the “colonization scheme,” and what did this imply for racial co-existence in America?
There were a lot of abolitionist that believed that not only were slaves to be freed but that they were to be treated as full and equal members of the society. They saw the constitution then as unjust and as tool that was used to protect enslavers. Abolitionist such as William Lloyd garrison went as far as to burn a copy of the constitution. They were other people who although did not believe in the slavery institution they also did not see the slaves as equal to whites. Abraham Lincoln was one such person although he did not believe in the institution of slavery, he did not believe that black and white people should have the same rights. Lincoln when accused of fronting negro rights in the senate debate of Illinois said “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.”
Like his political hero Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln believed that black people in America should be resettled in Africa or central America. Jefferson was a slave owner who disliked some aspects of slavery but did not see how black and white Americans could live together. They both supported colonization in central America and argued that it would be better for the white and black to be separated since they could not live together.
Although free blacks in the north were rarely treated as equals. Many northern whites treated them with suspicion and had deep racial prejudice towards them. The free black population in the north was made up of emancipated and manumission slaves there was also a growing number of fugitive slaves who fled their owners in the south. Although their rights varied from state to state they were faced with discriminatory laws such as the ban on interracial marriages and some states prohibited them from voting. These laws made sure that although free they were always relegated to second class citizens both socially and economically.
Because of the fugitive slave law of 1793 many run-away slaves lived under constant fear of being kidnapped and being sold back to slavery in the south. The law which allowed the local governments to capture and return run-away slaves to their owners was one of the main reasons why some slaves opted to free to Canada because they feared for their safety.
(e) How did the Constitution benefit and protect slave states?
(i) E.g. Under Article I, sec 2, sub-sec 3 of the Constitution, how were slaves factored into a state’s representation in the House of Representatives, even though slaves couldn’t vote and weren’t legally considered to be “persons”? And why was representation so important in the lower House of Congress?
The constitution benefited and protected slave states by using slave numbers to give slave states greater representation which they then used to make sure that the institution of slavery remained intact. Under article 1, sec2, sub sec 3 also known as the three fifths compromise, the constitution allowed the use of slave population by adding three fifths towards the state total population. These numbers were used to increase the number of seats of the slave states even though slaves did not have voting rights. However, blacks who were free were counted as a full person. Slave states wanted to have more numbers as it would increase their representation in the house but did not want the number of slaves included in the population as it would increase their tax obligation therefore the three fifth compromise was reached.
Also, Article 1 section 9 or the slave import limitations prohibited congress from regulating the transatlantic slave trade until 1808 (Perea, 2016). Article V of the constitution made sure that the slave import limitation could not be amended. The fugitive slave clause article IV sec 2 gave the slave owners the right to pursue and recapture a run-away slave from anywhere.
Separation of Church & State (also indicate how effective it was in practice during colonial times, and the 1700s to 1800s.)
In the bill of rights, the first clause states “congress shall make no law respecting an established religion.” This clause prohibits government both federal and state from advancing any religion. Although the clause separates church from state, it does not prohibit religion from public life or politics.
The concept of separation of church and state was first derived from Thomas Jefferson’s in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist association in Connecticut “separation between church and state” in the letter he expressed that he believed that religion was a matter between man and his God and that there should be no state religion and everyone was free to practice his religion. Before the first amendment was ratified some states already had established churches (vile, 2009). In colonial America religious freedom was taken to mean that a state could practice religion saw fit. This meant that there was an approved form of church usually a protestant church. In Virginia for example the declaration of rights was adopted in 1776 declaring religious freedom a right but the Anglican church was still seen as the central religion. It was not until 1786 that the Virginia act for establishing religious freedom was passed. The act was based on Thomas Jefferson draft on which he proposed an establishment of religious freedoms.
Massachusetts disestablished the congregational church in 1823, a clergyman by the name of john Leland had consistently argued against established churches. Leland wrote a piece in 1791 in which he stated that every man was at liberty to serve God in the way he dimmed fit and because government could not answer for individuals on judgment day they should not control religious matters.
In 1829 there was a public outcry in New York because of a revision of its statues that was made in order to employ chaplains for its legislature, but in 1832 a special committee recommended against it and also banned prayers in public assemblies. In 1842 the state started funding the nonsectarian schools, before that money from the state tax went into funding religious affiliated schools.
In 1809 Jacob Henry a Jewish man got elected into the house of commons in North Carolina. He could not take his oath of office because despite the first amendment the constitution of North Carolina required acceptance of the protestant religion. Henry had to defend his rights after a member suggested to unseat him and eventually persuaded the house to seat him.
References
Constitution center. (2021). On this day the name “United states of America” becomes official. https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/blog/today-the-name-united-states- of-america-becomes-offici
Klein, C. (2019). Deeper roots of northern slavery unearthed. https://www.history.com/news/deeper-roots-of-northern-slavery-unearthed
Longley, R. (2019). Understanding states’ rights and the 10th amendment. https://www.thoughtco.com/states-rights-4582633
Perea, J. (2016). The proslavery constitution. https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/the-proslavery-constitution/
Vile, J, R. (2009). Established churches in early America. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/801/established-churches-in-early-america
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