Did you know? This is what honest education about racism looks like:
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ATTACKS "MERCILESS SAVAGES" AS ONE OF THE REASONS
TO START A NEW NATION
TO START A NEW NATION
In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson listed 27 grievances against King George III as reasons to justify breaking away from England.
The 27th grievance reads:
"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”
These words capture the captures the hostility towards Indigenous people who are described as merciless savages who murder men, women, and children.
This thinking lead to the ongoing gradual removal or extermination of Indigenous people from all the states East of the Mississippi after the success of the American Revolution
The 27th grievance reads:
"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”
These words capture the captures the hostility towards Indigenous people who are described as merciless savages who murder men, women, and children.
This thinking lead to the ongoing gradual removal or extermination of Indigenous people from all the states East of the Mississippi after the success of the American Revolution
THE ELECTORAL POWER OF COUNTING ENSLAVED PEOPLE AS THREE FIFTHS OF A HUMAN BEING
The writers who gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to write the US Constitution faced a dilemma. The 25 delegates out of 55 delegates who owned slaves wanted to count their slaves for purposes of determining how many people would be in the newly formed US House of Representatives. The delegates from the non-slave states did not want to count the enslaved. Of course the enslaved have no voice.
The delegates landed on counting the enslaved as 3/5ths of a human being for purposes of representation and taxation.
The implications were enormous as the South would gain a least a dozen additional congressmen along with those additional electoral votes. Nine of the first 15 presidents came from the South.
In the U.S. Constitution, the Three-Fifths Compromise is part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
The delegates landed on counting the enslaved as 3/5ths of a human being for purposes of representation and taxation.
The implications were enormous as the South would gain a least a dozen additional congressmen along with those additional electoral votes. Nine of the first 15 presidents came from the South.
In the U.S. Constitution, the Three-Fifths Compromise is part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
The US Constitution and the African slave trade
There was disagreement about slavery among the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. They did agree that the African slave trade was horrific. They did not rush into profiting American ships going to Africa to capture free African people but allowed Congress to ban that practice in twenty years. In 1808 Congress prohibited the African slave trade.
This clause from Article I, section 9 describes the legalization of the African slave trade for twenty years
"The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person."
This eyewitness account from 1771 captures the barbarous nature of capturing free Africans and "importing" them to what became the United States:
According to a surgeon on board one slaver, after several male captives and one woman had attempted to rise up against their captors, the captain sentenced them to a “cruel death, making them first eat the heart and liver of one of those he had killed. The woman he hoisted by the thumbs, whipped, and slashed with knives before the other slaves till she died.”
This clause from Article I, section 9 describes the legalization of the African slave trade for twenty years
"The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person."
This eyewitness account from 1771 captures the barbarous nature of capturing free Africans and "importing" them to what became the United States:
According to a surgeon on board one slaver, after several male captives and one woman had attempted to rise up against their captors, the captain sentenced them to a “cruel death, making them first eat the heart and liver of one of those he had killed. The woman he hoisted by the thumbs, whipped, and slashed with knives before the other slaves till she died.”
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW
Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law in 1793 to provide a legal outlet for slave owners to capture and return their slaves who had escaped. The Fugitive Slave law of 1793 required that slave owners or hunters go before a local magistrate to prove ownership. The escaped slaves could not testify as slaves could not be witnesses in court.
The Fugitive Slave Law also dictated a fine of $500 for anyone aiding in helping these escaped slaves. That is over $15,000 in 2022 dollars.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 replaced this law with even more stringent rules.
An industry of slave hunters arose to profit from capturing escaped slaves and in many cases even capturing people who were free and returning them to the south to be sold in slavery. Think Solomon Northrup.
Many northern states passed personal liberty laws to frustrate slave owners and slave hunters. These laws required slave owners and hunters to produce actual evidence that the captured person was their slave.
The Fugitive Slave Law was so powerful that even in 1847 Ona Maria Judge, an escaped slave from the household of Martha Washington feared that she and her daughter could be brought back to slavery by Martha Washington's heirs. She was living in New Hampshire then.
When Ms. Judge escaped from Philadelphia where President Washington lead the nation in the Philadelphia capital, Washington issued a notice questioning why would one of members of his household escape. Clearly out of touch with the desire for freedom.
The Fugitive Slave Law also dictated a fine of $500 for anyone aiding in helping these escaped slaves. That is over $15,000 in 2022 dollars.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 replaced this law with even more stringent rules.
An industry of slave hunters arose to profit from capturing escaped slaves and in many cases even capturing people who were free and returning them to the south to be sold in slavery. Think Solomon Northrup.
Many northern states passed personal liberty laws to frustrate slave owners and slave hunters. These laws required slave owners and hunters to produce actual evidence that the captured person was their slave.
The Fugitive Slave Law was so powerful that even in 1847 Ona Maria Judge, an escaped slave from the household of Martha Washington feared that she and her daughter could be brought back to slavery by Martha Washington's heirs. She was living in New Hampshire then.
When Ms. Judge escaped from Philadelphia where President Washington lead the nation in the Philadelphia capital, Washington issued a notice questioning why would one of members of his household escape. Clearly out of touch with the desire for freedom.
THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF THE DOMESTIC SLAVE TRADE
Congress abolished the Atlantic slave trade beginning in 1808. About 1,000,000 enslaved people primarily from Virginia and Maryland were sold to owners of cotton plantations in the Lower South states of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas from 1808 to 1860.
By 1808 the invention of the cotton gin which quickly removed seeds from the cotton crop to make the production of cotton on large scale plantations in the Lower South quite profitable. Cotton production quickly escalated from 250,000 bales in 1810 to over 4,500,000 bales in 1860. By 1860 1.8 million enslaved people out of 3.2 million were engaged in cotton production.
The soil in Virginia and Maryland was exhausted after centuries of tobacco farming. Some slave owners moved directly to the Lower South to establish cotton plantations but many more sold their enslaved people to slave trading companies. In fact some Upper South farms became breeding farms where enslaved women produced children for sale. This process increased the sexual exploitation of enslaved women. 70% of the people sold were between the ages of 15-30.
The enslaved women also suffered when their children were sold "Down the River" to owners of cotton plantations where an even more draconian process of labor discipline forced slaves to pick cotton under a quota system and when that quota was not met many enslaved people were whipped.
Many people benefited from the Domestic Slave Trade including the owners of slaves in the Upper South, the slave traders who bought and sold these people, the owners of slave pens to hold the people about to be sent to the Lower South, the owners of the cotton plantations, northern banks who sold loans to plantation owners to support the expansion of cotton production, northern insurance companies who insured the slaves, and northern textile manufacturers who used the cotton in their factories.
Those who lost out were the enslaved sold to the cotton plantations, their children sold as families were destroyed and the Indigenous people whose lands in the Lower South were taken to make way for the large cotton plantations.
By 1808 the invention of the cotton gin which quickly removed seeds from the cotton crop to make the production of cotton on large scale plantations in the Lower South quite profitable. Cotton production quickly escalated from 250,000 bales in 1810 to over 4,500,000 bales in 1860. By 1860 1.8 million enslaved people out of 3.2 million were engaged in cotton production.
The soil in Virginia and Maryland was exhausted after centuries of tobacco farming. Some slave owners moved directly to the Lower South to establish cotton plantations but many more sold their enslaved people to slave trading companies. In fact some Upper South farms became breeding farms where enslaved women produced children for sale. This process increased the sexual exploitation of enslaved women. 70% of the people sold were between the ages of 15-30.
The enslaved women also suffered when their children were sold "Down the River" to owners of cotton plantations where an even more draconian process of labor discipline forced slaves to pick cotton under a quota system and when that quota was not met many enslaved people were whipped.
Many people benefited from the Domestic Slave Trade including the owners of slaves in the Upper South, the slave traders who bought and sold these people, the owners of slave pens to hold the people about to be sent to the Lower South, the owners of the cotton plantations, northern banks who sold loans to plantation owners to support the expansion of cotton production, northern insurance companies who insured the slaves, and northern textile manufacturers who used the cotton in their factories.
Those who lost out were the enslaved sold to the cotton plantations, their children sold as families were destroyed and the Indigenous people whose lands in the Lower South were taken to make way for the large cotton plantations.
The Haitian Revolution and the United States government response
In 1791, hundreds of thousands enslaved people successfully revolted against their French colonial masters in Haiti. After years of protracted war Haitians declared a free Black Republic in 1804. They changed the name of their country from Saint Dominique to Haiti to reflect their Indigenous roots.
The profits from the large sugar and coffee plantations had fueled the French economy. It was so dangerous to be a slave on these plantations that up to one half of the enslaved died in the first year. The over work , lack of health care, and disease lead to this early death. In order to replenish the slave labor France again took to the African slave trade resulting in many of the enslaved being newly arrive Africans. The Africans with their history of freedom served as many of the active leaders and organizers in the slave rebellion.
Despite his active support for the French Revolution President Thomas Jefferson refused to formally recognize the new Black Republic of Haiti and put in place an embargo. His colleagues in the Senate offered their reasons not to recognize Haiti. Senator Thomas Benton of Missouri declared that the United States should not recognize Haiti, saying "It will not permit Black consuls to establish themselves in our cities and to parade though our country." That was at a time where refugee slave holders from Haiti were beginning to settle in the United States, especially in New Orleans.
Senator John Berrien of Georgia said, "official relations with Haiti would introduce moral contagion that would make even the most horrifying pestilence seem light and insignificant."
The prime worry about the the Haitian revolution was that enslaved people in the United States would hear about its success and they too would revolt.
The French wanted to be compensated for their lost slave property. With armed ships outside of Haiti the French demanded to be paid, The enormous debt crippled the emerging Haitian economy with some years debt payments were more than the spending on health care. For decades Haiti had few resources to pay for education, infrastructure, and health care.
The United States actively entered tho debt process when a New York Bank, now Citicorp, took over the Haiti payments from a French bank, These debt payments often were more than the original ransom demanded by France.
In 1915 Citicorp worried about its investment pressured the United States to intervene militarily even to the extent where US troops entered the Haitian Assembly and forcibly removed its representatives. US troops occupied Haiti for 15 years.
Secretary of State Robert Lansing wrote in 1918, “the African race are devoid of any capacity for political organization.”
With US support new dictators ruled Haiti for many moire decades.
The costs to Haiti were enormous with Haiti being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haitians even have a word for their extreme poverty, misery.
The actions of the French and the United States help focus on the famous quote from Gandhi. When asked what did he think of Western civilization Gandhi replied, "That would be nice."
The profits from the large sugar and coffee plantations had fueled the French economy. It was so dangerous to be a slave on these plantations that up to one half of the enslaved died in the first year. The over work , lack of health care, and disease lead to this early death. In order to replenish the slave labor France again took to the African slave trade resulting in many of the enslaved being newly arrive Africans. The Africans with their history of freedom served as many of the active leaders and organizers in the slave rebellion.
Despite his active support for the French Revolution President Thomas Jefferson refused to formally recognize the new Black Republic of Haiti and put in place an embargo. His colleagues in the Senate offered their reasons not to recognize Haiti. Senator Thomas Benton of Missouri declared that the United States should not recognize Haiti, saying "It will not permit Black consuls to establish themselves in our cities and to parade though our country." That was at a time where refugee slave holders from Haiti were beginning to settle in the United States, especially in New Orleans.
Senator John Berrien of Georgia said, "official relations with Haiti would introduce moral contagion that would make even the most horrifying pestilence seem light and insignificant."
The prime worry about the the Haitian revolution was that enslaved people in the United States would hear about its success and they too would revolt.
The French wanted to be compensated for their lost slave property. With armed ships outside of Haiti the French demanded to be paid, The enormous debt crippled the emerging Haitian economy with some years debt payments were more than the spending on health care. For decades Haiti had few resources to pay for education, infrastructure, and health care.
The United States actively entered tho debt process when a New York Bank, now Citicorp, took over the Haiti payments from a French bank, These debt payments often were more than the original ransom demanded by France.
In 1915 Citicorp worried about its investment pressured the United States to intervene militarily even to the extent where US troops entered the Haitian Assembly and forcibly removed its representatives. US troops occupied Haiti for 15 years.
Secretary of State Robert Lansing wrote in 1918, “the African race are devoid of any capacity for political organization.”
With US support new dictators ruled Haiti for many moire decades.
The costs to Haiti were enormous with Haiti being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haitians even have a word for their extreme poverty, misery.
The actions of the French and the United States help focus on the famous quote from Gandhi. When asked what did he think of Western civilization Gandhi replied, "That would be nice."
Rebellions and Resistance by the enslaved
The brutalities of slavery produced a wide range of resistance. From the battles of Africans fighting against capture, to the slave rebellions on the ships during the Middle Passage, to the suicides as a means of escaping their transport, African resisted.
Once in the confines of the United States people of African descent continued their resistance by running away, poisoning the food of their masters, breaking their tools, and in the case of enslaved women literally fighting back against attempts at rape by their masters, the overseers, and the male family members of the slaveholder.
The powerful image of Kunta Kinte in the historical novel Roots exemplified individual resistance. His master demanded that Kunta Kinte say his slave name of Toby. Despite the constant whipping Kunta Kinte when asked what was his name replied defiantly "my name is Kunta Kinte" as the lashing continued.
A large body of pro-slavery writings defined slaves as a docile race.
But the over 250 slave revolts defined as more than 10 slaves in concerted rebellions defies that out of touch analysis.
Here is shot snapshot of some of the major revolts by the enslaved.
1739-The Stono Rebellion in Carolina
In the early hours of Sunday September 9 about twenty Black rebels met on a bank of the Stono River , twenty miles south west of Charleston, to carry out their plan they had formed the night prior. They broke into stores and homes executing at least 23 white people and adding more of the enslaved as they marched south towards the Spanish colony in St. Augustine. Spain had declared that escaped slaves from Britain colonies would be free in their colony.
They never made it as an armed local militia killed most of the rebels.
1741-The conspiracy in New York City
By 1741 there were 1,700 Black people in New York City with a white population of 6,000. Most of the Black population was enslaved.
A series of fires overwhelmed Manhattan leading to a suspicion that the enslaved along with some poor whites were behind these attacks. Eventually half the enslaved population were arrested and filled the jails, Over 100 were hanged and others burned at the stake. Two white men and two white women were also executed.
1800 -Gabriel Prosser rebellion in Richmond
Gabriel Prosser was a free blacksmith who could red and write, thus gaining the respect of of many of the enslaved. His plan was to unite the enslaved in many of the counties connected to Richmond at that time a majority Black city with many free people of color. His plan failed as heavy rains made many of the roads impassable and two slaves revealed the plot. Prosser and twenty five other participants were hanged.
Prosser had planed to fly a banner reading "Death or liberty, a riff on Patrick Henry's Liberty or death speech,
1811-The German Coast of Louisiana revolt
On a rainy southern Louisiana evening in January, 1811, Charles Deslondes, a mixed race slave driver, led this rebellion, the largest slave uprising in the United States.
These rebels were inspired by the successful slave uprising in Haiti a few years before.
They marched along the bends of the river attacking plantations with knives, machetes, muskets, and other scavenged weapons, killing white men and destroying property in their wake.
The farther along the river they marched more men joined, Within forty eight hours local militia and federal troops suppressed the rebellion. Many of the rebels were slaughtered on site, decapitated, and their heads posted on stakes that lined the levee as a warning to other enslaved people that this was the price of rebellion.
Today at the slave museum on the Whitney plantation ceramic heads of fifty five Black men sit on metal stakes as a reminder of the these rebels.
1822-The failed slave revolt of Denmark Vesey in Charleston
Denmark Vesey was enslaved in the Caribbean then brought to Charleston and bought his freedom after winning a lottery. However his wife remained enslaved.
In 1818 Vesey became a pastor at the second largest AME congregation in the nation with 1,848 members. Now the Mother Emmanuel Church it was the place where Dylan Roof murdered a prayer group as he maintained the need to kill Black people.
Vesey understood that as a majority African American city Charleston was rife for a slave rebellion. Vesey organized thousands of enslaved people to rise up and planned to kill many of the whites and then escape to Haiti. With so many people with knowledge of this plot the chances were great that this secret plot would be told. That happened and Vesey and thirty of his supporters were hanged.
1831-Nat Turner leads the most influential slave rebellion
In August 1831 Nat Turner a powerful preacher led a rebellion in Southampton Virginia. That rebellion killed between 55 and 65 people including women and children.
Militias organized to suppress the rebellion in a few days. These militias killed approximately 120 enslaved and free Black people.
Turner escaped and hid for almost two months. The Commonwealth of Virginia eventually executed him and an additional 56 enslaved people.
Because Turner had been educated and literate as well as a popular preacher state legislatures across the slave South passed new laws prohibiting the education of enslaved people as well as requiring a white minister to be present at all worship services.
The influence an power of Turner's revolt spread across the South. The killing of white people as well as his confessions dictated while he was awaiting execution made Turner a symbol of Black resistance.
1835-1838-The successful revolt of enslaved Black Seminoles in central Florida
Forgotten by most scholars the successful revolt of Black Seminoles began in 1835. Black Seminoles lead one of the largest slave revolts resulting in their freedom.
At the height of the revolt over 385 slaves fought alongside their Black and Seminoles allies helping them destroy more than twenty one sugar plantations.
After three years of fighting in the Second Seminole War, the US army chose to grant freedom in exchange for surrender, the only emancipation of rebellious African Americans before the US Civil War.
Once in the confines of the United States people of African descent continued their resistance by running away, poisoning the food of their masters, breaking their tools, and in the case of enslaved women literally fighting back against attempts at rape by their masters, the overseers, and the male family members of the slaveholder.
The powerful image of Kunta Kinte in the historical novel Roots exemplified individual resistance. His master demanded that Kunta Kinte say his slave name of Toby. Despite the constant whipping Kunta Kinte when asked what was his name replied defiantly "my name is Kunta Kinte" as the lashing continued.
A large body of pro-slavery writings defined slaves as a docile race.
But the over 250 slave revolts defined as more than 10 slaves in concerted rebellions defies that out of touch analysis.
Here is shot snapshot of some of the major revolts by the enslaved.
1739-The Stono Rebellion in Carolina
In the early hours of Sunday September 9 about twenty Black rebels met on a bank of the Stono River , twenty miles south west of Charleston, to carry out their plan they had formed the night prior. They broke into stores and homes executing at least 23 white people and adding more of the enslaved as they marched south towards the Spanish colony in St. Augustine. Spain had declared that escaped slaves from Britain colonies would be free in their colony.
They never made it as an armed local militia killed most of the rebels.
1741-The conspiracy in New York City
By 1741 there were 1,700 Black people in New York City with a white population of 6,000. Most of the Black population was enslaved.
A series of fires overwhelmed Manhattan leading to a suspicion that the enslaved along with some poor whites were behind these attacks. Eventually half the enslaved population were arrested and filled the jails, Over 100 were hanged and others burned at the stake. Two white men and two white women were also executed.
1800 -Gabriel Prosser rebellion in Richmond
Gabriel Prosser was a free blacksmith who could red and write, thus gaining the respect of of many of the enslaved. His plan was to unite the enslaved in many of the counties connected to Richmond at that time a majority Black city with many free people of color. His plan failed as heavy rains made many of the roads impassable and two slaves revealed the plot. Prosser and twenty five other participants were hanged.
Prosser had planed to fly a banner reading "Death or liberty, a riff on Patrick Henry's Liberty or death speech,
1811-The German Coast of Louisiana revolt
On a rainy southern Louisiana evening in January, 1811, Charles Deslondes, a mixed race slave driver, led this rebellion, the largest slave uprising in the United States.
These rebels were inspired by the successful slave uprising in Haiti a few years before.
They marched along the bends of the river attacking plantations with knives, machetes, muskets, and other scavenged weapons, killing white men and destroying property in their wake.
The farther along the river they marched more men joined, Within forty eight hours local militia and federal troops suppressed the rebellion. Many of the rebels were slaughtered on site, decapitated, and their heads posted on stakes that lined the levee as a warning to other enslaved people that this was the price of rebellion.
Today at the slave museum on the Whitney plantation ceramic heads of fifty five Black men sit on metal stakes as a reminder of the these rebels.
1822-The failed slave revolt of Denmark Vesey in Charleston
Denmark Vesey was enslaved in the Caribbean then brought to Charleston and bought his freedom after winning a lottery. However his wife remained enslaved.
In 1818 Vesey became a pastor at the second largest AME congregation in the nation with 1,848 members. Now the Mother Emmanuel Church it was the place where Dylan Roof murdered a prayer group as he maintained the need to kill Black people.
Vesey understood that as a majority African American city Charleston was rife for a slave rebellion. Vesey organized thousands of enslaved people to rise up and planned to kill many of the whites and then escape to Haiti. With so many people with knowledge of this plot the chances were great that this secret plot would be told. That happened and Vesey and thirty of his supporters were hanged.
1831-Nat Turner leads the most influential slave rebellion
In August 1831 Nat Turner a powerful preacher led a rebellion in Southampton Virginia. That rebellion killed between 55 and 65 people including women and children.
Militias organized to suppress the rebellion in a few days. These militias killed approximately 120 enslaved and free Black people.
Turner escaped and hid for almost two months. The Commonwealth of Virginia eventually executed him and an additional 56 enslaved people.
Because Turner had been educated and literate as well as a popular preacher state legislatures across the slave South passed new laws prohibiting the education of enslaved people as well as requiring a white minister to be present at all worship services.
The influence an power of Turner's revolt spread across the South. The killing of white people as well as his confessions dictated while he was awaiting execution made Turner a symbol of Black resistance.
1835-1838-The successful revolt of enslaved Black Seminoles in central Florida
Forgotten by most scholars the successful revolt of Black Seminoles began in 1835. Black Seminoles lead one of the largest slave revolts resulting in their freedom.
At the height of the revolt over 385 slaves fought alongside their Black and Seminoles allies helping them destroy more than twenty one sugar plantations.
After three years of fighting in the Second Seminole War, the US army chose to grant freedom in exchange for surrender, the only emancipation of rebellious African Americans before the US Civil War.
The American Colonization Society and its plans to send free African Americans to Africa
The population of free Blacks had grown from 60,000 in 1790 to 300,000 by 1830. People had gained their freedom by purchasing their freedom by working in Sundays, by owners freeing their enslaved people at death, and by the end of slavery in many northern states though in many cases that freedom was so gradual that many of the enslaved needed to wait thirty years for their freedom. They served as indentured servants in the interim.
Slave owners were worried that this group of free Blacks might encourage rebellion of the enslaved and motivate the enslaved to escape.
In 1816 political and religious leaders formed the American Colonization Society to develop plans to send free Blacks to African where they believed they would encounter much less racial hostility. Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, President James Monroe, Frances Scott Key, and George Washington's nephew were early supporters with Clay leading the ACS a few years later.
The free Black community and its leaders vehemently opposed these efforts. Over 3,000 freed people packed a church in Philadelphia to denounce these schemes. Frederick Douglass succinctly pointed out that African people had been in the colonies before the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth. Martin Delaney a leading proponent of a separate Black nation found these schemes to send people to Africa repulsive. Abraham Lincoln as President abandoned his thoughts for colonization in Central America after a discussion with Fredrick Douglass.
3,000 Black Loyalist who gained their freedom by fighting with the British during the American Revolution were sent to Nova Scotia. However the cold weather, and the racism led to 1,200 petitioning the British government to arrange to have them settle in the British Colony of Sierra Leone in Africa. There women could vote.
Eventually 12,000 free Blacks settled in Liberia, a new African nation set up by the American Colonization Society with some support of the federal government.
They named their capital Monrovia after the ACS supporter President James Monroe.
Slave owners were worried that this group of free Blacks might encourage rebellion of the enslaved and motivate the enslaved to escape.
In 1816 political and religious leaders formed the American Colonization Society to develop plans to send free Blacks to African where they believed they would encounter much less racial hostility. Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, President James Monroe, Frances Scott Key, and George Washington's nephew were early supporters with Clay leading the ACS a few years later.
The free Black community and its leaders vehemently opposed these efforts. Over 3,000 freed people packed a church in Philadelphia to denounce these schemes. Frederick Douglass succinctly pointed out that African people had been in the colonies before the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth. Martin Delaney a leading proponent of a separate Black nation found these schemes to send people to Africa repulsive. Abraham Lincoln as President abandoned his thoughts for colonization in Central America after a discussion with Fredrick Douglass.
3,000 Black Loyalist who gained their freedom by fighting with the British during the American Revolution were sent to Nova Scotia. However the cold weather, and the racism led to 1,200 petitioning the British government to arrange to have them settle in the British Colony of Sierra Leone in Africa. There women could vote.
Eventually 12,000 free Blacks settled in Liberia, a new African nation set up by the American Colonization Society with some support of the federal government.
They named their capital Monrovia after the ACS supporter President James Monroe.
Slaveholder majority in the US House imposes a gag order to stop discussion about slavery
In 1820 Congress adopted the Missouri Compromise. This compromises such as the Constitutional comprises about the 3/5 clause as well as the extension of the African slave trade were ways for the white politicians to figure out strategies to extend the power of the slaveholders. Fee Black people could only vote in a few northern states in 1820 with New York imposing a high property qualification effectively limiting the franchise to very few Free Black men.
The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine breaking off from Massachusetts entered as a state without slavery. The Missouri compromise also prohibited slavery north of the Missouri border extending westward to territory from the Louisiana Purchase. For the next thirty years the Senate allowed slave territories to become state only when a free territory also became a state. The Senate remained in balance between free and slave states. This compromised held until the push for "popular sovereignty" in the Kansas Nebraska territory in 1854.
The US House was a different matter. Because of the 3/5ths clause and a few southern sympathetic Congressmen from the North slaveholders held a working majority. They passed a series of gag rules every two years between 1836 and 1844.
These gag rules prohibited any discussion of slavery in the House. Congressman John Quincy Adams the former Prsdient, adopted many maneuvers to allow the discussion of slavery through by introducing petitions apposing slavery, Many of these petitions came form abolitionist women who while denied the vote could still have their voices heard by gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions opposing slavery. Each of these maneuvers to debate the petitions by Adams were tabled. The Congress so inflamed by Adams anger and persistence even debated censuring Adams but eventually dropped that initiative.
Anti-slavery Congressman Joshua Giddings from Ashtabula County Ohio resigned as he supported the freedom of slave rebels from the slave ship The Creole.. The Creole was sailing from Virginia to New Orleans when the enslaved revolted and landed in Nassau in the Bahamas, a British territory. Since Britain had abolished slavery in 1833 these 128 enslaved people demanded their freedom. Despite the ending of US involvement in the African slave trade in 1808 the domestic slave trade flourished with over 1,000,000 enslaved people sold from Virginia, Maryland, and the upper South to work in slavery in the lower South.
Giddings offered many resolutions advocating for the freedom of these rebels. Thy were all in vain as the Congress were appalled by his advocacy. Giddings resigned as a possible censure loomed and and ran for re-election. He won with 7,469 votes to 383 against. Ashtabula County gained the reputation as the most anti-slavery county in the nation.
The federal government continued its attacks on free speech and the free press by supporting the burning and removal of abolitionist pamphlets in the south.
The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine breaking off from Massachusetts entered as a state without slavery. The Missouri compromise also prohibited slavery north of the Missouri border extending westward to territory from the Louisiana Purchase. For the next thirty years the Senate allowed slave territories to become state only when a free territory also became a state. The Senate remained in balance between free and slave states. This compromised held until the push for "popular sovereignty" in the Kansas Nebraska territory in 1854.
The US House was a different matter. Because of the 3/5ths clause and a few southern sympathetic Congressmen from the North slaveholders held a working majority. They passed a series of gag rules every two years between 1836 and 1844.
These gag rules prohibited any discussion of slavery in the House. Congressman John Quincy Adams the former Prsdient, adopted many maneuvers to allow the discussion of slavery through by introducing petitions apposing slavery, Many of these petitions came form abolitionist women who while denied the vote could still have their voices heard by gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions opposing slavery. Each of these maneuvers to debate the petitions by Adams were tabled. The Congress so inflamed by Adams anger and persistence even debated censuring Adams but eventually dropped that initiative.
Anti-slavery Congressman Joshua Giddings from Ashtabula County Ohio resigned as he supported the freedom of slave rebels from the slave ship The Creole.. The Creole was sailing from Virginia to New Orleans when the enslaved revolted and landed in Nassau in the Bahamas, a British territory. Since Britain had abolished slavery in 1833 these 128 enslaved people demanded their freedom. Despite the ending of US involvement in the African slave trade in 1808 the domestic slave trade flourished with over 1,000,000 enslaved people sold from Virginia, Maryland, and the upper South to work in slavery in the lower South.
Giddings offered many resolutions advocating for the freedom of these rebels. Thy were all in vain as the Congress were appalled by his advocacy. Giddings resigned as a possible censure loomed and and ran for re-election. He won with 7,469 votes to 383 against. Ashtabula County gained the reputation as the most anti-slavery county in the nation.
The federal government continued its attacks on free speech and the free press by supporting the burning and removal of abolitionist pamphlets in the south.
The forced removal of Indigenous nations east of the Mississippi
The British Proclamation of 1763 stopped white settlers from crossing the Appalachians to settle in the West. In fact, that proclamation was one of many grievances against the King to justify the fight for Independence. After the victory in the American Revolution white settlement west of the Appalachians was heavily encouraged.
Yet this land was occupied by many Indigenous nations.
The settlers pressured the newly formed US government to pave the way for the settlement in what became the state of Ohio. Through a variety of treaties, the Indigenous people were forced off their land often without getting the negotiated compensation written into these treaties.
In 1794 at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Northwest Ohio, the US Army defeated an alliance of the British and Native American nations ending these military campaigns.
The last treaty was made with the Wyandotte nation in 1842 and the Wyandotte were relocated to Oklahoma.
In the 1810s, the focus on Indigenous removal revolved around the various maneuvers and wars lead by Andrew Jackson. Eventually his army moved the Creek and Seminole peoples from their lands in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The Seminoles who lived in central Florida were able to resist this removal.
The people heavily resisted these assaults.
In the First Seminole War Jackson's army attacked a fort killing most of the fugitive slaves fighting in alliance with the Indigenous nations.
After his election in 1828 Jackson moved forward with his long held plans for Indigenous removal. When in office Jackson, sometimes even face to face, negotiated 70 treaties to maneuver to take Indigenous lands either through compensation or agreements to leave.
In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. It was bitterly contested with Christian missionaries and Congressmen Davy Crockett and Henry Clay and the Whig Party in opposition.
Supporters in the South especially in Georgia where gold was discovered used biblical narratives to justify the forced resettlement of Indigenous people.
The Indian Removal Act passed the Senate by 25-19 and the House by 101-97.
The Indian Removal Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in exchange for lands further west outside of existing state borders.
In 1830, the Cherokees filed suit against Georgia. The US Supreme Court ruled that states could not assert control over Indigenous lands. According to legend President Jackson scoffed at the ruling saying, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it."
In 1838, President Martin Van Buren ordered 7,000 US Army soldiers to forcibly remove 15,000 Cherokees people and other nations to move to Oklahoma, most by walking thousands of miles. Over 4,000 died by disease and starvation in what became known as the Trail of Tears.
In the early 1830s, nearly 125,000 lived on millions of acres in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. By the end the 1830s few remained.
In 1832, the Black Hawk War in Wisconsin and Illinois opened up millions of acres for white settlement that belonged to the Saux, Fox, and other nations. Abraham Lincoln was a volunteer with the Illinois militia but did not see combat.
Yet this land was occupied by many Indigenous nations.
The settlers pressured the newly formed US government to pave the way for the settlement in what became the state of Ohio. Through a variety of treaties, the Indigenous people were forced off their land often without getting the negotiated compensation written into these treaties.
In 1794 at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Northwest Ohio, the US Army defeated an alliance of the British and Native American nations ending these military campaigns.
The last treaty was made with the Wyandotte nation in 1842 and the Wyandotte were relocated to Oklahoma.
In the 1810s, the focus on Indigenous removal revolved around the various maneuvers and wars lead by Andrew Jackson. Eventually his army moved the Creek and Seminole peoples from their lands in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The Seminoles who lived in central Florida were able to resist this removal.
The people heavily resisted these assaults.
In the First Seminole War Jackson's army attacked a fort killing most of the fugitive slaves fighting in alliance with the Indigenous nations.
After his election in 1828 Jackson moved forward with his long held plans for Indigenous removal. When in office Jackson, sometimes even face to face, negotiated 70 treaties to maneuver to take Indigenous lands either through compensation or agreements to leave.
In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. It was bitterly contested with Christian missionaries and Congressmen Davy Crockett and Henry Clay and the Whig Party in opposition.
Supporters in the South especially in Georgia where gold was discovered used biblical narratives to justify the forced resettlement of Indigenous people.
The Indian Removal Act passed the Senate by 25-19 and the House by 101-97.
The Indian Removal Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in exchange for lands further west outside of existing state borders.
In 1830, the Cherokees filed suit against Georgia. The US Supreme Court ruled that states could not assert control over Indigenous lands. According to legend President Jackson scoffed at the ruling saying, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it."
In 1838, President Martin Van Buren ordered 7,000 US Army soldiers to forcibly remove 15,000 Cherokees people and other nations to move to Oklahoma, most by walking thousands of miles. Over 4,000 died by disease and starvation in what became known as the Trail of Tears.
In the early 1830s, nearly 125,000 lived on millions of acres in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. By the end the 1830s few remained.
In 1832, the Black Hawk War in Wisconsin and Illinois opened up millions of acres for white settlement that belonged to the Saux, Fox, and other nations. Abraham Lincoln was a volunteer with the Illinois militia but did not see combat.
WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?
Amy Goodman from Democracy Now offers a brief context for Frederick Douglass' "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?"
speech.
Douglass thunders his counter to the celebrations for freedom and independence by declaring, "I am not included."
"This Fourth of July is yours. You may rejoice, I must mourn, Your celebration is a sham?"
As in all his speeches Douglass eloquently offers a counter to the white centric dominant ideology.
Would teachers be allowed to teach Douglass's Fourth of July speech if the pending bills outlawing teaching about racism and divisive concepts (whatever that means) become law in Ohio.
Probably not.
In 2011 The Ohio Senate following the national model legislation promoted by people wanting to make sure students adopted a patriotic understanding of US history proposed what became known as the Founding documents bill. I encouraged State Senator Nina Turner to offer an amendment which would include Douglass' Fourth of July Speech. As almost all initiatives challenging the dominant majority outlook this amendment was tabled, possibly a precursor to the don't teach about racism bills,
A few years before my wife Senate Minority Leader CJ Prentiss needed to fill a vacancy in the Senate. She invited all the candidates into her office where she had what she called the wall of power. Large portraits of the icons of Black liberation loomed over the office. She asked all the candidates to identify the picture of Frederick Douglass resplendent with his bushy gray hair and beard. Douglass was the most photographed American in the 19th century because he believed photography produced an exact image rather than the stereotypical hand drawings of that time
Only one potential Senate candidate could identify Douglass. She got the Senate vacancy.
speech.
Douglass thunders his counter to the celebrations for freedom and independence by declaring, "I am not included."
"This Fourth of July is yours. You may rejoice, I must mourn, Your celebration is a sham?"
As in all his speeches Douglass eloquently offers a counter to the white centric dominant ideology.
Would teachers be allowed to teach Douglass's Fourth of July speech if the pending bills outlawing teaching about racism and divisive concepts (whatever that means) become law in Ohio.
Probably not.
In 2011 The Ohio Senate following the national model legislation promoted by people wanting to make sure students adopted a patriotic understanding of US history proposed what became known as the Founding documents bill. I encouraged State Senator Nina Turner to offer an amendment which would include Douglass' Fourth of July Speech. As almost all initiatives challenging the dominant majority outlook this amendment was tabled, possibly a precursor to the don't teach about racism bills,
A few years before my wife Senate Minority Leader CJ Prentiss needed to fill a vacancy in the Senate. She invited all the candidates into her office where she had what she called the wall of power. Large portraits of the icons of Black liberation loomed over the office. She asked all the candidates to identify the picture of Frederick Douglass resplendent with his bushy gray hair and beard. Douglass was the most photographed American in the 19th century because he believed photography produced an exact image rather than the stereotypical hand drawings of that time
Only one potential Senate candidate could identify Douglass. She got the Senate vacancy.
The Mexican War turns California’s Mexican population into second-class citizens
California’s Mexican population – known as Californios – had been living in the territory for many generations prior to its acquisition by the United States. The Mexican War and the subsequent California gold rush, however, dramatically altered their way of life, robbing them of their land, and effectively excluding them from politics.
In the peace treaty that ended the Mexican war the U.S. affirmed that Mexican property rights dating from before the treaty would be respected. But the treaty’s promises were not worth the paper on which they were printed. In 1851 the U.S. Congress passed the California Land Act, which created a board that would review all land titles from the Spanish and Mexican eras to determine their validity.
This meant that Californios were now required to appear before Anglo jurists and prove by U.S. legal standards that they owned their land. Many cash-poor Californios could not afford the lengthy legal processes that ensued. Many others lost their lands to waves of Anglo violence, squatters and collusion between Anglo ranchers and corrupt government and law enforcement officials.
As a result, prior to 1850, Californios owned all the land valued at over $10,000; by the 1870s they owned only one-fourth of this land; by the 1880s they were virtually landless.
As with the land, so with the gold. To limit Californio participation in the gold rush, in 1850 the California legislature passed the first of a series of Foreign Miner’s Taxes. It required miners who were not U.S. citizens to pay $20 a month for the right to mine in the state. In reality, the tax was only collected from Californios, other Latino and Chinese miners, while European miners were not forced to pay it.
Finally, Californios were politically marginalized as a result of the massive influx of Anglo settlers that accompanied the gold rush. Pro-slavery Democrats and anti-Mexican politicians soon came to dominate the California state legislature. By 1851, all native Mexicans had been excluded from the State Senate. By the 1860s only a few Californios remained in the State Assembly. By the 1880s people with Spanish surnames could no longer be found in California public offices.
In the peace treaty that ended the Mexican war the U.S. affirmed that Mexican property rights dating from before the treaty would be respected. But the treaty’s promises were not worth the paper on which they were printed. In 1851 the U.S. Congress passed the California Land Act, which created a board that would review all land titles from the Spanish and Mexican eras to determine their validity.
This meant that Californios were now required to appear before Anglo jurists and prove by U.S. legal standards that they owned their land. Many cash-poor Californios could not afford the lengthy legal processes that ensued. Many others lost their lands to waves of Anglo violence, squatters and collusion between Anglo ranchers and corrupt government and law enforcement officials.
As a result, prior to 1850, Californios owned all the land valued at over $10,000; by the 1870s they owned only one-fourth of this land; by the 1880s they were virtually landless.
As with the land, so with the gold. To limit Californio participation in the gold rush, in 1850 the California legislature passed the first of a series of Foreign Miner’s Taxes. It required miners who were not U.S. citizens to pay $20 a month for the right to mine in the state. In reality, the tax was only collected from Californios, other Latino and Chinese miners, while European miners were not forced to pay it.
Finally, Californios were politically marginalized as a result of the massive influx of Anglo settlers that accompanied the gold rush. Pro-slavery Democrats and anti-Mexican politicians soon came to dominate the California state legislature. By 1851, all native Mexicans had been excluded from the State Senate. By the 1860s only a few Californios remained in the State Assembly. By the 1880s people with Spanish surnames could no longer be found in California public offices.
Anti-Catholic violence confronts Irish immigration
The anti-Catholic response to Irish Catholic immigration flowed from the Protestant belief that there was an alleged "Romanist" conspiracy directed by the Pope to subvert civil and religious liberty of native born Protestants.
Even before the large number of Irish immigrants fleeing Ireland arrived anti-Irish mobs in Philadelphia in 1844 torched churches and burned homes.
The mass starvation caused by the potato famine in 1846 prompted an exodus from Ireland.
Nearly a quarter of people from Ireland left with most coming to the United States, One million people died in Ireland and two million emigrated.
Many of these Irish immigrants found jobs in construction, domestic work and building the emerging canals. Newspapers ran ads with the slogan "No Irish need apply." Cartoonists pictured the Irish with large sloping foreheads similar to apes.
Anti-Catholic anger spilled over to attacks on a Jesuit priest in Ellsworth Maine who was tarred and feathered and a church was burned down in Bath, Maine. 22 people were killed and many injured in Nashville during a tight race for governor.
Anti-Catholic activists formed the Know Nothing Party, later the American Party, which got its name when people asked about the party and they were instructed to say "I know nothing."
In Massachusetts the Know Nothing Party was strongest with Yankee workers who feared competition from Irish Catholic immigrants. The Know Nothings adopted a a populist tone against the wealthy and excluded lawyers and merchants from membership.
In the 1854 elections the Know Nothing Party dominated the elections in Massachusetts. They won all state senate seats and all but a few seats in the Massachusetts House. They barred naturalized citizens from voting until they spent 21 years in the United States.
In California a Know Nothing supreme court judge ruled that no Chinese person could testify as a witness against a white man in court.
The Know Nothing Party elected 100 Congressmen and 8 governors.
They were not considered anti-Semitic because Jews were not as organized as Catholics to act in concert.
The Know Nothing Party changed its name to the American Party and nominated former President Millard Fillmore as their 1856 presidential candidate. He received 23 % of the vote but this Third party attempt quickly faded as the struggle over slavery dominated political life.
Even before the large number of Irish immigrants fleeing Ireland arrived anti-Irish mobs in Philadelphia in 1844 torched churches and burned homes.
The mass starvation caused by the potato famine in 1846 prompted an exodus from Ireland.
Nearly a quarter of people from Ireland left with most coming to the United States, One million people died in Ireland and two million emigrated.
Many of these Irish immigrants found jobs in construction, domestic work and building the emerging canals. Newspapers ran ads with the slogan "No Irish need apply." Cartoonists pictured the Irish with large sloping foreheads similar to apes.
Anti-Catholic anger spilled over to attacks on a Jesuit priest in Ellsworth Maine who was tarred and feathered and a church was burned down in Bath, Maine. 22 people were killed and many injured in Nashville during a tight race for governor.
Anti-Catholic activists formed the Know Nothing Party, later the American Party, which got its name when people asked about the party and they were instructed to say "I know nothing."
In Massachusetts the Know Nothing Party was strongest with Yankee workers who feared competition from Irish Catholic immigrants. The Know Nothings adopted a a populist tone against the wealthy and excluded lawyers and merchants from membership.
In the 1854 elections the Know Nothing Party dominated the elections in Massachusetts. They won all state senate seats and all but a few seats in the Massachusetts House. They barred naturalized citizens from voting until they spent 21 years in the United States.
In California a Know Nothing supreme court judge ruled that no Chinese person could testify as a witness against a white man in court.
The Know Nothing Party elected 100 Congressmen and 8 governors.
They were not considered anti-Semitic because Jews were not as organized as Catholics to act in concert.
The Know Nothing Party changed its name to the American Party and nominated former President Millard Fillmore as their 1856 presidential candidate. He received 23 % of the vote but this Third party attempt quickly faded as the struggle over slavery dominated political life.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 galvanizes a powerful resistance movement
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 required that all escaped slaves be returned to the slaver and citizens in free states were required to co-operate.
Abolitionist nicknamed the law as the Bloodhound bill after the dogs which were used to track down fugitives.
Some northern states passed personal liberty laws as a way to frustrate the return of fugitives. These laws varied from state to state. Some required jury trials where many juries refused to convict those charged. Others forbade the use of local jails or having state officials assist in the return of the alleged fugitives.
Interestingly the cries of state rights asserted in the secession documents 10 years later did not support the state rights to pass these personal liberty laws.
The Fugitive Slave Law penalized officials who did not arrest someone aiding fugitives and made them liable to a fine of $1,000 ($32,570 in 2021 dollars)
Law enforcement officials everywhere were required to arrest people on only claimants sworn testimony of ownership.
The alleged fugitive slave could not testify and Habeus Corpus was declared irrelevant.
Any person aiding a fugitive by providing food or shelter was subject to six month imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
Prices for slaves in the border states increased by 15% to 30%.
Secretary of State Daniel Webster, a key supporter of the law wanted high profile convictions. He lead the prosecution against men accused of rescuing Sharach Mikins in 1851 from Boston officials interested in returning Mikins to slavery. The juries convicted none of these men. Webster's quest for the Whig presidential nomination in 1852 failed because of his support for this extremely unpopular law.
The Vermont legislature effectively nullified this federal law leading some southerners to call for secession.
Many fugitives escaped to Canada via the deep network of the Underground Railroad. The Black population in Canada increased from 40,000 to 60,000 between 1850 and 1860.
Albion Tourgee, a white anti-racist crusader in the nineteenth century described as a young boy walking 5 miles north from his Kingsville Ohio home (still standing) and watched from a cliff overlooking Lake Eire as fugitives waited for a ship to take them north to Canada. That same cliff still stands on the shore of Lake Erie as I often watch the sunsets from that cliff as our Lake Erie home sits on that cliff.
Many business men supported the law due to their business ties with southern states. They formed the Union Safety Committee and raised thousands of dollars to promote their cause especially in New York City.where the Black population dropped almost 2.000 people from 1850 to 1855.
Here are some interesting northern responses to the Fugitive Slave Act.
1. Even before the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act the Fugitive Slave Convention attracted between 2,000 to 3,000 people in western New York. Chaired by Frederick Douglass people debated their response. Leading abolitionist Gerrit Smith, Theodore Dwight Weld and his wife Angelina Grimke played leading roles. Gerrit Smith would later fund John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid at the end of the decade.
The Christiana Resistance was a successful armed resistance by free Blacks and escaped selves to a raid by federal marshals to recover four escaped slaves. Gun fire was exchanged and Edward Gosuch, the alleged owner of the fugitives was killed and the raiders retreated. 41 persons were indicted but after 15 minutes the jury acquitted a white man Castner Hanwy and the rest of the other charges were dropped.
3. Anthony Burns escaped from slavery in 1853. He was captured and tried in Boston . Abolitionists organized large demonstrations and attacked the jail. President Franklin Pierce ordered marines to stop the violence and to ensure Burns would be led back to slavery. Burns after his conviction had his freedom purchased by abolitionists and he eventually enrolled at Oberlin College.
4. John Price an escaped slave was captured in Oberlin in 1858. US Marshals, worried about the power of local abolitionists, took him by train south to Wellington, Ohio where rescuers from Oberlin took Price by force from the Marshals where he headed to his freedom in Canada via the Underground Railroad.
A federal jury brought indictments against 37 of those who freed Price. Among those indicated but not brought to trial was John Mercer Langston, an Oberlin graduate who was a relative of Langston Hughes. John Mercer Langston became the first elected African American Congressperson from Virginia in 1888.
After two appeals to the Supreme Court of the two people convicted more than 10,000 people participated in a Cleveland rally to oppose the state and federal rulings.
Two participants in the Oberlin-Wellington rescue went on to join John Brown's raid on the Harper's Ferry federal arsenal in 1859. Lewis Leary was killed and John Copeland and Oberlin resident Shields Greed were captured and tried for treason and executed.
Abolitionist nicknamed the law as the Bloodhound bill after the dogs which were used to track down fugitives.
Some northern states passed personal liberty laws as a way to frustrate the return of fugitives. These laws varied from state to state. Some required jury trials where many juries refused to convict those charged. Others forbade the use of local jails or having state officials assist in the return of the alleged fugitives.
Interestingly the cries of state rights asserted in the secession documents 10 years later did not support the state rights to pass these personal liberty laws.
The Fugitive Slave Law penalized officials who did not arrest someone aiding fugitives and made them liable to a fine of $1,000 ($32,570 in 2021 dollars)
Law enforcement officials everywhere were required to arrest people on only claimants sworn testimony of ownership.
The alleged fugitive slave could not testify and Habeus Corpus was declared irrelevant.
Any person aiding a fugitive by providing food or shelter was subject to six month imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
Prices for slaves in the border states increased by 15% to 30%.
Secretary of State Daniel Webster, a key supporter of the law wanted high profile convictions. He lead the prosecution against men accused of rescuing Sharach Mikins in 1851 from Boston officials interested in returning Mikins to slavery. The juries convicted none of these men. Webster's quest for the Whig presidential nomination in 1852 failed because of his support for this extremely unpopular law.
The Vermont legislature effectively nullified this federal law leading some southerners to call for secession.
Many fugitives escaped to Canada via the deep network of the Underground Railroad. The Black population in Canada increased from 40,000 to 60,000 between 1850 and 1860.
Albion Tourgee, a white anti-racist crusader in the nineteenth century described as a young boy walking 5 miles north from his Kingsville Ohio home (still standing) and watched from a cliff overlooking Lake Eire as fugitives waited for a ship to take them north to Canada. That same cliff still stands on the shore of Lake Erie as I often watch the sunsets from that cliff as our Lake Erie home sits on that cliff.
Many business men supported the law due to their business ties with southern states. They formed the Union Safety Committee and raised thousands of dollars to promote their cause especially in New York City.where the Black population dropped almost 2.000 people from 1850 to 1855.
Here are some interesting northern responses to the Fugitive Slave Act.
1. Even before the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act the Fugitive Slave Convention attracted between 2,000 to 3,000 people in western New York. Chaired by Frederick Douglass people debated their response. Leading abolitionist Gerrit Smith, Theodore Dwight Weld and his wife Angelina Grimke played leading roles. Gerrit Smith would later fund John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid at the end of the decade.
The Christiana Resistance was a successful armed resistance by free Blacks and escaped selves to a raid by federal marshals to recover four escaped slaves. Gun fire was exchanged and Edward Gosuch, the alleged owner of the fugitives was killed and the raiders retreated. 41 persons were indicted but after 15 minutes the jury acquitted a white man Castner Hanwy and the rest of the other charges were dropped.
3. Anthony Burns escaped from slavery in 1853. He was captured and tried in Boston . Abolitionists organized large demonstrations and attacked the jail. President Franklin Pierce ordered marines to stop the violence and to ensure Burns would be led back to slavery. Burns after his conviction had his freedom purchased by abolitionists and he eventually enrolled at Oberlin College.
4. John Price an escaped slave was captured in Oberlin in 1858. US Marshals, worried about the power of local abolitionists, took him by train south to Wellington, Ohio where rescuers from Oberlin took Price by force from the Marshals where he headed to his freedom in Canada via the Underground Railroad.
A federal jury brought indictments against 37 of those who freed Price. Among those indicated but not brought to trial was John Mercer Langston, an Oberlin graduate who was a relative of Langston Hughes. John Mercer Langston became the first elected African American Congressperson from Virginia in 1888.
After two appeals to the Supreme Court of the two people convicted more than 10,000 people participated in a Cleveland rally to oppose the state and federal rulings.
Two participants in the Oberlin-Wellington rescue went on to join John Brown's raid on the Harper's Ferry federal arsenal in 1859. Lewis Leary was killed and John Copeland and Oberlin resident Shields Greed were captured and tried for treason and executed.
Charles Sumner caned on the Senate floor
The violent conflict in Kansas lasted from 1854 to 1859. Massive election fraud, assassination, and murder characterized the fight between pro-slavery "border ruffians" and anti-slavery "free staters." There wee documented at least 56 political killings and probably more.
Congress had adopted the doctrine of popular sovereignty where white settlers would determine the status of Kansas and the balance of power between free and slave states.
Bleeding Kansas as Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune described the violence lead to two state constitutions and two state legislatures. Pro-slavery supporters especially from the border slave state of Missouri flooded Kansas.
Abolitionist with the support of the northern press made Kansas a national issue.
Abolitionist minister Henry Ward Beecher, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, was said to ship Sharp rifles labeled "bibles" to Kansas abolitionists. Thus the term "Beecher bibles became popular.
On May 21, 1856 pro-slavery Democrats invaded the Republican stronghold of Lawrence and burned the Free State Hotel, destroyed two anti-slavery newspaper offices, and ransacked homes and stores.
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in his "Crime against Kansas" speech denounced slavery as well as a relative of Congressman Preston Brooks from South Carolina.
Two days later Brooks attacked Sumner with a large cane as Sumner sat at his desk in the Senate. Sumner was knocked senseless and Preston continued the caning even after his cane broke.
Sumner was not able to resume his Senate duties for over three years.
After nearly killing Sumner Preston was praised by Southern Democrats who send him hundreds of canes in solidarity.
The violence in Kansas continued to increase. John Brown and his sons attacked a pro-slavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek and seized five men and hacked them to death with broadswords.
Furthered hostilities raged on as President Franklin Pierce sent nearly 500 US Army troops to force the dispersal of the Free State legislature.
A fragile peace was negotiated and in 1861 with Southerners from the seceding states withdrew from Congress and then Kansas was admitted as a free state.
Congress had adopted the doctrine of popular sovereignty where white settlers would determine the status of Kansas and the balance of power between free and slave states.
Bleeding Kansas as Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune described the violence lead to two state constitutions and two state legislatures. Pro-slavery supporters especially from the border slave state of Missouri flooded Kansas.
Abolitionist with the support of the northern press made Kansas a national issue.
Abolitionist minister Henry Ward Beecher, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, was said to ship Sharp rifles labeled "bibles" to Kansas abolitionists. Thus the term "Beecher bibles became popular.
On May 21, 1856 pro-slavery Democrats invaded the Republican stronghold of Lawrence and burned the Free State Hotel, destroyed two anti-slavery newspaper offices, and ransacked homes and stores.
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts in his "Crime against Kansas" speech denounced slavery as well as a relative of Congressman Preston Brooks from South Carolina.
Two days later Brooks attacked Sumner with a large cane as Sumner sat at his desk in the Senate. Sumner was knocked senseless and Preston continued the caning even after his cane broke.
Sumner was not able to resume his Senate duties for over three years.
After nearly killing Sumner Preston was praised by Southern Democrats who send him hundreds of canes in solidarity.
The violence in Kansas continued to increase. John Brown and his sons attacked a pro-slavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek and seized five men and hacked them to death with broadswords.
Furthered hostilities raged on as President Franklin Pierce sent nearly 500 US Army troops to force the dispersal of the Free State legislature.
A fragile peace was negotiated and in 1861 with Southerners from the seceding states withdrew from Congress and then Kansas was admitted as a free state.
The US Supreme Court DRED SCOTT DECISION
By 1857 the Bleeding Kansas conflict between supporters of slavery and abolitionist opponents was still gaining the nation's attention. The Republican Party founded in 1854 as the Whig Party was collapsing was quickly gaining increased support with it opposition to an expansion of slavery. The massive resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had galvanized millions in the free states.
That context set the stage for the Dred Scott decision. Dred Scott was an enslaved person who in his many state an federal court fillings declared that he should be free because had had been taken to the free state of Minnesota as a slave.
Labeled Dred Scott v Sanford this March 6, 1857 the Supreme Court decided by a 7-2 vote that American citizenship did not include people of African descent, whether free or enslaved.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney surveyed state and federal laws at the time of the Constitution and decided that Africans were treated as inferior people to whites. In fact Negroes were so far inferior that they had no right which the white man was bound to respect. Furthermore, Taney said, that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit.
That reasoning continued by ruling that Negroes whether enslaved or free could not claim American citizenship. Taney added, though not part of Scot's legal claim, that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional because it denied slaveholders who wanted to settle north and west of Missouri their property without due process of law, which is forbidden by the US Constitution.
Before this March 6 decision, soon to be president Jame Buchanan had pressured the southern justices for an opinion, a clear violation of an independent judiciary.
In Buchanan's inaugural address on March 4 Buchanan declared that the Supreme Court would finally settle the slavery question.
It took over 700,000 deaths and the defeat of the Confederacy for the federal government and the states to pass the 13th Amendment ending slavery and the 14th Amendment declaring birthright citizenship of all people born or naturalized in the United States. Ohio did not pass the 14th Amendment until 2003.
It's hard to fathom that in little more than a decade after the Dred Scott decision had denied citizenship and respect over 500,000 Black men were voting in the 1868 presidential election for Republican US Grant.
Roger Taney was honored throughout his native state of Maryland with schools named after him and a bust placed in the US Capitol. In 1993 the Roger Taney Middle School in Temple Hills, Maryland was renamed for Justice Thurgood Marshall, another person from Baltimore.
In 2020 the US House of Representatives voted 305-113 to remove a bust of Taney from the US Capitol and replace it with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, another Supreme Court Justice.
In 2020 a statue of Taney's brother in law and fellow slave owner Francis Scott Key was removed from San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
That context set the stage for the Dred Scott decision. Dred Scott was an enslaved person who in his many state an federal court fillings declared that he should be free because had had been taken to the free state of Minnesota as a slave.
Labeled Dred Scott v Sanford this March 6, 1857 the Supreme Court decided by a 7-2 vote that American citizenship did not include people of African descent, whether free or enslaved.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney surveyed state and federal laws at the time of the Constitution and decided that Africans were treated as inferior people to whites. In fact Negroes were so far inferior that they had no right which the white man was bound to respect. Furthermore, Taney said, that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit.
That reasoning continued by ruling that Negroes whether enslaved or free could not claim American citizenship. Taney added, though not part of Scot's legal claim, that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional because it denied slaveholders who wanted to settle north and west of Missouri their property without due process of law, which is forbidden by the US Constitution.
Before this March 6 decision, soon to be president Jame Buchanan had pressured the southern justices for an opinion, a clear violation of an independent judiciary.
In Buchanan's inaugural address on March 4 Buchanan declared that the Supreme Court would finally settle the slavery question.
It took over 700,000 deaths and the defeat of the Confederacy for the federal government and the states to pass the 13th Amendment ending slavery and the 14th Amendment declaring birthright citizenship of all people born or naturalized in the United States. Ohio did not pass the 14th Amendment until 2003.
It's hard to fathom that in little more than a decade after the Dred Scott decision had denied citizenship and respect over 500,000 Black men were voting in the 1868 presidential election for Republican US Grant.
Roger Taney was honored throughout his native state of Maryland with schools named after him and a bust placed in the US Capitol. In 1993 the Roger Taney Middle School in Temple Hills, Maryland was renamed for Justice Thurgood Marshall, another person from Baltimore.
In 2020 the US House of Representatives voted 305-113 to remove a bust of Taney from the US Capitol and replace it with a bust of Thurgood Marshall, another Supreme Court Justice.
In 2020 a statue of Taney's brother in law and fellow slave owner Francis Scott Key was removed from San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.