U.S. History I



United States History I

Problems

Mr. LaFortune

Problem 1. The Beringian Standstill Hypothesis

“The First People Who Populated the Americas,” Melissa Hogenboom (March 30, 2017).



Many thousands of years ago, not a single human being lived in the Americas. This only changed during the last Ice Age. It was a time when most of North America was covered with a thick sheet of ice, which made the Americas difficult to inhabit. But at some point during this time, adventurous humans started their journey into a new world. They probably came on foot from Siberia across the Bering Land Bridge, which existed between Alaska and Eurasia from the end of the last Ice Age until about 10,000 years ago. The area is now submerged by water. There is still debate about when these first Americans actually arrived and where they came from. But we are now getting closer to uncovering the original narrative, and finding out who these first Americans really were.

During the peak of the last Ice Age about 20,000 years ago, a journey from Asia into the Americas would not have been particularly desirable. North America was covered in icy permafrost and tall glaciers. But, paradoxically, the presence of so much ice meant that the journey was, in a way, easier than it would be today. The abundance of ice meant that sea levels were much lower than they are now, and a stretch of land emerged between Siberia and Alaska. Humans and animals could simply walk from Asia to North America. The land bridge was called Beringia.

At some point around this time – known as the Last Glacial Maximum – groups of hunter-gatherers moved east from what is now Siberia to set up camp there. "The first people who arrived in Beringia were probably small, highly mobile groups evolving in a large landscape, probably depending on the availability of seasonal resources," says Lauriane Bourgeon of the University of Montreal, Canada. These people did well to seek refuge there. Central Beringia was a much more desirable environment than the icy lands they had left behind. The climate was a bit damper. Vegetation, in the form of woody shrubs, would have given them access to wood that they could burn to keep warm.

Beringia was also an ideal environment for large grazing mammals, giving early hunter-gathers something to hunt, says Scott Elias of Royal Holloway, University London in the UK, who reconstructs past climates. "Our hypothesis is that people were using the woody shrubs from the land bridge to ignite bones on the landscape. The bones of big animals contain lots of fatty deposits of marrow, and they will burn." When humans got to Beringia, they would have had little choice but to set up camp there. The vast Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets further east cut them off from North America.

It is now becoming clear that they made Beringia their home, staying put for several thousand years. This idea is called the Beringian Standstill Hypothesis. This standstill helped these isolated groups of people to become genetically distinct from those they had left behind, according to a 2007 study. This long standstill therefore meant that the people who arrived in the Americas – when the ice finally retreated and allowed entry – were genetically different to the individuals who had left Siberia thousands of years earlier. "Arguably one of the most important parts of the process is what happened in Beringia. That's when they differentiated from Asians and started becoming Native Americans," says Connie Mulligan of the University of Florida in Gainesville, US, who took part in this early analysis.

Since then, other genetic insights have further supported the standstill hypothesis. Elias and colleagues even propose that people stayed in Beringia for as long as 10,000 years. When the ice finally started to retreat, groups of people then travelled to different pockets of the Americas. There has long been debate over whether these early settlers arrived from several migrations from different areas, or just one.

Over 20 years ago, Mulligan proposed that there was just one migration from Beringia into the "New World." She came to this conclusion by analysing the genetic variation in the DNA of modern-day Native Americans and comparing it with the variation in Asia. The same rare pattern appeared in all the Native Americans she studied, but very rarely appeared in modern-day Asians. This meant Native Americans likely arose from a single population of people who had lived in Beringia, isolated for many years.

In 2015, a study using more advanced genetic techniques came to a similar conclusion. Rasmus Nielsen of the University of California, Berkeley, US, and colleagues found that the "vast majority" of Native Americans must have originated from just one colonization event. "There's been no turnover or change in the population group as some people had previously hypothesised," says Nielsen. In fact, about 80% of Native Americans today are direct descendants of the Clovis people, who lived across North America about 13,000 years ago. This discovery came from a 2014 genetic study of a one-year-old Clovis boy who died about 12,700 years ago.

But we now know there must have been staggered migrations from Beringia. That is because there are small groups of people in the Amazonian region of South America – such as the Suruí and Karitiana – with additional mysterious "arctic gene flow," unrelated to the Clovis boy. Another 2015 study therefore proposed there was more than one "founding population of the Americas."

The indigenous populations of the Americas, the team found, have distant genetic links in common with people of Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Andaman Islands. This means, says Pontus Skoglund of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that people came into Beringia over different times during the "standstill" and went on to populate different parts of the Americas. Those early dispersals are still reflected by differences in the genomes of people living today. "It wasn't simply a single homogenous founding population. There must have been some type of patchwork of people, and maybe there were multiple pulses," says Skoglund. In other words, the Beringian inhabitants did not all arrive or leave at the same time.

This makes sense when you consider that Beringia was not a narrow land bridge with ocean on either side. "It was a huge region about twice the size of Texas," says Elias. The people living there would have had no idea that it was a land bridge at all. "There were no sign posts saying they were leaving Siberia." This makes it highly likely that there were different groups of Beringian inhabitants that never met. A study published in February 2017 strengthens this idea further. After examining the shapes of 800- to 500-year-old skulls from Mexico, researchers found they were so distinct, the people the skulls belonged to must have remained genetically isolated for at least 20,000 years.

To understand who the first Americans really were, we have to consider when they arrived. While the exact timing is hard to pin down. Nielsen's work gives some insight. By sequencing the genomes of people from the Americas, Siberia, and Oceania, he and colleagues could understand when these populations diverged. The team concludes that the ancestors of the first Americans came to Beringia at some point between 23,000 years and 13,000 years ago.

We now have archaeological evidence to suggest that the people who left Siberia – and then Beringia – did so even earlier than the 23,000-year-limit proposed by Nielsen and colleagues. In January 2017, Lauriane Bourgeon and her team found evidence of people living in a cave system in the northern Yukon Territory of western Canada, called the Bluefish Caves, that dates to as early as 24,000 years ago. It was previously believed that people had only arrived in this area 10,000 years later. "They reached Beringia as early as 24,000 years ago, and they remained genetically and geographically isolated until about 16-15,000 years ago, before dispersing south of the ice sheets that covered most of North America during this period," says Bourgeon. The caves "were only used on brief occasions for hunting activities," she says. "We found cut marks on bones from horse, caribou and wapiti, so we know that humans were relying on those species."

This work provides further evidence that people were in the Beringia area at this early date. But it does not reveal the exact dates these people first ventured further south. For that, we can turn to archaeological evidence. For decades, stone tools left by the Clovis people have been found throughout North America. Some date to as early as 13,000 years ago. This might suggest that humans moved south very late. But in recent years evidence has begun to emerge that questions this idea.

For instance, at a site called Monte Verde in southern Chile, there is evidence of human occupation that dates between 14,500 and 18,500 years ago. We know these people built fires, ate seafood and used stone tools – but because they did not leave any human remains behind, much about this early group remains mysterious. "We really know little about them, because most preserved remains are stone tools and sometimes bones of animals, thus technology and diet," explains Tom Dillehay of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, US, who is studying these people. "Monte Verde in south-central Chile, where I am at present, has several organic remains – animal hide, meat, plant remains that reveal a wider diet, wood technology – but these types of sites are rare to find."

Another conundrum remains. Ice sheets still covered North America 18,500 years ago, making journeying south difficult. How did people arrive in southern Chile so early? A leading idea had been that an ice-free corridor opened up, which allowed humans to travel south. However, the latest evidence suggests this corridor only opened about 12,600 years ago, long after these early Chileans arrived. Elias also points out how difficult this journey would have been. "Even if there was a small gap in between these enormous ice sheets, the environment left in that gap would have been so horrible, with mud, ice, meltwater and slush. It would not have been a habitable place for people or the animals they would have wanted to follow," he says.

There is an alternative. These early people could have travelled by boat, taking a route along the Pacific coast. There is no archaeological evidence to support this idea, but that is not entirely unexpected: wooden boats are rarely preserved in the archaeological record.

There are still many unanswered questions, but Mulligan says that studying how and when early hunter-gatherers spread across the Americas can help us to understand the process of migration itself. That is, how population sizes change and which genetic traits persist.

In many ways, the peopling of America presents scientists with a golden opportunity to study these processes. There have been multiple migrations both into and out of other regions of the world – Africa, Europe and Asia, for instance. But the people who moved into the Americas were on a one-way journey. "We know the original inhabitants came from Asia into the New World with no other people there, and no major back migrations, so it's the simplest model you can conceive of." That it was a one-way journey, coupled with the increased interest in studying the genetics of these ancient people, means we should soon understand even more about who these first Americans really were, and exactly when they arrived.

1. What is the hypothesis made by researchers according to the author?

2. How did the travelers become genetically distinct from Asians according to the article?

3. Did all of the migrants come into North America in one group or in smaller groups from Beringia? Explain.

4. Are there any weaknesses in the standstill hypothesis?

5. Given what you have learned, when do you believe the first Americans arrived in the

Americas and how did they get here? What evidence can you use to support your conclusion?

Problem 2. Olaudah Equiano

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. Vol. I, Ch. II (pp. 46-71) (1789).

…My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which seven lived to grow up, including myself and a sister, who was the only daughter. As I was the youngest of the sons, I became, of course, the greatest favorite with my mother, and was always with her; and she used to take particular pains to form my mind. I was trained up from my earliest years in the art of war; my daily exercise was shooting and throwing javelins; and my mother adorned me with emblems, after the manner of our greatest warriors. In this way I grew up till I was turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness in the following manner:--Generally when the grown people in the neighborhood were gone far in the fields to labor, the children assembled together in some of the neighbors' premises to play; and commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents' absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize…One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could, till night came on, when we reached a small house, where the robbers halted for refreshment, and spent the night. We were then unbound, but were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue and grief, our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our misfortune for a short time.

The next morning we left the house, and continued travelling all the day. For a long time we had kept the woods, but at last we came into a road which I believed I knew. I had now some hopes of being delivered; for we had advanced but a little way before I discovered some people at a distance, on which I began to cry out for their assistance: but my cries had no other effect than to make them tie me faster and stop my mouth, and then they put me into a large sack. They also stopped my sister's mouth, and tied her hands; and in this manner we proceeded till we were out of the sight of these people. When we went to rest the following night they offered us some victuals; but we refused it; and the only comfort we had was in being in one another's arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears.

But alas! we were soon deprived of even the small comfort of weeping together. The next day proved a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my sister and I were then separated, while we lay clasped in each other's arms. It was in vain that we besought them not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately carried away, while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I cried and grieved continually; and for several days I did not eat anything but what they forced into my mouth. At length, after many days travelling, during which I had often changed masters, I got into the hands of a chieftain, in a very pleasant country.

This man had two wives and some children, and they all used me extremely well, and did all they could to comfort me; particularly the first wife, who was something like my mother. Although I was a great many days journey from my father's house, yet these people spoke exactly the same language with us. This first master of mine, as I may call him, was a smith, and my principal employment was working his bellows…I believe it was gold he worked…I was there I suppose about a month, and they at last used to trust me some little distance from the house. This liberty I used in embracing every opportunity to inquire the way to my own home…I therefore determined to seize the first opportunity of making my escape…

While I was projecting my escape, one day an unlucky event happened, which quite disconcerted my plan, and put an end to my hopes. I used to be sometimes employed in assisting an elderly woman slave to cook and take care of the poultry; and one morning, while I was feeding some chickens, I happened to toss a small pebble at one of them, which hit it on the middle and directly killed it. The old slave, having soon after missed the chicken, inquired after it…my master being out, she immediately went and told her mistress what I had done. This alarmed me very much, and I expected an instant flogging, which to me was uncommonly dreadful; for I had seldom been beaten at home. I therefore resolved to fly; and accordingly I ran into a thicket that was hard by, and hid myself in the bushes. Soon afterwards my mistress and the slave returned, and, not seeing me, they searched all the house, but not finding me, and I not making answer when they called to me, they thought I had run away, and the whole neighborhood was raised in the pursuit of me.

The neighbors continued the whole day looking for me, and several times many of them came within a few yards of the place where I lay hid…but they never discovered me…I had determined when it should be dark to make the attempt…Thus was I like the hunted deer. I at length quitted the thicket, very faint and hungry, for I had not eaten or drank any thing all the day; and crept to my master's kitchen, from whence I set out at first, and which was an open shed, and laid myself down in the ashes with an anxious wish for death to relieve me from all my pains. I was scarcely awake in the morning when the old woman slave, who was the first up, came to light the fire, and saw me in the fire place. She was very much surprised to see me, and could scarcely believe her own eyes. She now promised to intercede for me, and went for her master, who soon after came, and, having slightly reprimanded me, ordered me to be taken care of, and not to be ill-treated.

Soon after this my master's only daughter, and child by his first wife, sickened and died, which affected him so much that for some time he was almost frantic, and really would have killed himself, had he not been watched and prevented. However, in a small time afterwards he recovered, and I was again sold.

I was now carried to the left of the sun's rising, through many different countries, and a number of large woods. The people I was sold to used to carry me very often, when I was tired, either on their shoulders or on their backs. I saw many convenient well-built sheds along the roads, at proper distances, to accommodate the merchants and travellers, who lay in those buildings along with their wives, who often accompany them; and they always go well armed.

From the time I left my own nation I always found somebody that understood me till I came to the sea coast. The languages of different nations did not totally differ, nor were they so copious as those of the Europeans, particularly the English. They were therefore easily learned; and, while I was journeying thus through Africa, I acquired two or three different tongues. In this manner I had been travelling for a considerable time, when one evening, to my great surprise, whom should I see brought to the house where I was but my dear sister! As soon as she saw me she gave a loud shriek, and ran into my arms--I was quite overpowered: neither of us could speak; but, for a considerable time, clung to each other in mutual embraces, unable to do any thing but weep. Our meeting affected all who saw us; and indeed I must acknowledge, in honor of those sable destroyers of human rights, that I never met with any ill treatment, or saw any offered to their slaves, except tying them, when necessary, to keep them from running away. When these people knew we were brother and sister they indulged us together; and the man, to whom I supposed we belonged, lay with us, he in the middle, while she and I held one another by the hands across his breast all night; and thus for a while we forgot our misfortunes in the joy of being together: but even this small comfort was soon to have an end; for scarcely had the fatal morning appeared, when she was again torn from me for ever!...

Without the least previous knowledge, one morning early…I was wakened out of my [sleep] to fresh sorrow, and hurried away…The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions too differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language they spoke, (which was very different from any I had ever heard) united to confirm me in this belief…When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted…

1. Who captured Equiano and how?

2. Describe Equiano’s journey from his village to the coast.

3. When did Equiano first realize his fate?

Problem 3. Columbus’s Discovery Letter

Letter of Christopher Columbus to Sant Ángel. (King Ferdinand’s Minister of Finance) (1493).



As I know you will be rejoiced at the glorious success that our Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to tell you how in thirty-three days I sailed to the Indies with the fleet that the illustrious King and Queen, our Sovereigns, gave me, where I discovered a great many islands, inhabited by numberless people; and of all I have taken possession for their Highnesses by proclamation and display of the Royal Standard without opposition. To the first island I discovered I gave the name of San Salvador, in commemoration of His Divine Majesty, who has wonderfully granted all this. The Indians call it Guanaham….When I came to [the island that I named] Juana, I followed the coast of that isle toward the west, and found it so extensive that I thought it might be the mainland, the province of Cathay…finding at the end of many leagues that nothing new appeared…I determined not to wait there longer…

I saw another isle to the eastward…to which I gave the name of Hispaniola…It has many ports along the sea-coast…and many fine, large, flowing rivers. The land there is elevated, with many mountains and peaks incomparably higher than in the centre isle. They are most beautiful, of a thousand varied forms, accessible, and full of trees of endless varieties, so high that they seem to touch the sky, and I have been told that they never lose their foliage. I saw them as green and lovely as trees are in Spain in the month of May. Some of them were covered with blossoms, some with fruit, and some in other conditions, according to their kind. The nightingale and other small birds of a thousand kinds were singing in the month of November when I was there. There were palm trees of six or eight varieties, the graceful peculiarities of each one of them being worthy of admiration as are the other trees, fruits and grasses. There are wonderful pine woods, and very extensive ranges of meadow land. There is honey, and there are many kinds of birds, and a great variety of fruits. Inland there are numerous mines of metals and innumerable people. Hispaniola is a marvel. Its hills and mountains, fine plains and open country, are rich and fertile for planting and for pasturage, and for building towns and villages. The seaports there are incredibly fine, as also the magnificent rivers, most of which bear gold…There are many spices and vast mines of gold and other metals in this island. They have no iron, nor steel, nor weapons, nor are they fit for them, because although they are well-made men of commanding stature, they appear extraordinarily timid…

I had to win their love, and to induce them to become Christians, and to love and serve their Highnesses and the whole Castilian nation, and help to get for us things they have in abundance, which are necessary to us. They have no religion, nor idolatry, except that they all believe power and goodness to be in heaven. They firmly believed that I, with my ships and men, came from heaven, and with this idea I have been received everywhere, since they lost fear of me. They are, however, far from being ignorant. They are most ingenious men, and navigate these seas in a wonderful way, and describe everything well, but they never before saw people wearing clothes, nor vessels like ours…I took by force some of the natives, that from them we might gain some information of what there was in these parts; and so it was that we immediately understood each other, either by words or signs. They are still with me and still believe that I come from heaven.

I hope that their Highnesses will decide upon the conversion of these people to our holy faith, to which they seem much inclined… In Hispaniola, in the most convenient place, most accessible for the gold mines and all commerce with the mainland on this side or with that of the great Khan, on the other, with which there would be great trade and profit, I have taken possession of a large town, which I have named the City of Navidad. I began fortifications there which should be completed by this time, and I have left in it men enough to hold it, with arms, artillery, and provisions for more than a year…

As for monsters, I have found not trace of them except at the point in the second isle as one enters the Indies, which is inhabited by a people considered in all the isles as most ferocious, who eat human flesh. They possess many canoes, with which they overrun all the isles of India, stealing and seizing all they can…Another island, I am told, is larger than Hispaniola, where the natives have no hair, and where there is countless gold; and from them all I bring Indians to testify to this.

To speak, in conclusion, only of what has been done during this hurried voyage, their Highnesses will see that I can give them as much gold as they desire, if they will give me a little assistance, spices, cotton, as much as their Highnesses may command to be shipped…and as many slaves as they choose to send for, all heathens…But our Redeemer has given victory to our most illustrious King and Queen, and to their kingdoms rendered famous by this glorious event, at which all Christendom should rejoice, celebrating it with great festivities and solemn Thanksgivings to the Holy Trinity, with fervent prayers for the high distinction that will accrue to them from turning so many peoples to our holy faith…15th of February, 1493.

Yours to command,

THE ADMIRAL

1. Why did Columbus write a letter to Luis de Sant Ángel?

2. How did Columbus describe the people that he encountered? Why do you think he portrayed them as he did?

3. How did Columbus use Christianity in his letter? Was he a religious man?

4. Where did Columbus think he was according to the letter?

5. Was Columbus’s encouraging enough to warrant a second expedition?

Problem 4. Bartolomé de Las Casas: Hero or Villain?



1. Was Bartolomé de Las Casas a hero or a villain? Explain.

Problem 5. Bartolomé de Las Casas v. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda Debate

Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish Catholic priest who freed his Indian slaves before writing his History of the Indies, 1528.

Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put in the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity… Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the fields. But our Spaniards gave no such opportunity to Indians and truly considered them perpetual slaves… When they fell ill, which was very frequently because they are a delicate people unaccustomed to such work, the Spaniards did not believe them and pitilessly called them lazy dogs, and kicked and beat them; and when illness was apparent they sent them home as useless… They would go then, falling into the first stream and dying there in desperation… I sometimes came upon dead bodies on my way, and upon others who were gasping and moaning in their death agony, repeating "Hungry, hungry." And this was the freedom, the good treatment and the Christianity that Indians received.

About eight years passed under [Governor Ovando’s] rule…and the multitude of people who originally lived on this island…was consumed at such a rate that in those eight years 90 per cent had perished. From here this sweeping plague went to San Juan, Jamaica, Cuba and the continent, spreading destruction over the whole hemisphere.

Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish Dominican priest, In Defense of the Indians, c. 1550.

Indians…are not ignorant, inhuman, or bestial. Rather, long before they had heard the word Spaniard they had properly organized states, wisely ordered by excellent laws, religion, and custom. They cultivated friendship and, bound together in common fellowship, lived in populous cities in which they wisely administered the affairs of both peace and war justly and equitably, truly governed by laws that at very many points surpass ours…

The Indian race is not that barbaric, nor are they dull witted or stupid, but they are easy to teach and very talented in learning all the liberal arts, and very ready to accept, honor, and observe the Christian religion and correct their sins (as experience has taught) once priests have introduced them to the sacred mysteries and taught them the word of God….

Furthermore, they are so skilled in every mechanical art…so very beautiful in their skill and artistry are the things this people produces in the grace of its architecture, its painting, and its needlework…

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, historian of the Spanish Crown, “The Second Democrates,” 1547.

You can well understand… that the Spanish have a perfect right to rule these barbarians of the New World and the adjacent islands, who in prudence, skill, virtues, and humanity are as inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or women to men, for there exists between the two as great a difference as between savage and cruel races and the most merciful, between the most intemperate and the moderate and temperate and, I might even say, between apes and men.

Compare, then, these gifts of prudence, talent, magnanimity, temperance, humanity, and religion with those possessed by these half-men, in whom you will barely find the vestiges of humanity, who not only do not possess any learning at all, but are not even literate or in possession of any monument to their history except for some obscure and vague reminiscences of several things put down in various paintings; nor do they have written laws, but barbarian institutions and customs…[T]hey waged continual and ferocious war upon one another with such fierceness that they did not consider a victory at all worthwhile unless they sated their monstrous hunger with the flesh of their enemies….

Although some of them show a certain ingenuity for various works of artisanship, this is no proof of human cleverness, for we can observe animals, birds, and spiders making certain structures which no human accomplishment can competently imitate… [T]hey have been born to slavery and not to civic and liberal life. Therefore, if you wish to reduce them, I do not say to our domination, but to a servitude a little less harsh, it will not be difficult for them to change their masters, and instead of the ones they had, who were barbarous and impious and inhuman, to accept the Christians, cultivators of human virtues and the true faith...

I do not say, then, that they should be baptized by force, but that…this does not seem possible to accomplish by any other way than first subjecting them to our rule… I believe that the barbarians can be conquered within the same right which makes them compelled to hear the words of the Gospels...

1. What arguments did Las Casas use to argue that Native Americans were human beings, with souls, and capable of Christianity?

2. What arguments did Sepúlveda use to argue that Native Americans were savages and justly enslaved?

Problem 6. Discourse of Western Planting: Justifying the Movement

Richard Hakluyt, A Discourse Concerning Western Planting (1584). Summary by Elizabeth Wambold (Lehigh University).



Written with the intention of persuading Elizabeth I to provide financial support for colonization in the New World, Richard Hakluyt the Younger’s A Particuler Discourse Concerninge The Greate Necessitie And Manifolde Commodyties That Are Like To Growe To This Realme Of Englande By The Westerne Discoueries Lately Attempted, Written In The Yere 1584 (known most commonly as Discourse of Western Planting) is one of the most extensive and important pieces of propagandistic literature to emerge from late 16th century England…The ideas and propositions he outlines deal with a “range of national problems which he proposed to solve by means of a brand of colonial adventure that presented itself as virtually risk-free, at least to the crown…”

Commissioned in 1583 by Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State to Elizabeth I, Hakluyt goes to France to learn as much as he can about French and Spanish explorations and colonies in the New World. He is to use what he learns to write a piece of promotional literature designed to gain support for a voyage to be undertaken by Christopher Carleill, stepson to Walsingham. While there, Hakluyt reads Las Casas’s The Spanish Colonie (also known as A Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies), which dramatizes Spanish atrocities done to native populations in the New World. When Hakluyt returns to England in July of 1584, Carleill has already left on another voyage, having shifted his focus to a different realm. In spite of this, Walsingham still urges Hakluyt to write on the subject of colonization, though now with the intent of assisting Sir Walter Raleigh, who is himself seeking royal support to colonize what would be called Roanoke….

Although Queen Elizabeth appreciated what Hakluyt was doing with the piece and even found some of his ideas tempting…she felt she had been lucky to avoid open conflict with Spain and knew that the most practical use of her investments would be in building up the English military… In spite of this, the Queen did lend some support to Raleigh in his 1585 Roanoke venture…

The major content of Discourse deals with the economic and nationalistic benefits that England will derive from colonizing the New World. Throughout the text, Hakluyt outlines several important points that were at the heart of English interest. He plays upon economic concerns, suggesting that North America will be the key in developing new outlets for trade and reinvigorating certain important industrial areas, such as the cloth industry, that were at the time lapsing. Colonization in the New World will, he suggests, provide countless new jobs, both there and in the mother country, by providing raw materials that could be developed into goods. Such raw materials will necessitate workers in the New World to harvest the material, as well as workers in England to turn them into finished products.

In addition to reinvigorating the economy through new jobs, colonization will provide a solution for what many English considered to be an overcrowding of the country. Sending people to the New World will help to redistribute population growth and prevent people in England from going jobless due to overcrowding. This, in turn, will also cut down on crime in England, since there will be fewer jobless people to commit crimes. Even more, it would be possible to send current petty criminals to the New World where they can work and produce, rather than overcrowding English jails…In addition to this, a strong English foothold will also force a barrier on Spanish expansion, shutting them off from the possibility of spreading their colonization further northward…This desire to close off or compete with the Spanish is an underlying theme in almost all of what Hakluyt writes. The Spanish are considered by the English as the ultimate enemy, and anything that can be done to injure them is viewed as beneficial to the English.

This interest in Christianizing the natives…is motivated by several things. Protestantism during Elizabeth’s reign is deeply embedded in the English psyche and national identity…The desire to convert becomes a means of competition between the nations, and converting the “heathen or pagan people” of the New World is a form of validation for the English. By converting these people to Protestantism, the English felt they would be proving that their religion is as good, powerful, and “holy” as the Spanish Catholics…

Hakluyt…uses descriptions of Spanish atrocities committed against the natives, primarily from Las Casas’s accounts, to fuel the already present hatred between the nations and suggest ways in which the Indians can be used against the Spanish. In part eleven of Discourse Hakluyt suggests that the English use these atrocities to their advantage and incite the natives to rebel against the oppressive Spanish…[F]ocusing solely on the Spanish atrocities, Hakluyt carefully manipulates the English mind, painting a picture in which they are ultimately glorified in their actions. His images, therefore, “not only serve as propaganda, but also reveal the hope, and even the faith, that the elect will triumph over evil, that England will subdue Spain, that Protestantism will curb the passions of the Catholic”…

Although Discourse of Western Planting is intended as a practical guide to colonizing in the New World, it is full of much deeper implications. Discourse opens the door to an understanding of the Elizabethan mindset that informs all English action and interaction in the New World. By looking at what is outlined in the document and how it is done, we can use Discourse as a sort of frame through which to read the motivations behind actions and incidents in the colonies.

1. Who was the intended audience of Hakluyt’s work?

2. What were his most compelling reasons for English settlement of America?

3. What misconceptions about natives did Hakluyt perpetuate?

Problem 7. Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith, Generall Historie of Virginia, Book III (1630).



…Captaine Bartholomew Gosnoll, one of the first movers of this plantation…at last prevailed with some Gentlemen, as Captaine John Smith, Mr. Edward-maria Wingfield, Mr. Robert Hunt, and divers others, who depended a yeare upon his projects…[and] his Majestie by his letters patents, gave commission for establishing Councels, to direct here; and to governe, and to execute there. To effect this, was spent another yeare, and by that, three ships were provided…

On the 19 of December, 1606. we set sayle from Blackwall, but by unprosperous winds, were kept six weekes in the sight of England; all which time, Mr. Hunt our Preacher, was so weake and sicke, that few expected his recovery…yet…all this could never force from him so much as a seeming desire to leave the busines, but preferred the service of God, in so good a voyage…

We watered at the Canaries, we traded with the Salvages at Dominica; three weekes we spent in refreshing our selves amongst these west-India Isles;…in Mevis, Mona, and the Virgin Isles, we spent some time, where, with a lothsome beast like a Crocodil, called a Gwayn, Tortoises, Pellicans, Parrots, and fishes, we daily feasted. Gone from thence in search of Virginia, the company was not a little discomforted, seeing the Marriners had 3 dayes passed their reckoning and found no land, so that Captaine Ratliffe (Captaine of the Pinnace) rather desired to beare up the helme to returne for England, then make further search. But God the guider of all good actions, forcing them by an extreame storme to hull all night, did drive them by his providence to their desired Port…The first land they made they called Cape Henry; where thirtie of them recreating themselves on shore, were assaulted by five Salvages, who hurt two of the English very dangerously. That night…the Councell was sworne, Mr. Wingfield was chosen President, and an Oration made…

Now falleth every man to worke, the Councell contrive the Fort, the rest cut downe trees to make place to pitch their Tents; some provide clapbord to relade the ships, some make gardens, some nets, &c. The Salvages often visited us kindly. The Presidents overweening jealousie would admit no exercise at armes, or fortification, but the boughs of trees cast together in the forme of a halfe moone by the extraordinary paines and diligence of Captaine Kendall, Newport, Smith, and twentie others, were sent to discover the head of the river: by divers small habitations they passed, in six dayes they arrived at a Towne called Powhatan, consisting of some twelve houses, pleasantly seated on a hill; before it three fertile Isles, about it many of their cornefields, the place is very pleasant, and strong by nature, of this place the Prince is called Powhatan, and his people Powhatans…

1. Who was the intended audience of Smith’s work?

2. What challenges does Smith describe?

Problem 8. Mayflower Compact

William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, ed. Samuel Morison, 75-6. Mayflower Compact (1620).



|In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, |[pi|

|France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc. |c] |

|Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the | |

|northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into | |

|a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such | |

|just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the | |

|Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November | |

|[New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the | |

|fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620. | |

|  | |

|  | |

|  | |

| | |

|John Carver | |

|William Brewster | |

|John Alden | |

|William Mullins | |

|John Craxton | |

|John Howland | |

|John Tilly | |

|Thomas Tinker | |

|John Turner | |

|Digery Priest | |

|Edmond Margeson | |

|Richard Clark | |

|Thomas English | |

|John Goodman | |

|William Bradford      | |

|Isaac Allerton | |

|Samuel Fuller | |

|William White | |

|John Billington | |

|Steven Hopkins | |

|Francis Cook | |

|John Rigdale | |

|Francis Eaton | |

|Thomas Williams | |

|Peter Brown | |

|Richard Gardiner | |

|Edward Doten | |

|George Soule | |

|Edward Winslow | |

|Miles Standish | |

|Christopher Martin | |

|James Chilton | |

|Richard Warren | |

|Edward Tilly | |

|Thomas Rogers | |

|Edward Fuller | |

|Moses Fletcher | |

|Gilbert Winslow | |

|Richard Bitteridge | |

|John Allerton | |

|Edward Liester | |

| | |

1. What was the Mayflower Compact and why was it written?

2. Who were the parties to the document?

3. What did the Mayflower Compact say as to how Plymouth Colony would be governed?

4. Was the Mayflower Compact necessary? Explain.

Problem 9. City Upon A Hill

John Winthrop, “City upon a Hill” (1630).



Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is…to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our owne rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes haveing before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our Community as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his owne people and will commaund a blessing upon us in all our wayes, soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe then formerly wee have beene acquainted with, wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world…But if our heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods, our pleasures, and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;

Therefore lett us choose life, that wee, and our Seede, may live; by obeyeing his voyce, and cleaveing to him, for hee is our life, and our prosperity.

1. Who was the intended audience of Winthrop’s speech?

2. How does Winthrop suggest that the people should act?

3. Explain the use of Winthrop’s metaphor “A City Upon A Hill.”

Problem 10. The Trial of Bridget Bishop

Examination of Bridget Bishop, as Recorded by Ezekiel Cheever, April 19, 1692.

( Essex County Court Archives, vol. 1, no. 137.)

The examination of Bridget Bishop before the Worshipfull John Harthon and Jonathan Curren esq'rs

Bridget Bishop being now comeing in to be examined relating to her accusation of suspicon of sundry acts of witchcrafts the afflicted persons are now dreadfully afflicted by her as they doe say

Bishop what doe you say you here stand charged with sundry acts of witchcraft by you done or commited upon the bodyes of mercy Lews and An Putnum and others

[Bishop] I am innocent I know nothing of it I have done no witchcraft

Looke upon this woman and see if this be the woman that you have seen hurting you

mercy Lewes and An Putnum and others doe doe now charge her to her face with hurting of them

[Hathorne] what doe you say now you see they charge you to your face[?]

[Bishop] I never did hurt them in my life I did never see these persons before I am as innocent as the child unborn

[Hathorne] is not your coate cut[?]

answers no but her garment being Looked upon they find it cut or toren two wayes Jo[h]nathan walcoate saith that the sword that he strucke at goodie Bishop with was not naked but was within the scabberd so that the rent may very probablie be the very same - that mary walcoate did tell that shee had in her coate by Jonathans stricking at her apperance

The afflicted persons charge her, with having hurt them many wayes and by tempting them to sine to the devils Booke at which charge shee seemed to be very angrie and shaking her head at them saying it was false they are all greatly tormented (as I conceive) by the shaking of her head

[Hathorne] good Bishop what contract have you made with the devil[?]

[Bishop] I have made no contract with the devill I never saw him in my life. An Putnam sayeth that shee calls the devill her God

[Hathorne] what say you to all this that you are charged with can you not find in your [he]art to tell the truth[?]

[Bishop] I doe tell the truth I never hurt these persons in [m]y life[.] I never saw them before.

[Mercy Lewis] oh goode Bishop did you not come to our house the Last night[?] and did you not tell me that your master made you tell more then you were willing to tell[?]

[Hathorne] tell us the truth in this matter[!] how comes these persons to be thus tormented and to charge you with doing[?]

[Bishop] I am not come here to say I am a witch to take away my life

[Hathorne] who is it that doth it[?] if you doe not[,] they say it is your likenes that comes and torments them and tempts them to write in the booke[.] what Booke is that you tempt them with[?]

[Bishop] I know nothing of it I am innocent.

[the afflicted girls act as if they are possessed or tormented in the courtroom]

[Hathorne] doe you not see how they are tormented[?] you are acting witchcraft before us[!] what doe you say to this[?] why have you not an heart to confese the truth[?]

[Bishop] I am innocent I know nothing of it I am no witch I know not what a witch is.

[Hathorne] have you not given consent that some evill spirit should doe this in your likenes[?]

[Bishop] no I am innocent of being a witch I know no man woman or child here

[Hathorne] how came you into my bedchamber one morning then and asked me whither I had any curtains to sell [?]

shee is by some of the afflicted persons charged with murder

[Hathorne] what doe you say to these murders you are charged with[?]

[Bishop] I am innocent I know nothing [about] of it

now shee lifts up her eyes and they are greatly tormented [again]

[Hathorne] what doe you say to these things here horrible acts of witch craft[?]

[Bishop] I know nothing of it I doe not know whither be any witches or no

[Hathorne] No[?] have you not heard that some have confessed [?]

[Bishop] no I did not.

two men told her to her face that they had told her here shee is taken in a plain lie

now shee is going away

they are dreadfully afflicted

5 afflicted persons doe charge this woman to be the very [w]woman that hurts them

[This] is a true account of what I have taken down at her examination according to best [un]derstanding and observation I have also in her examination taken notice that all her actions [are a] great influence upon the afflicted persons and that have ben tortered by her

1. What is Bridget Bishop accused of doing to the afflicted girls?

2. Does Bishop confess to anything?

3. How are the afflicted girls influencing the trial?

4. Does religion enter into the courtroom examination of Bishop? When and how?

5. Did Bridget Bishop get a fair trail?

6. Why are primary sources important to historians? Why not simply read a textbook to find out what happened?

Problem 11. The Capture of Mary Rowlandson

Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1675).



On the tenth of February 1675, came the Indians with great numbers upon Lancaster: their first coming was about sunrising; hearing the noise of some guns, we looked out; several houses were burning, and the smoke ascending to heaven. There were five persons taken in one house; the father, and the mother and a sucking child, they knocked on the head; the other two they took and carried away alive. There were two others, who being out of their garrison upon some occasion were set upon; one was knocked on the head, the other escaped; another there was who running along was shot and wounded, and fell down; he begged of them his life, promising them money (as they told me) but they would not hearken to him but knocked him in head, and stripped him naked, and split open his bowels. Another, seeing many of the Indians about his barn, ventured and went out, but was quickly shot down. There were three others belonging to the same garrison who were killed; the Indians getting up upon the roof of the barn, had advantage to shoot down upon them over their fortification. Thus these murderous wretches went on, burning, and destroying before them.

At length they came and beset our own house, and quickly it was the dolefulest day that ever mine eyes saw. The house stood upon the edge of a hill; some of the Indians got behind the hill, others into the barn, and others behind anything that could shelter them; from all which places they shot against the house, so that the bullets seemed to fly like hail; and quickly they wounded one man among us, then another, and then a third. About two hours…they had been about the house before they prevailed to fire it…Some in our house were fighting for their lives, others wallowing in their blood, the house on fire over our heads, and the bloody heathen ready to knock us on the head, if we stirred out. Now might we hear mothers and children crying out for themselves, and one another, "Lord, what shall we do?" Then I took my children (and one of my sisters', hers) to go forth and leave the house: but as soon as we came to the door and appeared, the Indians shot so thick that the bullets rattled against the house, as if one had taken an handful of stones and threw them, so that we were fain to give back…

No sooner were we out of the house, but my brother-in-law (being before wounded, in defending the house, in or near the throat) fell down dead, whereat the Indians scornfully shouted, and hallowed, and were presently upon him, stripping off his clothes, the bullets flying thick, one went through my side, and the same (as would seem) through the bowels and hand of my dear child in my arms. One of my elder sisters' children, named William, had then his leg broken, which the Indians perceiving, they knocked him on [his] head. Thus were we butchered by those merciless heathen, standing amazed, with the blood running down to our heels. My eldest sister being yet in the house, and seeing those woeful sights, the infidels hauling mothers one way, and children another, and some wallowing in their blood: and her elder son telling her that her son William was dead, and myself was wounded, she said, "And Lord, let me die with them," which was no sooner said, but she was struck with a bullet, and fell down dead over the threshold…

[T]he Indians laid hold of us, pulling me one way, and the children another, and said, "Come go along with us"; I told them they would kill me: they answered, if I were willing to go along with them, they would not hurt me.

Oh the doleful sight that now was to behold at this house! "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he has made in the earth." Of thirty-seven persons who were in this one house, none escaped either present death, or a bitter captivity, save only one...There were twelve killed, some shot, some stabbed with their spears, some knocked down with their hatchets. When we are in prosperity, Oh the little that we think of such dreadful sights, and to see our dear friends, and relations lie bleeding out their heart-blood upon the ground. There was one who was chopped into the head with a hatchet, and stripped naked, and yet was crawling up and down. It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here, and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves, all of them stripped naked by a company of hell-hounds, roaring, singing, ranting, and insulting, as if they would have torn our very hearts out; yet the Lord by His almighty power preserved a number of us from death, for there were twenty-four of us taken alive and carried captive.

I had often before this said that if the Indians should come, I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive, but when it came to the trial my mind changed; their glittering weapons so daunted my spirit, that I chose rather to go along with those…ravenous beasts, than that moment to end my days; and that I may the better declare what happened to me during that grievous captivity…

If you would like to continue reading the Narrative of Mary Rowlandson’s Captivity for extra credit it can be found here:

1. How did the Natives overtake Mary Rowlandson’s family? What tactics did they use?

2. What role did religion play in her life? What evidence from her narrative can you provide to support your conclusion?

3. Did Mary Rowlandson survive her captivity? How do you know?

4. How do you suppose she had the will to survive given her fearfulness of what might happen to her?

Problem 12. The Confession of Nat Turner

Thomas R. Gray, Confessions of Nat Turner, 1831



CONFESSION.

Agreeable to his own appointment, on the evening he was committed to prison, with permission of the jailer, I visited NAT on Tuesday the 1st November, when, without being questioned at all, commenced his narrative in the following words:--

SIR,--You have asked me to give a history of the motives which induced me to undertake the late insurrection, as you call it--To do so I must go back to the days of my infancy, and even before I was born. I was thirty-one years of age the 2d of October last, and born the property of Benj. Turner, of this county. In my childhood a circumstance occurred which made an indelible impression on my mind, and laid the ground work of that enthusiasm, which has terminated so fatally to many, both white and black, and for which I am about to atone at the gallows. It is here necessary to relate this circumstance--trifling as it may seem, it was the commencement of that belief which has grown with time, and even now, sir, in this dungeon, helpless and forsaken as I am, I cannot divest myself of. Being at play with other children, when three or four years old, I was telling them something, which my mother overhearing, said it had happened before I was I born--I stuck to my story, however, and related somethings which went, in her opinion, to confirm it--others being called on were greatly astonished, knowing that these things had happened, and caused them to say in my hearing, I surely would be a prophet, as the Lord had shewn me things that had happened before my birth. And my father and mother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on my head and breast…My grandmother, who was very religious…my master, who belonged to the church, and other religious persons who visited the house, and whom I often saw at prayers, noticing the singularity of my manners, I suppose, and my uncommon intelligence for a child, remarked I had too much sense to be raised, and if I was, I would never be of any service to any one as a slave…

I have no recollection whatever of learning the alphabet--but to the astonishment of the family, one day, when a book was shewn me to keep me from crying, I began spelling the names of different objects--this was a source of wonder to all in the neighborhood, particularly the blacks--and this learning was constantly improved at all opportunities--when I got large enough to go to work, while employed, I was reflecting on many things that would present themselves to my imagination, and whenever an opportunity occurred of looking at a book, when the school children were getting their lessons, I would find many things that the fertility of my own imagination had depicted to me before; all my time, not devoted to my master's service, was spent either in prayer, or in making experiments…

[Later in life] I began to direct my attention to this great object, to fulfil the purpose for which, by this time, I felt assured I was intended. Knowing the influence I had obtained over the minds of my fellow servants…I now began to prepare them for my purpose, by telling them something was about to happen that would terminate in fulfilling the great promise that had been made to me--About this time I was placed under an overseer, from whom I ranaway - and after remaining in the woods thirty days, I returned, to the astonishment of the negroes on the plantation, who thought I had made my escape to some other part of the country, as my father had done before. But the reason of my return was, that the Spirit appeared to me and said I had my wishes directed to the things of this world, and not to the kingdom of Heaven, and that I should return to the service of my earthly master…

And about this time I had a vision--and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened--the thunder rolled in the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams--and I heard a voice saying, "Such is your luck, such you are called to see, and let it come rough or smooth, you must surely bare it." I now withdrew myself as much as my situation would permit, from the intercourse of my fellow servants, for the avowed purpose of serving the Spirit more fully--and it appeared to me, and reminded me of the things it had already shown me, and that it would then reveal to me the knowledge of the elements, the revolution of the planets, the operation of tides, and changes of the seasons. After this revelation in the year 1825, and the knowledge of the elements being made known to me, I sought more than ever to obtain true holiness before the great day of judgment should appear, and then I began to receive the true knowledge of faith…

[S]hortly afterwards, while laboring in the field, I discovered drops of blood on the corn as though it were dew from heaven-- and I communicated it to many, both white and black, in the neighborhood--and I then found on the leaves in the woods hieroglyphic characters, and numbers, with the forms of men in different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures I had seen before in the heavens. And now the Holy Ghost had revealed itself to me, and made plain the miracles it had shown me--For as the blood of Christ had been shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven for the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to earth again in the form of dew--and as the leaves on the trees bore the impression of the figures I had seen in the heavens, it was plain to me that the Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment was at hand…

And on the 12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first…And on the appearance of the sign, (the eclipse of the sun last February)…I communicated the great work laid out for me to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence, (Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam)…

Since the commencement of 1830, I had been living with Mr. Joseph Travis, who was to me a kind master, and placed the greatest confidence in me; in fact, I had no cause to complain of his treatment to me. On Saturday evening, the 20th of August, it was agreed between Henry, Hark and myself, to prepare a dinner the next day for the men we expected, and then to concert a plan, as we had not yet determined on any. Hark, on the following morning, brought a pig, and Henry brandy, and being joined by Sam, Nelson, Will, and Jack, they prepared in the woods a dinner, where, about three o'clock, I joined them…

I saluted them on coming up…[and] it was quickly agreed we should commence at home (Mr. J. Travis') on that night, and until we had armed and equipped ourselves, and gathered sufficient force, neither age nor sex was to be spared, (which was invariably adhered to.) We remained at the feast until about two hours in the night, when we went to the house and found Austin; they all went to the cider press and drank, except myself. On returning to the house, Hark went to the door with an axe, for the purpose of breaking it open, as we knew we were strong enough to murder the family, if they were awaked by the noise; but reflecting that it might create an alarm in the neighborhood, we determined to enter the house secretly, and murder them whilst sleeping. Hark got a ladder and set it against the chimney, on which I ascended, and hoisting a window, entered and came down stairs, unbarred the door, and removed the guns from their places. It was then observed that I must spill the first blood. On which, armed with a hatchet, and accompanied by Will, I entered my master's chamber, it being dark, I could not give a death blow, the hatchet glanced from his head, he sprang from the bed and called his wife, it was his last word, Will laid him dead, with a blow of his axe, and Mrs. Travis shared the same fate, as she lay in bed. The murder of this family, five in number, was the work of a moment, not one of them awoke; there was a little infant sleeping in a cradle, that was forgotten, until we had left the house and gone some distance, when Henry and Will returned and killed it; we got here, four guns that would shoot, and several old muskets, with a pound or two of powder. We remained some time at the barn, where we paraded; I formed them in a line as soldiers, and after carrying them through all the maneuvers I was master of, marched them off to Mr. Salathul Francis', about six hundred yards distant…

1. Why did Nat Turner plan and execute his revolt?

2. What were the most shocking parts of the confession?

3. Was there any chance that he would be successful in his revolt?

4. What do you suppose were the consequences for Nat and those who took up arms and rebelled with him?

5. What do you suppose were the consequences of Nat Turner’s Revolt for the innocent slaves in Southampton, throughout Virginia, and across America after Nat Turner’s Revolt?

6. Who was Thomas R. Gray?

Problem 13. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” 1739.



|…There is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any one moment, out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God…The God that holds you over the pit of |

|hell…abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be |

|cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the |

|most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince: and yet 'tis |

|nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment… |

| |

|O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: 'tis a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that |

|you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell; you|

|hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you |

|have no interest in any mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, |

|nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. |

| |

|…And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and|

|crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God; many are daily coming |

|from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are in now a happy state, |

|with their hearts filled with love to him that has loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the |

|glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so |

|many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you |

|rest one moment in such a condition? |

| |

|…And you that are young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season that you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are |

|renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will|

|soon be with you as it is with those persons that spent away all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass |

|in blindness and hardness. |

| |

|And you children that are unconverted, don't you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God that is now |

|angry with you every day, and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are |

|converted, and are becom[ing] the holy and happy children of the King of kings? |

| |

|And let everyone that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young |

|people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's Word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, that is a day of |

|such great favor to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others… |

| |

|Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging |

|over great part of this congregation: …Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed |

|[Genesis 19:17]. |

1. If God is so angry with man, why do you suppose he does not send them to hell?

2. Why does Edwards use such strong language throughout his Sermon?

3. What is Edwards’s ultimate message?

Problem 14. Capitulation of George Washington

George Washington, Articles of Capitulation, July 3, 1754.



|Capitulation accordée par de Vill D'infant |Capitulation granted by Mons. De Villier, Captain of infantry |

|Commandant des troupes de Sa Majesté tres Chrétienne a celuy des troupes |and commander of troops of his most Christian Majesty, to those|

|Anglais actuellement dans le fort de Nécessité qui avoit été Construit sur |English troops actually in the fort of Necessity which was |

|les terres du Domaine Du Roy |built on the lands of the King's dominions |

|Ce 3e Juillet 1754 a huit heures du soir. |July the 3rd, at eight o'clock at night, 1754. |

|Savoir. |As our intention had never been to trouble the peace and good |

|Comme notre intention n'a jamais été de troubler la Paix et la Bonne |harmony which reigns between the two friendly princes, but only|

|armonie qui régnoit entre les deux Princes amis, mais seulement de venger |to revenge the assassination which has been done on one of our |

|L'assasin qui a été fait sur un de nos officier porteur d'une sommation et |officers, bearer of a summons, upon his party, as also to |

|sur son escorte, comme aussy d'empecher aucun Etablissement sur les terres |hinder any establishment on the lands of the dominions of the |

|du Roy mon maitre |King, my master. Upon these considerations, we are willing to |

|A Ces Considerations nous voulons bien accorder grace a tous les Anglois |grant protection of favor, to all the English that are in the |

|qui sont dans le dit fort aux conditions ci-après. |said fort, upon conditions hereafter mentioned. |

|Article pr. |Article 1 |

|Nous accordons au Commandant Anglois de se retirer avec toute sa Garnison |We grant the English commander to retire with all garrisons, to|

|pour s'en Retourner paisiblement dans son pays et luy promettons d'Empecher|return peaceably into his own country, and we promise to hinder|

|qu'il luy soit fait aucune insulte par nos françois, et de maintenir autant|his receiving any insult from us French, and to restrain as |

|qu'il sera en notre pouvoir tous les sauvages qui sont avec nous. |much as shall be in our power the Savages that are with us. |

| |Article 2 |

|2e |He shall be permitted to withdraw and to take with him whatever|

|Il luy sera permis de sortir d'emporter tout ce qui leur appartiendra a |belongs to them except the artillery, which we reserve for |

|l'Exception de L'Artillerie que nous nous reservons |ourselves. |

|3e |Article 3 |

|Que nous leur accordons les honneurs de la guerre qu'ils sortiront tambour |We grant them the honors of war; they shall come out with drums|

|battant avec une piece de petit Canon, voulant bien par la leur prouver que|beating, and with a small piece of cannon, wishing to show by |

|nous les traittons en amis. |this means that we treat them as friends. |

|4e |Article 4 |

|Que sitôt les articles signés de part et d'autre, ils ameneront le Pavillon|As soon as these Articles are signed by both parties they shall|

|Anglois. |take down the English flag. |

|5e |Article 5 |

|Que demain a la pointe du jour un détachement françois ira pour faire |Tomorrow at daybreak a detachment of French shall receive the |

|défiler la Garnison et prendre pocession du dit fort. |surrender of the garrison and take possession of the aforesaid |

| |fort. |

|6e |Article 6 |

|Que comme les Anglois n'ont presque plus de chevaux ni Boeufs, ils seront |Since the English have scarcely any horses or oxen lift, they |

|libres de mettre leurs effets en cache pour venir les charcher lorsqu'ils |shall be allowed to hide their property, in order that they may|

|auront Rejoint des Chevaux; ils pourront a cette fin y laisser des gardiens|return to seek for it after they shall have recovered their |

|en tel nombre qu'ils voudront aux conditions qu'ils donneront parole |horses; for this purpose they shall be permitted to leave such |

|d'honneur de ne plus travailler a aucun Etablissement dans ce lieu icy ni |number of troops as guards as they may think proper, under this|

|en deça la hauteur des terres pendant une année a compter de ce jour. |condition that they give their word of honor that they will |

| |work on no establishment either in the surrounding country or |

| |beyond the Highlands during on year beginning from this day. |

|7e |Article 7 |

|Que comme les Anglois ont en leur pouvoir un officier, deux Cadets et |Since the English have in their power an officer and two |

|Généralement les prisonniers qu'ils nous ont faits dans l'assasinat du Sr |cadets, and, in general all the prisoners whom they took when |

|de Jumonville, et qu'ils promettent de les renvoyer avec Sauve garde |assassinated Sieur de Jumonville they now promise to send them |

|jusqu'au fort Duquesne situé sur la Belle Rivière, et que pour sûreté de |with an escort to Fort Duquesne, situated on Belle River, and |

|cet article ainsi que de ce traitté. Mrs Jacob Vannebramme et Robert Stobo |to secure the safe performance of this treaty article, as was |

|tous deux Capitaines, nous seront Remis en ôtage jusqu'a l'arrivée de nos |as of the treaty, Messrs. Jacob Van Braam and Robert Stobo, |

|Canadien et françois ci dessus mentionnés. |both Captains shall be delivered to us as hostages until the |

|Nous nous obligeons de notre coté a donner escorte pour Remener en sureté |arrival of our French and Canadians herein before mentioned. |

|les deux officiers qui nous promettent nos françois dans deux mois et demi |We on our part declare that we shall give an escort to send |

|pour le plus tard |back in safety the two officers who promise us our French in |

| |two months and a half at the latest. |

|ait double sur un des postes de notre Blocus de jour et an que dessus |Made out in duplicate on one of the posts of our block-house |

|Pr. Copie ont Signé Mrs. |the same day and year as before. |

|James Mackay, Go.Washington |James Mackay |

|Coulon Villier |George Washington |

|pour copie Coulon Villier |Coulon de Villiers |

| | |

| | |

| | |

1. Why did George Washington give this statement?

2. For what has he taken responsibility?

3. Does history fault Washington for this failure?

Problem 15: Declaration of Independence



In Congress, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured 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.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

1. In terms of format, how would you describe the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence?

2. What is the purpose of the second paragraph and the list that follows?

3. What is the main point of the third and fourth paragraphs (the two immediately following the list of grievances)?

4. Who is the intended audience of the last paragraph? Explain.

Problem 16. Jefferson’s Draft on Slavery

Thomas Jefferson, Draft of the Declaration of Independence, 1776.



…he has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another…

1. What does Jefferson say in order to accuse the king for the existence of slavery?

2. Is his argument valid?

3. Is Jefferson a hypocrite?

Problem 17: Events in Massachusetts

George Washington to William Fairfax (May 31, 1775)



Before this Letter can reach you, you must, undoubtedly, have received an Account of the engagement in the Massachusetts Bay between the Ministerial Troops (for we do not, nor cannot yet prevail upon ourselves to call them the King's Troops) and the Provincials of that Government...

General Gage acknowledges, that the detachment under Lieutenant Colonel Smith was sent out to destroy private property; or, in other Words, to destroy a Magazine which self preservation obliged the Inhabitants to establish. And he also confesses, in effect at least, that his Men made a very precipitate retreat from Concord, notwithstanding the reinforcement under Lord Piercy, the last of which may serve to convince Lord Sandwich (and others of the same sentiment) that the Americans will fight for their Liberties and property, however pusilanimous, in his Lordship's Eye, they may appear in other respects.

From the best Accounts I have been able to collect of that affair; indeed from every one, I believe the fact, stripped of all colouring, to be plainly this, that if the retreat had not been as precipitate as it was (and God knows it could not well have been more so) the Ministerial Troops must have surrendered, or been totally cut off: For they had not arrived in Charlestown (under cover of their Ships) half an hour, before a powerful body of Men from Marblehead and Salem were at their heels, and must, if they had happened to have been up one hour sooner, inevitably intercepted their retreat to Charlestown. Unhappy it is though to reflect, that a Brother's Sword has been sheathed in a Brother's breast, and that, the once happy and peaceful plains of America are either to be drenched with Blood, or Inhabited by Slaves. Sad alternative! But can a virtuous Man hesitate in his choice?

I am, With sincere Regard and Affectionate compliments to Mrs. Fairfax, Dear Sir, etc.

1. How does Washington describe the events that took place in Massachusetts in April?

2. Based on the letter, how would you describe Washington's attitude toward the events?

Problem 18: Benedict Arnold’s Proclamation

Proclamation by Brigadier-General Benedict Arnold (October 20, 1780).



To the Officers and Soldiers of the Continental Army....I rejoice in the opportunity I have of inviting you to join His Majesty's Arms.

His Excellency Sir Henry Clinton has authorized me to raise a corps of cavalry and infantry, who bring in horses, arms, or accoutrements, are to be paid their value, or have liberty to sell them: To every non-commissioned officer and private a bounty of Three Guineas will be given, and as the Commander in Chief is pleased to allow me to nominate the officers, I shall with infinite satisfaction embrace this opportunity of advancing men whose valour I have witnessed, and whose principles are favourable to an union with Britain, and true American Liberty.

The rank they obtain in the King's service will…[be in] proportion to their former rank, and the number of men they bring with them. . . .

Great as this encouragement must appear to such as have suffered every distress of want of pay, hunger and nakedness, from the neglect, contempt, and corruption of Congress, they are nothing to the motives which I expect will influence the brave and generous minds I hope to have the honour to command.

I wish to lead a chosen band of Americans to the attainment of peace, liberty, and safety (that first object in taking the field) and with them to share in the glory of rescuing our native country from the grasping, hand of France, as well as from the ambitious and interested views of a desperate party among ourselves, who, in listening to French overtures, and rejecting those from Great-Britain, have brought the colonies to the very brink of destruction.

Friends, fellow soldiers, and citizens, arouse, and judge for yourselves,--reflect on what you have lost,--consider to what you are reduced, and by your courage repel the ruin that still threatens you.

Your country once was happy, and had the proffered peace been embraced, your last two years of misery had been spent in peace and plenty, and repairing the desolations of a quarrel that would have set the interest of Great-Britain and America in its true light, and cemented their friendship; whereas, you are now the prey of avarice, the scorn of your enemies, and the pity of your friends…

1. In the proclamation, how does Benedict Arnold try to recruit American soldiers to the British side?

2. How does he play on religious prejudices and distrust of the French?

3. In what ways are his arguments effective and in what ways are they ineffective?

Problem 19: Surrender at Yorktown

Correspondence and Terms of Surrender between George Washington and Lord Cornwallis; Correspondence between Washington and the Continental Congress, October 17-19, 1781.



[Washington to Cornwallis] Camp before York, October 17, 1781.

My Lord: I have had the Honor of receiving Your Lordship's Letter of this Date. An Ardent Desire to spare the further Effusion of Blood, will readily incline me to listen to such Terms for the Surrender of your Posts and Garrisons of York and Gloucester, as are admissible. I wish previously to the Meeting of Commissioners, that your Lordship's proposals in writing, may be sent to the American Lines: for which Purpose, a Suspension of Hostilities during two Hours from the Delivery of this Letter will be granted. I have the Honor etc.

[Washington to Cornwallis] Head Quarters before York, October 18, 1781.

My Lord: To avoid unnecessary Discussions and Delays, I shall at Once, in Answer to your Lordships Letter of Yesterday, declare the general Basis upon which a Definitive Treaty and Capitulation must take place. The Garrisons of York and Gloucester, including the Seamen, as you propose, will be received Prisoners of War. The…British and German Troops…will be marched to such parts of the Country as can most conveniently provide for their Subsistence; and the Benevolent Treatment of Prisoners, which is invariably observed by the Americans, will be extended to them. The same Honors will be granted to the Surrendering Army as were granted to the Garrison of Charles Town. The Shipping and Boats in the two Harbours with all their Guns, Stores, Tackling, Furniture and Apparel, shall be delivered in their present State to an Officer of the Navy, appointed to take possession of them.

The Artillery, Arms, Accoutrements, Military Chest and Public Stores of every Denomination, shall be delivered unimpaired to the Heads of Departments, to which they respectively belong.

The Officers will be indulged in retaining their Side Arms, and the Officers and Soldiers may preserve their Baggage and Effects, with this Reserve, that Property taken in the Country, will be reclaimed.

With Regard to the Individuals in civil Capacities, whose Interests Your Lordship wishes may be attended to, until they are more particularly described, nothing definitive can be settled.

I have to add, that I expect the Sick and Wounded will be supplied with their own Hospital Stores, and be attended by British Surgeons, particularly charged with the Care of them.

Your Lordship will be pleased to signify your Determination either to accept or reject the Proposals now offered, in the Course of Two Hours from the Delivery of this Letter, that Commissioners may be appointed to digest the Articles of Capitulation, or a Renewal of Hostilities may take place. I have the Honor etc.

[Washington to Congress] Head Quarters near York, October 19, 1781.

Sir: I have the Honor to inform Congress, that a Reduction of the British Army under the Command of Lord Cornwallis, is most happily effected...

The singular Spirit of Emulation, which animated the whole Army from the first Commencement of our Operations, has filled my Mind with the highest pleasure and Satisfaction...

On the 17th instant, a Letter was received from Lord Cornwallis, proposing a Meeting of Commissioners, to consult on Terms for the Surrender of the Posts of York and Gloucester. This Letter…that Correspondence was followed by the Definitive Capitulation, which was agreed to, and Signed on the 19th…

I…[owe] the warmest Sense of Acknowledgements, [to] the very chearfull and able Assistance, which I have received in the Course of our Operations, from, his Excellency the Count de Rochambeau, and all his Officers of every Rank, in their respective Capacities. Nothing could equal this Zeal of our Allies, but the emulating Spirit of the American Officers...

I wish it was in my Power to express to Congress, how much I feel myself indebted to The Count de Grasse and the Officers of the Fleet under his Command for the distinguished Aid and Support which have been afforded by them…

Returns of the Prisoners, Military Stores, Ordnance Shipping and other Matters, I shall do myself the Honor to transmit to Congress as soon as they can be collected by the Heads of Departments, to which they belong.

Colo. Laurens and the Viscount de Noiailles, on the Part of the combined Army, were the Gentlemen who acted as Commissioners for formg and settg the Terms of Capitulation and Surrender herewith transmitted, to whom I am particularly obliged for their Readiness and Attention exhibited on the Occasion. . . .

Your Excellency and Congress will be pleased to accept my Congratulations on this happy Event, and believe me to be With the highest Respect etc.

1. How would you characterize the terms of surrender Washington offered Cornwallis?

2. What does Washington emphasize when he conveys the news of the surrender to the Continental Congress?

Problem 20: Articles of Confederation



Articles of CONFEDERATION and PERPETUAL UNION between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and providence plantations , Connecticut New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Article I. THE style of this confederacy shall be “The UNITED STATES of AMERICA.

Art. II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

Art. III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other for their common defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered to or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.

Art. IV. …The free inhabitants of each of these states, (paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice, excepted) shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states; and the people of each state shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other state, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade and commerce…as the inhabitants thereof respectively…

If any person guilty of or charged with treason, felony, or other high misdemeanor, in any state, shall flee from justice, and be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the Governour or executive power of the state from which he fled, be delivered up, and removed to the state having jurisdiction of his offence.

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these states to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings, of the courts and magistrates of every other state.

Art. V. …[D]elegates shall be annually appointed, in such manner as the legislature of each state shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year…No state shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor by more than seven, members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years, in any term of six years…In determining questions in the United States, in Congress assembled, each state shall have one vote…

Art. VI. No state, without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty with, any…foreign state; nor shall the United States in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility…

No state shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere with any stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States, in Congress…

No vessels of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any state, except such number…for the defence of such state, or its trade; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any state in time of peace, except…shall be deemed requisite to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such state; but every state shall always keep up a well regulated and disciplined militia…

No state shall engage in any war without the consent of the United States in Congress assembled, unless such state be actually invaded by enemies…

Art. VII. When land forces are raised by any state for the common defence, all officers of or under the rank of colonel shall be appointed by the legislature of each state respectively by whom such forces shall be raised…

Art. VIII. All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of the common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states in proportion to the value of all land within each state…

Art. IX. The United States in Congress assembled shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war…[and] shall also be the last resort on appeal in all disputes…between two or more states concerning boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever…

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states—fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the United States—regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians…and exacting such postage on the papers passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said office—appointing all officers of the land forces in the service of the United States, excepting regimental officers—appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United States—making rules for the government and regulation of the said land and naval forces, and directing their operations.

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have authority to appoint a committee to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated “A committee of the states, ” and to consist of one delegate from each state, and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction…

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never [act]…unless by the votes of a majority of the United States, in Congress assembled.

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any time within the year…and shall publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except such…[requiring] secrecy…

Art. X. The committee of the states, or any nine of them , shall be authorised to execute…the powers of Congress…

Art. XI. Canada acceding to this confederation, and joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to, all the advantages of this union; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine states.

Art. XII. All bills of credit emitted, monies borrowed, and debts contracted…before the assembling of the United States…shall be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States…

Art. XIII. Every state shall abide by the determinations of the United States, in Congress assembled…And the articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every state, and the union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards, confirmed by the legislatures of every state…

1. What events from the 1700s are specifically addressed in the Articles of Confederation?

2. What specific powers are given to the Congress in the Articles of Confederation?

3. Is there any mention of a chief executive? Is there any mention of a judicial branch? If so, where?

4. Which provisions were passed specifically in the case of war?

5. Were the Articles of Confederation merely a friendship / loose alliance of states working together to coexist? Explain your answer with evidence from the document.

Problem 21: Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Northwest Ordinance of 1787.



An Ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio.

Sec 1. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, that the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.

Sec 2. Be it ordained…that the estates, both of resident and nonresident proprietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall descent to, and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts… And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing…

Sec. 3. Be it ordained…that there shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress....

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed from time to time by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years unless sooner revoked...It shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the Secretary of Congress: There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges…who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district…and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.

Sec. 5. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws…which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly…

Sec. 6. The governor, for the time being, shall be commander in chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.

Sec. 7. Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers in each county or township, as he shall find necessary…

Sec. 8. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district…

Sec. 9. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the…they shall receive authority…to elect a representative from their counties or townships to represent them in the general assembly: Provided, That, for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative…until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty five; after which, the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the legislature…

Sec. 10. The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years…

Sec. 11. The general assembly or legislature shall consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives…And the governor, legislative council, and house of representatives, shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good government of the district…And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent…

Sec. 12. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office…

Sec. 13. …civil and religious liberty…[will be respected within] all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory: to provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest:

Sec. 14. …That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people…and [will] forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to wit:

Art. 1. No person…shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments…

Art. 2. The inhabitants…shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law…All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law…

Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

Art. 4. The said territory, and the States which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this Confederacy of the United States of America…[and the] settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress…The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free…

Art. 5. There shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three nor more than five States…And, whenever any of the said States shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such State shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original…

Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory…

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23rd of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void.

Done by the United States, in Congress assembled, the 13th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of their sovereignty and independence the twelfth.

1. What is the purpose of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

2. Describe the governments permitted in the Northwest Territories?

3. What provisions in the Ordinance aim to guarantee that the settlers will enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”?

Problem 22: Virginia Plan

Edmund Randolph’s Virginia Plan (1787).



State of the resolutions submitted to the consideration of the House by the honorable Mr. Randolph, as altered, amended, and agreed to, in a Committee of the whole House.

1. Resolved that it is the opinion of this Committee that a national government ought to be established consisting of a Supreme Legislative, Judiciary, and Executive.

2. Resolved that the national Legislature ought to consist of Two Branches.

3. Resolved that the members of the first branch of the national Legislature ought to be elected by the People of the several States for the term of Three years…they may be compensated for the devotion of their time to public service to be paid out of the National Treasury…

4. Resolved that the members of the second Branch of the national Legislature ought to be chosen by the individual Legislatures, to be of the age of thirty years at least, to hold their offices for a term…[of] seven years, to be…compensated for the devotion of their time to public service to be paid out of the National Treasury…

5. Resolved that each branch ought to possess the right of originating acts.

6. Resolved that the national Legislature ought to be empowered to enjoy the legislative rights vested in Congress by the confederation — and moreover to legislate in all cases to which the separate States are incompetent: or in which the harmony of the United States may be interrupted by the exercise of individual legislation, to negative all laws passed by the several States contravening, in the opinion of the national Legislature, the articles of union, or any treaties subsisting under the authority of the union.

7. Resolved that the right of suffrage in the first branch of the national Legislature ought…[to be] according to some equitable ratio of representation, namely, in proportion to the whole number of white and other free citizens and inhabitants of every age, sex, and condition including those bound to servitude for a term of years, and three fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the foregoing description, except Indians, not paying taxes in each State.

8. Resolved that the right of suffrage in the second branch of the national Legislature ought to be according to the rule established for the first.

9. Resolved that a national Executive be instituted to consist of a single person, to be chosen by the National Legislature, for the term of seven years, with power to carry into execution the national Laws, to appoint to Offices in cases not otherwise provided for, to be ineligible a second time, and to be removable on impeachment and conviction of malpractice or neglect of duty, to receive a fixed stipend, by which he may be compensated for the devotion of his time to public service to be paid out of the national Treasury.

10. Resolved that the national executive shall have a right to negative any legislative act: which shall not be afterwards passed unless by two third parts of each branch of the national Legislature.

11. Resolved that a national Judiciary be established to consist of One Supreme Tribunal. The Judges of which to be appointed by the second Branch of the National Legislature, to hold their offices during good behaviour to receive…a fixed compensation for their services…

12. Resolved that the national Legislature be empowered to appoint inferior Tribunals.

13. Resolved that the jurisdiction of the national Judiciary shall extend to cases which respect the collection of the national revenue; impeachments of any national officers; and questions which involve the national peace and harmony.

14. Resolved that provision ought to be made for the admission of States...

16. Resolved that a republican constitution, and its existing laws, ought to be guaranteed to each State by the United States.

17. Resolved that provision ought to be made for the amendment of the articles of Union, whensoever it shall seem necessary…

1. Describe the structure of the national government according to the Virginia Plan?

2. What ideas found in the Virginia Plan would eventually become part of the U.S. Constitution?

3. What ideas found in the Virginia Plan would not become part of the U.S. Constitution?

Problem 23: New Jersey Plan

William Patterson, New Jersey Plan (1787).



1 . Resolved that the articles of Confederation ought to be so revised, corrected & enlarged, as to render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government, and the preservation of the Union.

2. Resolved that…Congress… be authorized to pass acts for raising a revenue, by levying a duty or duties on all goods or merchandises of foreign growth or manufacture, imported into any part of the United States… to be applied to such federal purposes as they shall deem proper and expedient; to make rules and regulations for the collection thereof;…to pass Acts for the regulation of trade and commerce…provided that all punishments, fines, forfeitures and penalties… shall be adjudged by the Common law Judiciaries of the State in which any offense…shall have been committed or perpetrated…[to the] superior common law Judiciary in such State, subject…[to] an appeal to the Judiciary of the United States.

3. Resolved that…the United States in Congress be authorized to make…requisitions…[and] to direct the collection thereof in the non complying States...

4. Resolved that the United States in Congress be authorized to elect a federal Executive…to receive…compensation for their services…to be paid out of the federal treasury… to be ineligible a second time, and removeable by Congress on application by a majority of the Executives of the several States… and to direct all military operations…

5. Resolved that a federal Judiciary be established to consist of a supreme Tribunal the Judges…to be appointed by the Executive, and to hold their offices during good behaviour, to receive…compensation for their services…that the Judiciary so established shall have authority to hear and determine in the first instance on all impeachments of federal officers, and by way of appeal…all cases touchung the rights of Ambassadors,…captures from an enemy,…piracies and felonies on the high Seas,… [when] foreigners may be interested,…treaty or treaties, or…[arising from the] regulation of trade, or the collection of the federal Revenue…

6. Resolved that all Acts of the United States in Congress made…and all Treaties made and ratified under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law…[The] Judiciary of the several States shall be bound thereby in their decisions…

7. Resolved that provision be made for the admission of new States into the Union…

1. Describe the structure of the national government according to the New Jersey Plan?

2. What ideas found in the New Jersey Plan would eventually become part of the U.S. Constitution?

3. What ideas found in the New Jersey Plan would not become part of the U.S. Constitution?

U.S. Constitution Scavenger Hunt

Article I- Legislative Branch

1. How often are representatives elected?

2. What are the 3 requirement listed for House members?

3. Who is the presiding officer of the House?

4. The House has the sole power of what?

5. How long is the term for a Senator?

6. How were Senators originally chosen? Which amendment changed that?

7. What are the 3 requirements listed for members of the Senate?

8. Who is the president of the Senate and when can that person vote?

9. Which legislative body has the power to try an impeached official?

10. Who shall officiate when the President is tried for impeachment?

11. What is the required vote that is necessary to convict someone who has been impeached?

12. What is the only penalty that can be imposed on someone who is impeached?

13. Who decides the times, places, and manner for holding elections for Congress?

14. What is the salary of members of Congress today?

15. Congressmen are protected from arrest while in session, except under what three conditions?

16. In what federal body do all bills concerning taxes/revenue originate?

17. What fraction of both houses must vote to override a veto?

18. What happens when a president does not return a bill in 10 days and what is the exception to that rule?

19. In Section 8, the Constitution list or enumerates the powers of Congress. List 6 of them.

20. In Section 8, which clause gives Congress the most general, non-specific powers? Why has this clause been nicknamed the “elastic clause?”

21. In Section 9, clause 2-3, there are three limitations on the power of Congress to deny the people rights. What are those three limitations?

22. When may the writ of habeas corpus be suspended?

23. Name three limits on the powers of the states (section 10).

Article II- Executive Branch

24. How old does someone have to be to be elected President?

25. How are the number of electors each state gets determined?

26. What are the requirements for President and VP?

27. What is the oath that the President must say upon entering the position? –write it all out!

28. Name 3 Powers of the President.

29. Name the body of Congress that must approve a treaty that the President negotiated and the fraction required?

30. Which body of Congress approves nominations, in other words “advices and consents?”

31. What must the President do “from time to time”? --what is this called today?

32. What can a President or other officers be impeached for?

Article III – Judicial Branch

33. What is the term of office for Supreme Court justices? When can they be removed?

34. Who gets to decide how many federal courts we have?

35. In which cases does the Supreme Court have original jurisdiction?

36. What must be necessary to convict someone of treason?

Article IV

37. What is the topic of Article IV?

38. What does the Constitution say about how one state must regard the laws of another state?

39. Explain Privileges and Immunities.

40. What limitation is put on admitting new states to the Union?

Article V

41. What fraction of the houses of Congress is necessary to approve a proposed Amendment?

42. What fraction of states must approve a proposed amendment for it to be ratified?

43. What fraction of the states can ask for a convention to propose new amendments?

44. What is the only limitation in the Constitution as to what can be the basis of an amendment?

Article VI

45. What does the Constitution say about which law shall predominate if there in any conflict between laws?

46. What qualification for holding any public office is forbidden?

Article VII

47. How many states had to ratify the Constitution for it to become official?

Amendments

48. Name the five basic civil liberties guaranteed in the First Amendment.

49. Which amendment extended the vote to 18 year olds?

50. Which amendment outlaws “cruel and unusual punishments?”

51. Which amendment ended slavery?

52. Put the NINTH Amendment in your own words.

53. Put the TENTH Amendment in your own words.

54. Which Amendment prevents a citizen of North Carolina suing the state of Georgia?

55. Which amendment said that states could not prevent people from voting based on their race?

56. Which amendment said that a person could not be tried twice for the same crime?

57. When can the government take private property and what must government give the owners? Which Amendment established this?

58. What phrase is repeated both in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments? Explain what this phrase means.

59. Which amendment defined citizenship?

60. List the rights that the accused has when suspected of a crime.

61. Which amendment prohibited alcohol? Which amendment repealed its prohibition?

62. Which amendment gave women the right to vote and in what year was it passed?

63. Which amendment decided that a person could only be president for 2 terms?

64. On what day does the Constitution state that a new president shall be inaugurated? Which amendment establishes this? When must the new Congress meet?

65. Which amendment separated the vote for President and Vice President in the Electoral College? In that same amendment, who should choose the president if no one gets a majority in the Electoral College? And the vice president?

66. Which amendment requires a warrant to search someone’s property?

67. Which amendment gave government the power to impose an income tax?

68. Which Amendment establishes what to do if the president is incapacitated and can’t perform his duties

69. List and briefly explain all the Amendments that expanded voting rights:

70. List and briefly explain all the Amendments that have to do with the Presidency:

Problem 24: U.S. Constitution Preamble & Article I

Preamble

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article. I.

Section. 1.

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section. 2.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

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 actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section. 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

Section. 4.

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section. 5.

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section. 6.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

Section. 7.

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States If he approve; he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section. 9.

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.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Section. 10.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Problem 25: U.S. Constitution Articles II-VII

Article. II.

Section. 1.

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section. 2.

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

Section. 3.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article III.

Section. 1.

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section. 2.

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;— between a State and Citizens of another State,—between Citizens of different States,—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section. 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Article. IV.

Section. 1.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section. 2.

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

Section. 3.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this

Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section. 4.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.

Article. V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article. VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Article. VII.

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

The Word, "the," being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, The Word "Thirty" being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words "is tried" being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word "the" being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page.

Attest William Jackson Secretary

done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independance of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

G°. Washington

Presidt and deputy from Virginia

Et al [omitted].

Problem 26: U.S. Constitution Amendments 1-27



AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

AMENDMENT II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

AMENDMENT III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

AMENDMENT IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

AMENDMENT V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

AMENDMENT VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

AMENDMENT VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

AMENDMENT VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

AMENDMENT IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

AMENDMENT X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

AMENDMENT XI - Ratified February 7, 1795. Note: Modified Article III, section 2.

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

AMENDMENT XII - Ratified June 15, 1804. Note: Superseded a portion of Article II, section 1.

The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. * The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

*Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.

AMENDMENT XIII - Ratified December 6, 1865. Note: Superseded a portion of Article IV, section 2.

Section 1.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XIV - Ratified July 9, 1868. Note: Modified Article I, section 2.

Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2.

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3.

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4.

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment.

AMENDMENT XV - Ratified February 3, 1870.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude--

Section 2.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XVI - Ratified February 3, 1913. Note: Modified Article I, section 9.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

AMENDMENT XVII - Ratified April 8, 1913. Note: Modified Article I, section 3.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

AMENDMENT XVIII - Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.

Section 1.

After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2.

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XIX - Ratified August 18, 1920.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XX - Ratified January 23, 1933. Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.

Section 1.

The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

Section 2.

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 3.

If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

Section 4.

The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

Section 5.

Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

Section 6.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

AMENDMENT XXI - Ratified December 5, 1933.

Section 1.

The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XXII - Ratified February 27, 1951.

Section 1.

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

AMENDMENT XXIII - Ratified March 29, 196

Section 1.

The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XXIV - Ratified January 23, 1964.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XXV - Ratified February 10, 1967. Note: Impacted Article II, section 1.

Section 1.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

AMENDMENT XXVI - Ratified July 1, 1971. Note: Modified Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution.

Section 1.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Section 2.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XXVII - Ratified May 7, 1992.

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.

Problem 27: Federalist No. 10

James Madison, Federalist No. 10 (Published November 22, 1787).



The Federalist Paper No. 10

The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection

To the People of the State of New York:

AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction…

By a faction, I understand a number of citizens…who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.

There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.

There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.

It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease…

The second expedient is as impracticable as the first would be unwise. As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed…

The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points…human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.

It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm. Nor, in many cases, can such an adjustment be made at all without taking into view indirect and remote considerations…

The inference to which we are brought is, that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS.

If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens. To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed…

…[A] pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction…

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking…

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended.

…[In a republic, the] public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves…

…[A]s each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in the large than in the small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the vicious arts…

…The greater number of citizens and extent of territory…renders factious combinations less to be dreaded…Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens…

Hence, it clearly appears, that the same advantage which a republic has over a democracy, in controlling the effects of faction, is enjoyed by a large over a small republic,--is enjoyed by the Union over the States composing it…

The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States…

~PUBLIUS.

1. What was the main point of Federalist No. 10?

2. How did Madison support his main idea? What examples or evidence did he give?

3. Was his support for the Federalists convincing? Explain.

4. Was his intended audience the educated elite or the common person? Explain.

Problem 28: Federalist No. 51

James Madison, Federalist No. 51 (Published February 6, 1788).



The Federalist Paper No. 51: Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances

To the People of the State of New York:

…[T]he interior structure of the government…[and] its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places…

In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own; and consequently should be so constituted that the members of each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others…

It is equally evident, that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others…But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others….If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

…[T]he constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights. These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in the distribution of the supreme powers of the State. But it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit…

An absolute negative on the legislature appears, at first view, to be the natural defense with which the executive magistrate should be armed. But perhaps it would be neither altogether safe nor alone sufficient. On ordinary occasions it might not be exerted with the requisite firmness, and on extraordinary occasions it might be perfidiously abused. May not this defect of an absolute negative be supplied by some qualified connection…

In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself. Second. It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure.

…Whilst all authority in it will be derived from and dependent on the society, the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.

In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects…

In the extended republic of the United States, and among the great variety of interests, parties, and sects which it embraces, a coalition of a majority of the whole society could seldom take place on any other principles than those of justice and the general good…[T]he larger the society, provided it lie within a practical sphere, the more duly capable it will be of self-government...

~PUBLIUS.

1. What was the main point of Federalist No. 51?

2. How did Madison support his main idea? What examples or evidence did he give?

3. Was his intended audience the educated elite or the common person? Explain.

Problem 29: Anti-Federalist “Centinel No. 1”

Anonymous (probably Samuel Bryan), Anti-Federalist “Centinel” No. 1 (Published October 5, 1787).

"Centinel," Number 1, October 5, 1787, To the Freemen of Pennsylvania.

Friends, Countrymen and Fellow Citizens,

Permit one of yourselves to put you in mind of certain liberties and privileges secured to you by the constitution of this commonwealth [Pennsylvania], and to beg your serious attention to his uninterested opinion upon the plan of federal government submitted to your consideration, before you surrender these great and valuable privileges up forever. Your present frame of government, secures to you a right to hold yourselves, houses, papers and possessions free from search and seizure, and therefore warrants granted without oaths or affirmations first made, affording sufficient foundation for them, whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search your houses or seize your persons or property, not particularly described in such warrant, shall not be granted. Your constitution further provides "that in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man and man, the parties have a right to trial by jury, which ought to be held sacred." It also provides and declares. "that the people have a right of FREEDOM OF SPEECH, and of WRITING and PUBLISHING their sentiments, therefore THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS OUGHT NOT TO BE RESTRAINED. " The constitution of Pennsylvania is yet in existence, as yet you have the right to freedom of speech, and of publishing your sentiments. How long those rights will appertain to you, you yourselves are called upon to say, whether your houses shall continue to be your castles; whether your papers, your persons and your property, are to be held sacred and free from general warrants, you are now to determine. Whether the trial by jury is to continue as your birth-right, the freemen of Pennsylvania, nay, of all America, are now called upon to declare…

The late convention have submitted to your consideration a plan of a new federal government… [it] ought to be dispassionately and deliberately examined, and its own intrinsic merit the only criterion of your patronage…

The wealthy and ambitious, who in every community think they have a right to lord it over their fellow creatures, have availed themselves, very successfully, of this favorable disposition…

I am fearful that the principles of government inculcated in Mr. Adams's treatise, and enforced in the numerous essays and paragraphs in the newspapers, have misled some well designing members of the late Convention…

I have been anxiously expecting that some enlightened patriot would, ere this, have taken up the pen to expose the futility, and counteract the baneful tendency of such principles. Mr. Adams's…good government is three balancing powers, whose repelling qualities are to produce an equilibrium of interests…This hypothesis supposes human wisdom competent to the task of instituting three co-equal orders in government… and whose views and interests should be so distinct as to prevent a coalition of any two of them for the destruction of the third…If such an organization of power were practicable, how long would it continue? not a day — for there is so great a disparity in the talents, wisdom and industry of mankind, that the scale would presently preponderate to one or the other body…

Suppose a government could be formed and supported on such principles, would it answer the great purposes of civil society[?]…

Therefore, as different orders in government will not produce the good of the whole, we must recur to other principles. I believe it will be found that the form of government, which holds those entrusted with power, in the greatest responsibility to their constituents, the best calculated for freemen. A republican, or free government, can only exist where the body of the people are virtuous, and where property is pretty equally divided; in such a government the people are the sovereign and their sense or opinion is the criterion of every public measure; for when this ceases to be the case, the nature of the government is changed, and an aristocracy, monarchy or despotism will rise on its ruin. The highest responsibility is to be attained, in a simple structure of government, for the great body of the people never steadily attend to the operations of government, and for want of due information are liable to be imposed on — If you complicate the plan by various orders, the people will be perplexed and divided in their sentiments about the source of abuses or misconduct, some will impute it to the senate, others to the house of representatives, and so on, that the interposition of the people may be rendered imperfect or perhaps wholly abortive. But if, imitating the constitution of Pennsylvania, you vest all the legislative power in one body of men (separating the executive and judicial) elected for a short period, and necessarily excluded by rotation from permanency…

[T]he proposed plan of government…has none of the essential requisites of a free government; that it is neither founded on those balancing restraining powers…or possessed of that responsibility to its constituents, which, in my opinion, is the only effectual security for the liberties and happiness of the people; but on the contrary, that it is a most daring attempt to establish a despotic aristocracy among freemen, that the world has ever witnessed.

~Centinel.

1. What was the main point of Centinel No. 1?

2. How did the author support his main idea? What examples or evidence did he give?

3. Was his support for the Anti-Federalists convincing? Explain.

4. Was his intended audience the educated elite or the common person? Explain.

United States History I

Document Based Question

The Ratification Debates

Directions:

This assignment is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. You are expected to answer the question posed by using the documents provided and integrate quotes or ideas from those documents into a clear and organized essay.

Historical Background:

From May 25, 1787 through September 17, 1787, the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to address the problems that the national government was experiencing under the Articles of Confederation. Although the Convention was called to simply amend the Articles of Confederation, many of the men who met that summer soon argued that the Articles of Confederation were too weak and needed to be completely replaced by a new Constitution. On September 17, 1787, after a summer filled with discussion, debate, and compromise, the delegates at the Convention approved a brand new Constitution. Their task quickly changed from writing a new framework for the federal government, to obtaining the support of the individual states for the proposed Constitution.

The newly drafted Constitution did not immediately go into effect. Once it passed legal requirements under the existing Articles of Confederation, Article VII of the new Constitution required it to be ratified (or approved), by no fewer than nine of the states. Article VII reads: “The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.” Thereafter, conventions in each of the states were called in order to begin considering whether or not to adopt the new Constitution. The years 1787 and 1788 were characterized by heated debates that considered the pros and cons of the newly proposed Constitution, which changed the weak Confederation government into a strong federal government. People in favor of the new Constitution were known as Federalists and people opposed to the new Constitution were known as Anti-Federalists.

As soon as the Congress released the new Constitution to the states for ratification, debate began in the states where they expected little opposition to the newly proposed Constitution. Delaware became the first state to ratify the proposed Constitution on December 7, 1787. It was followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. Although New Hampshire became the ninth required state to ratify the proposed Constitution on June 21, 1788, the reality was that without the important states of Virginia and New York, the fate of the new government was uncertain. Although debate continued in Rhode Island, North Carolina, New York, and Virginia, having received the approval of the nine required states, the Congress announced that the new Constitution would go into effect on March 4, 1789.

A Guide to Writing this Assignment

Essay Question:

Considering the arguments made on both sides of the ratification debates, write a persuasive essay convincing a member of the New York State Convention to either ratify or not to ratify the newly proposed Constitution of the United States.

The Documents:

The first thing you must do is to read through the documents to understand the different arguments that people had regarding the ratification of the proposed Constitution. As you read, underline and mark the important points made by the author for each document. Then, identify the strongest arguments in favor of ratification and the strongest arguments against ratification. As you write your persuasive essay, you must always consider the counter-argument to be made against your point. The most persuasive arguments always take into consideration and address not only the strengths, but also the weaknesses of each argument.

The Writing Process

Your essay will contain no fewer than five (5) paragraphs

Your essay will have a brief introductory paragraph (which includes a thesis sentence previewing the major arguments that you will make in the paper), three evidence paragraphs (each beginning with a topic sentence that previews the specific argument to be made in that paragraph), and a conclusion paragraph (summing up the major arguments and making a final convincing plea to the reader).

I. Paragraph One: Introduction

(Conclude the paragraph with your thesis statement)

II. Paragraph Two: First Major Argument to Support Your Position

(First sentence is the topic sentence, which previews the specific argument to be made in this paragraph)

III. Paragraph Three: Second Major Argument to Support Your Position

(First sentence is the topic sentence, which previews the specific argument to be made in this paragraph)

IV. Paragraph Four: Third Major Argument to Support Your Position

(First sentence is the topic sentence, which previews the specific argument to be made in this paragraph)

V. Paragraph Five: Conclusion

(Sum up your major arguments and make a final convincing plea to your reader)

Federalists & Anti-Federalists: A Comparison of Essential Arguments

These summaries correspond to the primary source documents indicated that you will use to support your arguments. While you should not quote these summaries, they should help you in understanding the primary source documents that you should cite.

|Federalists |Anti-Federalists |

|(Document No. 1) History has shown that all of the small republics of |(Document No. 6) History has shown that the only republics that have |

|the past have been destroyed by selfish groups. Rather than working |worked in the past have been small communities. In those communities, |

|for the common welfare of the general public, these groups have |the people have been equal in wealth and have held the same values. |

|focused on their own specific interests. While it is impossible to |People who are not too rich or too poor are best able to see the good |

|prevent selfish interests groups from existing, large republics where |of the general public and to agree on actions that benefit the common |

|power is divided and checked by other branches of the government are |welfare of all. In a nation that is too large and too diverse, the |

|best able to prevent any specific group from becoming too powerful and|leaders would be unlikely to agree on what is best for the general |

|violating the public trust and welfare. |public. |

|(Document No. 2) The national government would be so good at |(Document No. 7) Free governments require the active participation of |

|protecting individual rights that it would quickly gain the trust and |the people. The national government would be geographically and |

|loyalty of the public. The government would not become a tyranny |socially too far away to allow this. The only way it would be able to |

|because of the separation of powers and the checks and balances |rule would be through the use of the military, which would lead to |

|designed to prevent it from becoming too powerful. |tyranny. |

|(Document No. 3) It is true that the proposed national government |(Document No. 8) The proposed Constitution would give the national |

|would have more power than the Confederation government had, but its |government too much power at the expense of the state governments. It |

|powers will be limited to issues that concern the country as a whole, |would give the national government the right to tax and to control the|

|like trade, coining money, and defense. History has shown that these |military. The Supremacy Clause would mean that the laws of the |

|are best left to a national government. The Constitution would |national government are superior to laws passed by the states. As a |

|adequately protect state governments so that they would work with the |result, it would only be a matter of time before the state governments|

|national government and not be entirely replaced by it. |were completely destroyed by the national government. |

|(Document No. 4) A strong executive branch would be needed to make |(Document No. 9) The proposed Constitution would give too much power |

|sure the national government carries out its duties. The powers of the|to the executive branch. In no time at all, it would likely turn into |

|national government would be separated and balanced over the three |a monarchy like England. |

|branches so that no one branch would dominate over the others. The | |

|Congress and Supreme Court would check the executive so that it would | |

|not become a monarchy. | |

|(Document No. 5) A bill of rights is not needed because the powers of |(Document No. 10) The proposed Constitution wouldn’t protect |

|the government would be limited and the states could create laws to |individual rights against the power of the national government because|

|protect individual rights. Plus, if a bill of rights is passed, it |there isn’t a bill of rights. |

|would give the impression that the listed rights are the only ones | |

|that exist. | |

The Documents:

Document 1: The Federalist No. 10, James Madison (November 22, 1787).

“Among the numerous advantages…none deserves…more [attention] than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction... By a faction, I understand a number of citizens…who are united…by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the…interests of the community…As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed…The [ ] causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere…A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points…divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good...If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote…When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizen…[I]t may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction…A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking…[T]he greater number of citizens and extent of territory which may be brought within the compass of…[the] government… renders factious combinations less to be dreaded…Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens…Hence, it clearly appears, that the same advantage which a republic has over a democracy, in controlling the effects of faction, is enjoyed by a large over a small republic, is enjoyed by the Union over the States composing it.”

Document 2: The Federalist No. 51, James Madison (February 6, 1788).

“First. In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people, is submitted to the administration of a single government; and the usurpations are guarded against, by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people, is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people…

Second. It is of great importance in a republic, not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers; but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure...[T]he society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority…The degree of security…will depend on the number of interests and sects...[T]he larger the society…the more duly capable it will be of self-government...”

Document 3: The Federalist No. 45, James Madison (January 26, 1788).

“Was…the American Revolution…the American Confederacy…the precious blood of thousands spilt…not that the people of America should enjoy peace, liberty, and safety, but that the government of the individual States, that particular municipal establishments, might enjoy a certain extent of power…? [I]n the old world…people were made for kings, not kings for the people. Is the same doctrine to be revived…? It is too early for politicians to presume on our forgetting that the public good, the real welfare…is the supreme object to be pursued; and that no form of government whatever has any other value than as it may be fitted for the attainment of this object. Were the plan of the convention adverse to the public happiness, my voice would be, Reject the plan.”

Document 4: The Federalist No. 70, Alexander Hamilton (March 15, 1788).

“There is an idea…that a vigorous executive is inconsistent with the genius of republican government… Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy...A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government…”

Document 5: The Federalist No. 84, Alexander Hamilton (June 16, 1788).

“The most considerable of the remaining objections is that the plan of the convention contains no bill of rights. Among other answers given to this, it has been upon different occasions remarked that the constitutions of several of the States are in a similar predicament. I add that New York is of the number. And yet the opposers of the new system, in this State, who profess an unlimited admiration for its constitution, are among the most intemperate partisans of a bill of rights. To justify their zeal in this matter they allege two things: one is that, though the constitution of New York has no bill of rights prefixed to it, yet it contains, in the body of it, various provisions in favor of particular privileges and rights which, in substance, amount to the same thing; the other is that the Constitution adopts, in their full extent, the common and statute law of Great Britain...”

Document 6: Centinel No. 1, Anonymous Pennsylvania Anti-Federalist (October 5, 1787).

“…Mr. Adams's…government is three balancing powers, whose repelling qualities are to produce an equilibrium of interests, and thereby promote the happiness of the whole community. He asserts that the administrators of every government, will ever be [influenced] by views of private interest and ambition, to the prejudice of the public good; that therefore the only effectual method to secure the rights of the people and promote their welfare, is to create an opposition of interests between the members of two distinct bodies…and balanced by those of a third…Suppose a government could be formed and supported on such principles…how is the welfare and happiness of the community to be the result of such jarring adverse interests?... Therefore, as different orders in government will not produce the good of the whole, we must recur to other principles. I believe it will be found that the form of government, which holds those entrusted with power, in the greatest responsibility to their constituents, the best calculated for freemen. A republican, or free government, can only exist where the body of the people are virtuous, and where property is pretty equally divided; in such a government the people are the sovereign and their sense or opinion is the criterion of every public measure; for when this ceases to be the case, the nature of the government is changed, and an aristocracy, monarchy or despotism will rise on its ruin…”

Document 7: John Dewitt (Pseudonym) Essay No. 3, Anonymous Anti-Federalist from Massachusetts (November 5, 1787).

“[I]t [is] nothing less, than a government which in a few years, will degenerate to a complete Aristocracy…In short, [it is] nothing less than a hasty stride to Universal Empire in this Western World…fatal to the liberties of the people…A President, a Senate, and a House of Representatives are proposed...The Legislative is divided between the People who are the Democratical, and the Senate who are the Aristocratical part...But, my fellow-citizens, the important question here arises, who are this House of Representatives? "A representative Assembly,[”] says the celebrated Mr. Adams, is the sense of the people…Can this Assembly be said to contain the sense of the people?- Do they resemble the people in any one single feature?- Do you represent your wants, your grievances, your wishes, in person? If that is impracticable, have you a right to send one of your townsmen for that purpose?...Can he be presumed knowing to your different, peculiar situations…? Or is there any possibility of giving him information? All these questions must be answered in the negative…[W]here is the people in this House of Representatives?- Where is the boasted popular part of this much admired System?- Are they not cousins…in every sense to the Senate? May they not with propriety be termed an Assistant Aristocratical Branch, who will be infinitely more inclined to co-operate and compromise with each other, than to be the careful guardians of the rights of their constituents?”

Document 8: Brutus Essay No. 1, Anonymous (October 18, 1787).

“This government is to possess absolute and uncontroulable power, legislative, executive and judicial, with respect to every object to which it extends…it is declared ‘that the Congress shall have power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers...’ And by the 6th article, it is declared ‘that this constitution, and the laws of the United States,…shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby…’ It appears from these articles that there is no need of any intervention of the state governments…and that the constitution and laws of every state are nullified and declared void, so far as they are or shall be inconsistent with this constitution, or the laws made in pursuance of it…The government then, so far as it extends, is a complete one, and not a confederation... In a republic, the manners, sentiments, and interests of the people should be similar. If this be not the case, there will be a constant clashing of opinions; and the representatives of one part will be continually striving against those of the other. This will retard the operations of government, and prevent such conclusions as will promote the public good…The United States includes a variety of climates. The productions of the different parts of the union are very variant, and their interests, of consequence, diverse. Their manners and habits differ as much as their climates and productions; and their sentiments are by no means coincident. The laws and customs of the several states are, in many respects, very diverse, and in some opposite…such heterogenous and discordant principles…would constantly be contending with each other…In a republic of such vast extent as the United-States, the legislature cannot attend to the various concerns and wants of its different parts. It cannot be sufficiently numerous to be acquainted with the local condition and wants of the different districts…”

Document 9: Cato Essay No. 5, Anonymous, Printed in NY Journal (November 8, 1787).

“The executive power as described in the 2d article, consists of a president and vice-president, who are to hold their offices during the term of four years... It is remarked by Montesquieu, in treating of republics, that…the greatness of the power must be compensated by the brevity of the duration; and that a longer time than a year, would be dangerous…[The] deposit of vast trusts in the hands of a single magistrate, enables him…to create…dependants- this tempts his ambition…and the duration of his office for any considerable time favours his views, gives him the means and time to perfect and execute his designs,…his power of nomination and influence on all appointments,…his controul over the army, militia, and navy- the unrestrained power of granting pardons for treason…these, and various other principles evidently prove the truth of the position- that if the president is possessed of ambition, he has power and time sufficient to ruin his country.”

Document 10: Speech of Patrick Henry (June 5, 1788).

“Have they said, we, the States? Have they made a proposal of a compact between states? If they had, this would be a confederation: It is otherwise most clearly a consolidated government… [Th]e principles of this system are extremely…dangerous. Is this a monarchy, like England- a compact between prince and people, with checks on the former to secure the liberty of the latter?…It is not a democracy, wherein the people retain all their rights securely…[O]ur rights and privileges are endangered, and the sovereignty of the states will be relinquished…The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press,…human rights and privileges, are rendered insecure, if not lost, by this change…Is this [ ] relinquishment of rights worthy of freemen?…[L]iberty ought to be the direct end of your Government…Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings- give us that precious jewel...”

Problem 30: Washington’s Farewell Address

George Washington, Farewell Address (September 19, 1793).



Friends and Fellow Citizens:

The period for a new election…being not far distant…it appears to me proper… that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations…and that in withdrawing the tender of service… I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both…

Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome…

In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life…[I have a] debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me…

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare…urge me…to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection…to the permanency of your felicity as a people…

The unity of government…is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize…[Y]ou should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it…frowning upon…every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or…the sacred ties which now link together the various parts…

The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than…local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes…

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views…

Respect for [the] authority [of the Constitution], compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty…All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations…are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party…

However combinations or associations…may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things…[to] subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government …The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension…is itself a frightful despotism…

Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible…but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt…by shunning occasions of expense… [and] not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear….

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all…[A]ntipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded…[A] passionate attachment of one nation…produces a variety of evils…[and] are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot… Foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government…

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible…Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very remote relation…Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course…It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world…

Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies…

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the index of my plan…I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness…

1. What reasons does George Washington give for stepping down after his second term as President of the U.S.?

2. What advice does Washington give to the country going forward?

3. Does Washington’s advice still hold true today?

Problem 31: Alien & Sedition Acts

Alien & Sedition Acts of Congress (June 25, 1798 to July 14, 1798).



FIFTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

At the Second Session, Begun and help at the city of Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, on Monday, the thirteenth of November, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven.

An Act Concerning Aliens.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States at any time during the continuance of this act, to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United Slates, within such time as shall be expressed in such order, which order shall be served on such alien by delivering him a copy thereof, or leaving the same at his usual abode, and returned to the office of the Secretary of State, by the marshal or other person to whom the same shall be directed. And in case any alien, so ordered to depart, shall be found at large within the United States after the time limited in such order for his departure, and not having obtained a license from the President to reside therein, or having obtained such license shall not have conformed thereto, every such alien shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years, and shall never after be admitted to become a citizen of the United States. Provided always, and be it further enacted, that if any alien so ordered to depart shall prove to the satisfaction of the President, by evidence to be taken before such person or persons as the President shall direct, who are for that purpose hereby authorized to administer oaths, that no injury or danger to the United Slates will arise from suffering such alien to reside therein, the President may grant a license to such alien to remain within the United States for such time as he shall judge proper, and at such place as he may designate. And the President may also require of such alien to enter into a bond to the United States, in such penal sum as he may direct, with one or more sufficient sureties to the satisfaction of the per- son authorized by the President to take the same, conditioned for the good behavior of such alien during his residence in the United States, and not violating his license, which license the President may revoke, whenever he shall think proper .

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, whenever he may deem it necessary (for the public safety, to order to be removed out of the territory thereof, any alien who mayor shall be in prison in pursuance of this act; and to cause to be arrested and sent out of the United States such of those aliens as shall have been ordered to depart therefrom and shall not have obtained a license as aforesaid, in all cases where, in the opinion of the President, the public safety requires a speedy removal. And if any alien so removed or sent out of the United Slates by the President shall voluntarily return thereto, unless by permission of the President of the United States, such alien on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned so long as, in the opinion of the President, the public safety may require.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That every master or commander of any ship or vessel which shall come into any port of the United States after the first day of July next, shall immediately on his arrival make report in writing to the collector or other chief officer of the customs of such port, of all aliens, if any, on board his vessel, specifying their names, age, the place of nativity, the country from which they shall have come, the nation to which they belong and owe allegiance, their occupation and a description of their persons, as far as he shall be informed thereof, and on failure, every such master and commander shall forfeit and pay three hundred dollars, for the payment whereof on default of such master or commander, such vessel shall also be holden, and may by such collector or other officer of the customs be detained. And it shall be the duty of such collector or other officer of the customs, forthwith to transmit to the office of the department of state true copies of all such returns.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the circuit and district courts of the United States, shall respectively have cognizance of all crimes and offences against this act. And all marshals and other officers of the United States are required to execute all precepts and orders of the President of the United States issued in pursuance or by virtue of this act.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any alien who may be ordered to be removed from the United States, by virtue of this act, to take with him such part of his goods, chattels, or other property, as he may find convenient; and all property left in the United States by any alien, who may be removed, as aforesaid, shall be, and re- main subject to his order and disposal, in the same manner as if this act had not been passed.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force for and during the term of two years from the passing thereof.

Jonathan Dayton, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

TH. Jefferson, Vice President of the United States and President of the Sentate.

I Certify that this Act did originate in the Sentate.

Attest, Sam. A. Otis, Secretary

APPROVED, June 25, 1798.

John Adams

President of the United States.

An Act Respecting Alien Enemies

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government, and the President of the United States shall make public proclamation of the event, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be within the United States, and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies. And the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby authorized, in any event, as aforesaid, by his proclamation thereof, or other public act, to direct the conduct to be observed, on the part of the United States, towards the aliens who shall become liable, as aforesaid; the manner and degree of the restraint to which they shall be subject, and in what cases, and upon what security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the removal of those, who, not being permitted to reside within the United States, shall refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any other regulations which shall be found necessary in the premises and for the public safety: Provided, that aliens resident within the United States, who shall become liable as enemies, in the manner aforesaid, and who shall not be chargeable with actual hostility, or other crime against the public safety, shall be allowed, for the recovery, disposal, and removal of their goods and effects, and for their departure, the full time which is, or shall be stipulated by any treaty, where any shall have been between the United States, and the hostile nation or government, of which they shall be natives, citizens, denizens or subjects: and where no such treaty shall have existed, the President of the United States may ascertain and declare such reasonable time as may be consistent with the public safety, and according to the dictates of humanity and national hospitality.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That after any proclamation shall be made as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the several courts of the United States, and of each state, having criminal jurisdiction, and of the several judges and justices of the courts of the United States, and they shall be, and are hereby respectively, authorized upon complaint, against any alien or alien enemies, as aforesaid, who shall be resident and at large within such jurisdiction or district, to the danger of the public peace or safety, and contrary to the tenor or intent of such proclamation, or other regulations which the President of the United States shall and may establish in the premises, to cause such alien or aliens to be duly apprehended and convened before such court, judge or justice; and after a full examination and hearing on such complaint. and sufficient cause therefor appearing, shall and may order such alien or aliens to be removed out of the territory of the United States, or to give sureties of their good behaviour, or to be otherwise restrained, conformably to the proclamation or regulations which shall and may be established as aforesaid, and may imprison, or otherwise secure such alien or aliens, until the order which shall and may be made, as aforesaid, shall be performed.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the marshal of the district in which any alien enemy shall be apprehended, who by the President of the United States, or by order of any court, judge or justice, as aforesaid, shall be required to depart, and to be removed, as aforesaid, to provide therefor, and to execute such order, by himself or his deputy, or other discreet person or persons to be employed by him, by causing a removal of such alien out of the territory of the United States; and for such removal the marshal shall have the warrant of the President of the United States, or of the court, judge or justice ordering the same, as the case may be.

APPROVED, July 6, 1798.

FIFTH CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

At the Second Session,

Begun and help at the city of Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, on Monday, the thirteenth of November, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven.

An Act in Addition to the Act, Entitled "An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States."

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That if any persons shall unlawfully combine or conspire together, with intent to oppose any measure or measures of the government of the United States, which are or shall be directed by proper authority, or to impede the operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate or prevent any person holding a place or office in or under the government of the United States, from undertaking, performing or executing his trust or duty, and if any person or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have the proposed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and on conviction, before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment during a term not less than six months nor exceeding five years; and further, at the discretion of the court may be holden to find sureties for his good behaviour in such sum, and for such time, as the said court may direct.

SEC. 2. And be it farther enacted, That if any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted and declared, That if any person shall be prosecuted under this act, for the writing or publishing any libel aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the defendant, upon the trial of the cause, to give in evidence in his defence, the truth of the matter contained in publication charged as a libel. And the jury who shall try the cause, shall have a right to determine the law and the fact, under the direction of the court, as in other cases.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That this act shall continue and be in force until the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and one, and no longer: Provided, that the expiration of the act shall not prevent or defeat a prosecution and punishment of any offence against the law, during the time it shall be in force.

Jonathan Dayton, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Theodore Sedgwick, President of the Sentate pro tempore.

I Certify that this Act did originate in the Sentate.

Attest, Sam. A. Otis, Secretary

APPROVED, July 14, 1798

John Adams

President of the United States.

1. Were the Alien & Sedition Acts drafted with good intentions for the country?

2. What was most troubling about the Alien & Sedition Acts?

3. Do you believe that the Alien & Sedition Acts were constitutional or not? Explain.

4. Have any other laws passed since 1798 resembled the Alien & Sedition Acts? If so, which ones? Explain.

Problem 32: Marbury v. Madison

John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison (1803).



Chief Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

…[The] following questions have been considered and decided: 1st. Has the applicant a right to the commission he demands? 2d. If he has a right, and that right has been violated, do the laws of his country afford him a remedy? 3d. If they do afford him a remedy, is it a mandamus issuing from this court?

1st. Has the applicant a right to the commission he demands?...It [is] decidedly the opinion of the court, that when a commission has been signed by the president, the appointment is made…This brings us to the second inquiry; which is…do the laws of his country afford him a remedy?…[The] government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of a vested legal right. . . .

By the constitution of the United States, the President is invested with certain important political powers…[and] he is authorized to appoint certain officers, who act by his authority and in conformity with his orders…But when the legislature proceeds to impose on that officer other duties…[or requires him] to perform certain acts…[he] is amenable to the laws for his conduct; and cannot at his discretion sport away the vested rights of others… where a specific duty is assigned by law, and individual rights depend upon the performance of that duty, it seems equally clear, that the individual who considers himself injured, has a right to resort to the laws of his country for a remedy. . . .It is, then, the opinion of the Court [that Marbury has a] right to the commission; a refusal to deliver which is a plain violation of that right, for which the laws of his country afford him a remedy.

It remains to be enquired whether, 3dly. He is entitled to the remedy for which he applies [namely a writ of mandamus, requiring the Secretary of State to deliver the commission to him].

…The act to establish the judicial courts of the United States authorizes the Supreme Court "to issue writs of mandamus in cases warranted by the principles and usages of law, to any courts appointed, or persons holding office, under the authority of the United States."…The Secretary of State…is within the letter of the description…

In the distribution of this power it is declared that "the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party. In all other cases, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction."

…[T]he plain import of the words seems to be, that in one class of cases its jurisdiction is original, and not appellate; in the other it is appellate, and not original. [Therefore, to] enable this court, then, to issue a mandamus, it must be shown to be an exercise of appellate jurisdiction...It is the essential criterion of appellate jurisdiction, that it revises and corrects the proceedings in a cause already instituted, and does not create that cause.

[The judiciary Act of 1789 purportedly gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in cases such as this, but the plain language of the Constitution grants it only appellate jurisdiction in such cases.] The question, whether an act, repugnant to the constitution, can become the law of the land, is a question deeply interesting to the United States…It seems only necessary to recognize certain principles, supposed to have been long and well established, to decide it...

...The constitution is either a superior, paramount law, unchangeable by ordinary means, or it is on a level with ordinary legislative acts, and, like other acts, is alterable when the legislature shall please to alter it…

It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is…If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each…So if a law be in opposition to the constitution… the court must determine which…governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty. If, then, the courts are to regard the constitution, and the constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislature, the constitution…must govern the case to which they both apply.

The judicial power of the United States is extended to all cases arising under the constitution. [In this case, the Judiciary Act of 1789 purportedly gave the Supreme Court jurisdiction, but that was an unconstitutional extension of judiciary power into the realm of the executive. Therefore, the case is dismissed because that portion of the Judiciary Act is unconstitutional and consequently, void. The court, therefore, refuses to issue a writ of mandamus.]

1. What was the court’s ruling according to Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in the case of Marbury v. Madison?

2. What did Marshall state is the duty of the court?

Problem 33: Louis & Clark Expedition

Thomas Jefferson, Confidential Correspondence: Lewis & Clark Expedition (January 18, 1803).



Confidential

Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:

…The Indian tribes residing within the limits of the United States, have, for a considerable time, been growing more and more uneasy at the constant diminution of the territory they occupy, although effected by their own voluntary sales: and the policy has long been gaining strength with them, of refusing absolutely all further sales... [T]he rapid increase of our numbers will call for, two measures…First: to encourage them to abandon hunting, to apply to the raising stock, to agriculture and domestic manufacture…[Then] the extensive forests necessary in the hunting life, will then become useless… Secondly: to multiply trading houses among them, and place within their reach those things which will contribute more to their domestic comfort…

In leading them to agriculture, to manufactures, and civilization; in bringing together their and our settlements, and in preparing them ultimately to participate in the benefits of our governments, I trust and believe we are acting for their greatest good…[T]he Indians, perceiving the advantage of purchasing from us, are soliciting generally, our establishment of trading houses among them…

The Legislature, reflecting on the late occurrences on the Mississippi, must be sensible how desirable it is to possess a respectable breadth of country on that river, from our Southern limit to the Illinois at least; so that we may present as firm a front on that as on our Eastern border…[The Chickasaw] settlements are not on the Mississippi, but in the interior country. They have lately shown a desire to become agricultural; and this leads to the desire of buying implements and comforts…

The river Missouri, and the Indians inhabiting it, are not well…It is, however, understood, that the country on that river is inhabited by numerous tribes, who furnish great supplies of furs and peltry…[The] Missouri, traversing a moderate climate, offering according to the best accounts, a continued navigation from its source, and possibly with a single portage, from the Western Ocean, and finding to the Atlantic a choice of channels through the Illinois or Wabash, the lakes and Hudson, through the Ohio and Susquehanna, or Potomac or James rivers, and through the Tennessee and Savannah, rivers. An intelligent officer, with ten or twelve chosen men, fit for the enterprise, and willing to undertake it…might explore the whole line, even to the Western Ocean, have conferences with the natives on the subject of commercial intercourse, get admission among them for our traders, as others are admitted, agree on convenient deposits for an interchange of articles, and return with the information acquired, in the course of two summers. Their arms and accoutrements, some instruments of observation, and light and cheap presents for the Indians, would be all the apparatus they could carry, and with an expectation of a soldier's portion of land on their return, would constitute the whole expense. Their pay would be going on, whether here or there. While other civilized nations have encountered great expense to enlarge the boundaries of knowledge by undertaking voyages of discovery…our nation seems to owe to the same object…to explore this, the only line of easy communication across the continent, and so directly traversing our own part of it…The nation claiming the territory… is in the habit of permitting [the expedition] within its dominions, would not be disposed to view it with jealousy...The appropriation of two thousand five hundred dollars…would cover the undertaking…

TH. Jefferson

Jan. 18. 1803.

1. What did Thomas Jefferson authorize in his letter? What was the goals of the Lewis and Clark expedition?

2. Why was this a confidential (or secret) letter?

Problem 34: Jefferson’s Secret Codes

Thomas Jefferson’s Code Cipher for Lewis & Clark.



Crack the following codes using the cipher.

Code 1

Hthey pvf rx nmzc. Ku rix bh qebu ng vki tiliw, csue ufurk huxdbfa ndgdr anpkq fp nrsb he cgga wjugnvu ws xkl.

Start again with a fresh code sheet to figure out this line from Lewis’s entry that same day:

Note: A capital X appears in Jefferson’s Cipher as a code-letter to mark a space between z and a.

Code 2

Ujh vtgyqwq yXvft brvx vs odb uXwgv fwkhsrxr XX gww hfvds ndlpdT (cv m xXwxxbp) ynl qu ywtky zcprhoewpc.

Cipher.

[pic]

Cipher.

[pic]

Problem 35: Star Spangled Banner

Francis Scott Key, Star Spangled Banner (September 14, 1814).

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country, should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

1. Which parts of the Star Spangled clearly reflect the Battle of Fort McHenry?

2. Why was the flag the focus of Key’s attention while he was in Baltimore Harbor that night?

Problem 36: Mill Girls

Harriet H. Robinson, "Early Factory Labor in New England," in Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, Fourteenth Annual Report (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1883), pp. 380­82, 387­88, 391­92.



(In her autobiography, Harriet Hanson Robinson, the wife of a newspaper editor, provided an account of her earlier life as female factory worker (from the age of ten in 1834 to 1848) in the textile Mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. Her account explains some of the family dynamics involved, and lets us see the women as active participants in their own lives.)

In what follows, I shall confine myself to a description of factory life in Lowell, Massachusetts, from 1832 to 1848, since, with that phase of Early Factory Labor in New England, I am the most familiar-because I was a part of it.

In 1832, Lowell was little more than a factory village. Five "corporations" were started, and the cotton mills belonging to them were building. Help was in great demand and stories were told all over the country of the new factory place, and the high wages that were offered to all classes of workpeople; stories that reached the ears of mechanics' and farmers' sons and gave new life to lonely and dependent women in distant towns and farmhouses .... Troops of young girls came from different parts of New England, and from Canada, and men were employed to collect them at so much a head, and deliver them at the factories…

At the time the Lowell cotton mills were started the caste of the factory girl was the lowest among the employments of women…She was…subjected to influences that must destroy her purity and self­respect. In the eyes of her overseer she was but a brute, a slave, to be beaten, pinched and pushed about. It was to overcome this prejudice that such high wages had been offered to women that they might be induced to become millgirls...

The early millgirls were of different ages. Some were not over ten years old; a few were in middle life, but the majority were between the ages of sixteen and twenty­five. The very young girls were called "doffers." They "doffed," or took off, the full bobbins from the spinning­frames, and replaced them with empty ones. These mites worked about fifteen minutes every hour and the rest of the time was their own. When the overseer was kind they were allowed to read, knit, or go outside the mill­yard to play. They were paid two dollars a week. The working hours of all the girls extended from five o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening, with one half­hour each, for breakfast and dinner. Even the doffers were forced to be on duty nearly fourteen hours a day. This was the greatest hardship in the lives of these children. Several years later a ten­hour law was passed…

Those of the millgirls who had homes generally worked from eight to ten months in the year; the rest of the time was spent with parents or friends. A few taught school during the summer months. Their life in the factory was made pleasant to them...

The most prevailing incentive to labor was to secure the means of education for some male member of the family. To make a gentleman of a brother or a son, to give him a college education, was the dominant thought in the minds of a great many of the better class of millgirls. I have known more than one to give every cent of her wages, month after month, to her brother, that he might get the education necessary to enter some profession. I have known a mother to work years in this way for her boy. I have known women to educate young men by their earnings, who were not sons or relatives. There are many men now living who were helped to an education by the wages of the early millgirls.

We can hardly realize what a change the cotton factory made in the status of the working women. Hitherto woman had always been a money-saving rather than a money-earning, member of the community. Her labor could command but small return. If she worked out as servant, or "help," her wages were from 50 cents to $1.00 a week; or, if she went from house to house by the day to spin and weave, or do tailoress work, she could get but 75 cents a week and her meals. As teacher, her services were not in demand, and the arts, the professions, and even the trades and industries, were nearly all closed to her.

As late as 1840 there were only seven vocations outside the home into which the women of New England had entered. At this time woman had no property rights. A widow could be left without her share of her husband's (or the family) property… A father could make his will without reference to his daughter's share of the inheritance. He usually left her a home on the farm as long as she remained single. A woman was not supposed to be capable of spending her own, or of using other people's money…She was a ward, an appendage, a relict. Thus…if a woman did not choose to marry, or, when left a widow, to re­marry, she had no choice but to enter one of the few employments open to her, or to become a burden on the charity of some relative.

One of the first strikes that ever took place in this country was in Lowell in 1836. When it was announced that the wages were to be cut down, great indignation was felt, and it was decided to strike or "turn out" en masse. This was done. The mills were shut down, and the girls went from their several corporations in procession to the grove on Chapel Hill, and listened to incendiary speeches from some early labor reformers.

One of the girls stood on a stump and gave…a speech, declaring that it was their duty to resist all attempts at cutting down the wages. This was the first time a woman had spoken in public in Lowell, and the event caused surprise and consternation among her audience…This strike did no good. The corporation would not come to terms. The girls were soon tired of holding out, and they went back to their work at the reduced rate of wages. The ill­success of this early attempt at resistance on the part of the wage element seems to have made a precedent for the issue of many succeeding strikes.

1. Describe what life was like for the mill girls according to the author.

2. Was a mill girl able to spend her money any way that she wished? Was this fair? Explain.

3. If you were forced to choose to either be a mill girl or work at the family farm, what would you choose and why?

Problem 37: Monroe Doctrine

James Monroe, Speech to Congress December 2, 1823.



…[At a conference between the U.S. and Russia] on the northwest coast of this continent [Alaska]…discussions [have arisen]…[and] a principle [has been issued] in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . .

Spain and Portugal [are currently taking steps] to improve…the people of those countries…Of events in that quarter of the globe…from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense.

With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers…We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between those new Governments and Spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere…

Our policy in regard to Europe…nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy… It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness...

1. Why was Monroe giving a speech to Congress on December 2, 1823?

2. What was the policy that Monroe announced concerning U.S. involvement in Europe?

3. What was the policy that Monroe announced concerning European involvement in the western hemisphere?

Problem 38: Nullification Proclamation

Andrew Jackson, Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832.



…The ordinance is founded…on the strange position that any one State may not only declare an act of Congress void, but prohibit its execution…that the true construction of [the Constitution] permits a State to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no other of its laws than those it may choose to consider as constitutional. It is true they add, that to justify this abrogation of a law, it must be palpably contrary to the Constitution, but it is evident, that to give the right of resisting laws of that description, coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws [to follow], is to give the power of resisting all laws …

[The] reasoning on this subject is superfluous, when our social compact in express terms declares, that the laws of the United States, its Constitution, and treaties made under it, are the supreme law of the land; and for greater caution adds, "that the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding." …Look, for a moment, to the consequence. If South Carolina considers the revenue laws unconstitutional, and has a right to prevent their execution in the port of Charleston, there would be a clear constitutional objection to their collection in every other port, and no revenue could be collected anywhere… [E]very law operating injuriously upon any local interest will be perhaps thought, and certainly represented, as unconstitutional…

If this doctrine had been established at an earlier day, the Union would have been dissolved in its infancy. The excise law in Pennsylvania, the embargo and non-intercourse law in the Eastern States, the carriage tax in Virginia, were all deemed unconstitutional, and were more unequal in their operation than any of the laws now complained of; but, fortunately, none of those States [claimed] that they had the right now claimed by South Carolina…

I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed…

…Done at the City of Washington, this 10th day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and of the independence of the United States the fifty-seventh.

ANDREW JACKSON.

1. What was Andrew Jackson’s argument against South Carolina’s Nullification Act?

2. What was Jackson’s argument in support of his position even in the absence of the Supremacy Clause?

3. Why is nullification “incompatible with the existence of the Union…and inconsistent with every principle on which It was founded”?

Problem 39: Manifest Destiny

John L. O’Sullivan, Manifest Destiny, December 27, 1845.



(John Louis O’Sullivan, a popular editor and columnist, articulated the long-standing American belief in the God-given mission of the United States to lead the world in the transition to democracy. He called this America’s “manifest destiny.” This idea motivated wars of American expansion. He explained this idea in the following essay where he advocated adding Texas to the United States.)

Texas is now ours… Her star and her stripe may already be said to have taken their place in the glorious blazon of our common nationality; and the sweep of our eagle’s wing already includes within its circuit the wide extent of her fair and fertile land…She comes within the dear and sacred designation of Our Country… other nations have undertaken to intrude themselves … in a spirit of hostile interference against us, for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. This we have seen done by England, our old rival and enemy; and by France, strangely coupled with her against us….

The independence of Texas was complete and absolute. It was an independence, not only in fact, but of right…If Texas became peopled with an American population; it was by no contrivance of our government, but on the express invitation of that of Mexico herself…

California will, probably, next fall away from the loose adhesion which, in such a country as Mexico…Mexico never can exert any real governmental authority over such a country. The impotence of the one and the distance of the other, must make the relation one of virtual independence; unless, by stunting the province of all natural growth, and forbidding that immigration which can alone develop its capabilities and fulfil the purposes of its creation… The Anglo-Saxon foot is already on its borders. Already the advance guard of the irresistible army of Anglo-Saxon emigration has begun to pour down upon it, armed with the plough and the rifle, and marking its trail with schools and colleges, courts and representative halls, mills and meeting-houses. A population will soon be in actual occupation of California, over which it will be idle for Mexico to dream of dominion. They will necessarily become independent. All this without agency of our government, without responsibility of our people…And they will have a right to independence–to self-government…Whether they will then attach themselves to our Union or not, is not to be predicted with any certainty. Unless the projected railroad across the continent to the Pacific be carried into effect, perhaps they may not; though even in that case, the day is not distant when the Empires of the Atlantic and Pacific would again flow together into one, as soon as their inland border should approach each other. But that great work, colossal as appears the plan on its first suggestion, cannot remain long unbuilt. Its necessity for this very purpose of binding and holding together in its iron clasp our fast-settling Pacific region with that of the Mississippi valley…

Away, then, with all idle French talk of balances of power on the American Continent. There is no growth in Spanish America! Whatever progress of population there may be in the British Canadas, is only for their own early severance of their present colonial relation to the little island three thousand miles across the Atlantic; soon to be followed by Annexation, and destined to swell the still accumulating momentum of our progress. And whosoever may hold the balance, though they should cast into the opposite scale all the bayonets and cannon, not only of France and England, but of Europe entire, how would it kick the beam against the simple, solid weight of the two hundred and fifty, or three hundred millions–and American millions–destined to gather beneath the flutter of the stripes and stars, in the fast hastening year of the Lord 1945!

1. What was John L. O’Sullivan’s main point?

2. What is manifest destiny?

3. What foreign lands had been made part of the U.S. and what predictions does O’Sullivan make regarding future territory in his article?

Problem 40: Donner Party

Patrick Breen, Diary Donner-Reed Party, November 20, 1846 to March 1, 1847.



(Irish immigrant Patrick Breen kept a diary of the Donner Party's captivity in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846-1847, the only surviving day-by-day record of events at the camps.)

November

Friday Nov. 20th 1846 came to this place on the 31st of last month that it snowed we went on to the pass the snow so deep we were unable to find the road, when within 3 miles of the summit then turned back to this shanty on the Lake, Stanton came one day after we arrived here we again took our teams & waggons & made another unsuccessful attempt to cross in company with Stanton we returned to the shanty it continueing to snow all the time we were here we now have killed most part of our cattle having to stay here untill next spring & live on poor beef without bread or salt it snowed during the space of eight days with little intermission, after our arrival here, the remainder of time up to this day was clear & pleasant frezeing at night the snow nearly gone from the valleys.

sat. 21st fine morning wind N:W 22 of our company are about starting across the mountain this moring including Stanton & his indians, some clouds flying thawed to day wind E

…

monday 23rd Same weather wind W the Expedition across the mountains returned after an unsucesful attempt

…

Saturday 28th Snowing fast now about 10 Oclock snow 8 or 10 inches deep soft wet snow, weather not cold wind W

Sunday 29th still snowing now about 3 feet deep, wind W killed my last oxen today will skin them tomorrow gave another yoke to Fosters hard to get wood

Monday 30th Snowing fast wind W about 4 or 5 feet deep, no drifts looks as likely to continue as when it commenced no liveing thing without wings can get about

December

December 1st Tuesday Still snowing wind W snow about 5-1/2 feet or 6 deep difficult to get wood no going from the house completely housed up looks as likely for snow as when it commenced, our cattle all killed But three or four them, the horses & Stantons mules gone & cattle suppose lost in the Snow no hopes of finding them alive

wedns. 2nd. Continues to snow wind W sun shineing hazily thro the clouds dont snow quite as fast as it has done snow must be over six feet deep bad fire this morning

…

Friday 4th Cloudy that is flying clouds neither snow or rain this day it is a relief to have one fine day. wind E by N no sign of thaw freezeing pretty hard snow deep

…

Wedns. 9th Commenced snowing about 11 Oclock wind N:W snows fast took in Spitzer yesterday so weak that he cannot rise without help caused by starveation all in good health some having scant supply of beef Stanton trying to make a raise of some for his Indians & self not likely to get much

Thursd. l0th Snowed fast all night with heavy squalls of wind Continues still to snow the sun peeping through the clouds once in about three hours very difficult to get wood to day now about 2 Oclock looks likely to continue snowing don't know the debth of the snow may be 7 feet

…

Sunday 13th Snows faster than any previous day wind N:W Stanton & Graves with several others makeing preperations to cross the Mountains on snow shoes, snow 8 feet deep on the level dull

…

Wed'd 16th fair & pleasant froeze hard last night & the Company started on snow shoes to cross the mountains wind S.E looks pleasant

Thursd. 17th Pleasant sunshine today wind about S.E bill Murp returned from the mountain party last evening Bealis died night before last Milt. & Noah went to Donnos 8 days since not returned yet, thinks they got lost in the snow. J Denton here to day

…

Sund. 20 night clear froze a little now clear & pleasant wind N W thawing a little Mrs Reid here. no account of Milt. yet Dutch Charley started for Donnghs turned back not able to proceed tough times, but not discouraged our hopes are in God. Amen

Mond. 21 Milt. got back last night from Donos camp sad news. Jake Donno Sam Shoemaker Rinehart, & Smith are dead the rest of them in a low situation snowed all night with a strong S-W wind to day Cloudy wind continues but not snowing, thawing sun shineing dimly in hopes it will clear off

Tuesd. 22nd Snowed all last night Continued to snow all day with some few intermissions had a severe fit of the gravel yesterday I am well to day, Praise be to the God of Heaven

Wend. 23rd Snowed a little last night clear to day & thawing a little. Milt took some of his meat to day all well at their camp began this day to read the Thirty days prayer, may Almighty God grant the request of an unworthy sinner that I am. Amen

Thursd. 24th rained all night & still continues to rain poor prospect for any kind of Comfort Spiritual or temporal, wind S: may God help us to spend the Christmass as we ought considering circumstances

Friday 25th began to snow yesterday about 12 Oclock snowed all night & snows yet rapidly wind about E by N Great difficulty in getting wood John & Edwd. has to get I am not able offered our prayers to God this Christmass morning the prospect is apalling but hope in God Amen

…

Sun 27 Continues clear froze hard last night Snow very deep say 9 feet thawing a little in the sun scarce of wood to day chopt a tree dow it sinks in the snow & is hard to be got

…

Wedsd. 30th fine clear morning froze hard last night Charley died last night about 10 Oclock had with him in money $1.50 two good 1oking silver watches one razor 3 boxes caps Keysburg tok them into his possession Spitzer took his coat & waistcoat Keysburg all his other little effects gold pin one shirt and tools for shaveing.

Thursday 31st last of the year, may we with Gods help spend the comeing year better than the past which we purpose to do if Almighty God will deliver us from our present dredful situation which is our prayer if the will of God sees it fiting for us Amen-- morning fair now Cloudy wind E by S for three days past freezeing hard every night looks like another snow storm Snow Storms are dredful to us snow very deep crust on the snow

January

Jany. 1st 1847 we pray the God of mercy to deliver us from our present Calamity if it be his Holy will Amen. Commenced snowing last night does not snow fast wind S.E. sun peeps out at times provisions geting scant dug up a hide from under the snow yesterday for Milt. did not take it yet

…

Mond. 4th fine morning looks like spring thawing now about 12 Oclock wind S:E Mrs. Reid Milt. Virginia & Eliza started about 1/2 hour ago with prospect of crossing the mountain may God of Mercy help them left ther children here Tom with us Pat with Keysburg & Jas with Graveses folks, it was difficult for Mrs. Reid to get away from the children

…

Friday 8th fine morning wind E froze hard last night very cold this morning Mrs. Reid & company came back this moring could not find their way on the other side of the Mountain they have nothing but hides to live on Martha is to stay here Milt. & Eliza going to Donos Mrs. Reid & the 2 boys going to their own shanty & Virginia prospects Dull may God relieve us all from this difficulty if it is his Holy will Amen

…

Tuesd 26 Cleared up yesterday to day fine & pleasant, wind S. in hopes we are done with snow storms. those that went to Suitors not yet returned provisions geting very scant people geting weak liveing on short allowance of hides

Weds 27th began to snow yesterday & still continues to sleet thawing a little wind W Mrs Keyber here this morning Lewis Suitor she says died three days ago Keysburg sick & Lanthrom lying in bed the whole of his time dont have fire enough to Cook their hides. Bill & Sim. Murphy sick

Thursd. 28th full moon cleared off last night & froze some to day fine & warm wind S.E looks some like spring weather birds chirping qute lively full moon today

Frid 29th fine morning began to thaw in the sun early. wind S.W froze hard last night there will be a crust soon God send Amen

…

February

Frid. 5th snowed hard all untill 12 o'clock at night wind still continud to blow hard from the S.W: to day pretty clear a few clouds only Peggy very uneasy for fear we shall all perrish with hunger we have but a little meat left & only part of 3 hides has to support Mrs. Reid she has nothing left but one hide & it is on Graves shanty Milt is livig there & likely will keep that hide Eddys child died last night

Satd 6th it snowed faster last night & to day than it has done this winter & still Continues without an intermission wind S.W Murphys folks or Keysburgs say they cant eat hides I wish we had enough of them Mrs Eddy very weak

…

Mond 8th fine clear morning wind S.W. froze hard last Spitzer died last night about 3 o clock so we will bury him in the snow Mrs Eddy died on the night of the 7th

Tuesd. 9th. Mrs Murphy here this morning pikes child all but dead Milt at Murphys not able to get out of bed Keyburg never gets up says he is not able. John went down to day to bury Mrs Eddy & child heard nothing from Graves for 2 or 3 days Mrs Murphy just now going to Graves fine moring wind S.E. froze hard last night begins to thaw in the Sun.

Wedndd. 10th beautiful morning Wind W: froze hard last night. to day thawing in the Sun Milt Elliot died las night at Murphys Shanty about 9 oclock P: M: Mrs. Reid went there this morning to see after his effects. J Denton trying to borrow meat for Graves had none to give they have nothing but hides all are entirely out of meat but a little we have our hides are nearly all eat up but with Gods help spring will soon smile upon us

…

Sund 14th fine morning but cold before the sun got up. now thawing in the sun wind S E Ellen Graves here this morning John Denton not well froze hard last night John & Edwd. burried Milt. this morning in the snow

Frid. 19th froze hard last night 7 men arrived from California yesterday evening with som provisions but left the greater part on the way to day clear & warm for this region some of the men are gone to day to Donnos Camp will start back on Monday

…

Mond 22nd the Californians started this morning 24 in number some in a very weak state fine morning wind S.W. for the 3 last days Mrs Keyburg started & left Keysburg here unable to go I burried pikes child this moring in the snow it died 2 days ago, Paddy Reid & Thos. came back with Messrs Grover & Mutry

…

Tuesd. 23 froze hard last night to day fine & thawey has the appearance of spring all but the deep snow wind S: S.E. shot Towser to day & dressed his flesh Mrs Graves came here this morning to borrow meat dog or ox they think I have meat to spare but I know to the Contrary they have plenty hides I live principally on the same

…

Thursd. 25th froze hard last night fine & sunshiny to day wind W. Mrs Murphy says the wolves are about to dig up the dead bodies at her shanty, the nights are too cold to watch them, we hear them howl

Frid 26th froze hard last night today clear & warm Wind S: E: blowing briskly Marthas jaw swelled with the toothache: hungry times in camp, plenty hides but the folks will not eat them we eat them with a tolerable good aperite. Thanks be to Almighty God. Amen Mrs Murphy said here yesterday that [she] thought she would Commence on Milt. & eat him. I dont [think] that she has done so yet, it is distressing The Donnos told the California folks that they commence to eat the dead people 4 days ago, if they did not succeed that day or next in finding their cattle then under ten or twelve feet of snow & did not know the spot or near it, I suppose they have done so ere this time

Satd 27th beautiful morning sun shineing brilliantly, wind about S.W. the snow has fell in debth about 5 feet but no thaw but the sun in day time it freezeing hard every night heard some geese fly over last night saw none

Sund. 28th froze hard last night to day fair & sunshine wind S.E. 1 solitary Indian passed by yesterday come from the lake had a heavy pack on his back gave me 5 or 6 roots resembleing Onions in shape taste some like a sweet potatoe, all full of little tough fibres

March

Mond. March the 1st So fine & pleasant froze hard last night there has 10 men arrived this morning from bear valley with provisions we are to start in two or three days & Cash our goods here there is amongst them some old they say the snow will be here untill June

…

1. What were the challenges facing the Donner Party according to the diary?

2. Who was the first person to die? When did that person die?

3. When was the first mention of cannibalism?

4. What other things did Breen report in his diary entries? Why?

Problem 41: Treatment of the Insane

Dorothea Lynde Dix, Memorial Soliciting a State Hospital for the Protection and Cure of the Insane, Submitted to the General Assembly of North Carolina, November, 1848, pp. 8–9, 14–15, 16–17, 26–28, 39–41.

I admit that public peace and security are seriously endangered by the non-restraint of the maniacal insane. I consider it in the highest degree improper that they should be allowed to range the towns and country without care or guidance; but this does not justify the public in any State or community, under any circumstances or conditions, in committing the insane to prisons; in a majority of cases the rich may be…sent to Hospitals; the poor under the pressure of this calamity, have the same just claim upon the public treasury…

If County Jails must be resorted to for security against the dangerous propensities of madmen, let such use of prison-rooms and dungeons be but temporary…[A] Newspaper, published…the following paragraph: “It is our fate,” writes the Editor, “to be located opposite the County Jail, in which are now confined four miserable creatures bereft of the God-like attribute of reason: two of them females; and our feelings are daily excited by sounds of woe, that would harrow up the hardest soul. It is horrible that for the sake of a few thousand dollars the wailings of the wretched should be suffered to issue from the gloomy walls of our jails without pity and without relief. Were our law-makers doomed to listen for a single hour each day to the clanking of chains, and the piercing shrieks of these forlorn wretches, relief would surely follow, and the character of our State would be rescued from the foul blot that now dishonors it.”

…[The] best…poor-house …neat, plain, and decent…is [not a] fit place for the insane…[A] highly respected citizen writes me that a young woman has been sent to the poor-house so violently insane, that it is quite unfit she should remain there. Also a man has…recently become so violently mad as to be quite unmanageable, and having no Hospital in the State, they have confined him, with, chains and manacles, hand and feet, and do as best they can… Other painful cases exist…[and] plead in heart-reaching language for the…establishment of a State Hospital.…

…A poor but industrious farmer…the father of a numerous family, became insane; it was in vain to control him in his own dwelling, he was furious and he was conveyed to the County jail here his sufferings were aggravated and his malady exasperated…[In] time [his] violence subsided, and finally he was transferred to the humble log cabin of his aged widowed mother, a lone woman dwelling upon the mountains. There I found the infirm, afflicted mother, and the insane son. Amidst tears and sighs she recounted to me her troubles, and as she wept she said, “the Lord above only knows my troubles, and what a heap of sorrow I have had in my day, and none to give me help. There he lay, in the jail, cold and distressed, mightily misused; if I could have got money to send him off to where they cure such spells, for they do say crazy folks can be cured…[M]any is the long night I am up with him and no sleep or rest…I shall die, and I dont know what is to come of him then.”… Had there been…a State Hospital, timely care might have secured a permanent cure… [Many families] have not the means of sending [insane family members] to a distant Hospital. The rich may partake the benefits such institutions afford: the poor must suffer, agonize, and bear heavily out, by slow-killing tortures, their unblessed life! Are there no pitying hearts, and open hands that can be moved by these miseries?

Moral treatment of the insane with a view to induce habits of self-control, is of the first importance. Uniform firmness and kindness towards the patient are of absolute obligation. The most exact observance of truth should be preserved…with the insane. They rarely violate a promise, and are singularly sensitive to truthfulness and fidelity in others… Once deceived by a nurse or attendant they never a second time bestow their confidence upon the same individual.

Moderate employment, moderate exercise, as much freedom as is consistent with the safety of the patient, and as little apparent anxious watchfulness with cheerful society should be sought. The condition of the patients must determine the number of nurses in a ward. The general opinion is holden that all patients do better without special nurses, wholly devoted to their care.

“The proper mental and physical employment of the insane,” says Dr. Kirkbride, “is of so much importance…” Whatever it maybe, it must embrace utility, and it is well to combine both physical and mental occupation. Active exercise in the open air, moderate labor in the gardens, pleasure grounds, or upon the farm, afford good results. Short excursions, resort to the work shops, carpentering, joining turning, the use of a good library etc. are aids in advancing the cure of the patient.” Sedentary employments are not in general favorable to health. The operations of agriculture seem liable to the least objection...[A]lthough the work may not always be perfectly well done yet the patient thinks it is, and experiences the gratification of having done what he believes is a good thing, and consequently, so far as it goes it is beneficial.

This sentiment of satisfaction in being useful, the guardian of the insane cannot too carefully watch over and foster, since it conducts to self-control and self-respect. Incurables who are able and willing to work, are much more contented and enjoy better health when employed. Even some of the most demented and idiots are found capable or doing something. A young man became a raving maniac…[and] amuse[d] himself with some rude coloring and odd figures upon the walls of his room. He was supplied with colours, brushes, and canvass, and soon commenced a portrait: he was now roused, and eager to accomplish his new and attractive work. He was encouraged to renew and repeat his attempts, and finally his mind was restored to its early and rational condition…

“A patient, insane for more than ton [sic] years, and beyond hope of recovery, considered dangerous to the public safety, and therefore detained at a hospital, converses incoherently and raves wildly, yet finds constant and profitable employment upon the farm; has charge of a stock of cattle and hogs and is scrupulously faithful in the discharge of his duties. Instead of confinement in a county jail, from whence he was removed to the Hospital, in a most filthy, and abject condition. at a cost of little less than three hundred dollars per annum he is here a genteel, orderly, and industrious individual, cheerful, happy, and useful: his labor more than pays all his expenses and supplies him with sufficient indulgencies.”

1. Why did Dorothea Dix write this appeal?

2. What does she want to happen and what evidence does she give to support her points?

Problem 42: Declaration of Sentiments

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, A History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 1 (Rochester, N.Y.: Fowler and Wells, 1889), pages 70-71.



(Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, two American activists in the movement to abolish slavery called together the first conference to address Women's rights and issues in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. The Declaration of the Seneca Falls Convention, using the model of the US Declaration of Independence, demanded that the rights of women as right-bearing individuals be acknowledged and respectd by society. It was signed by sixty-eight women and thirty-two men.)

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of man to assume among the people of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled. The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyrranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men--both natives and foreigners.

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.

He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.

He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes with impunity… in the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master--the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement.

He has so framed the laws of divorce…[and] the guardianship of the children…[upon a] supposition of the supremacy of man, and giving all power into his hands.

After depriving her of all rights as a married woman, if single, and the owner of property, he has taxed her to support a government which recognizes her only when her property can be made profitable to it.

He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction which he considers most homorable to himself. As a teacher of theoloy, medicine, or law, she is not known.

He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her.

He allows her in church, as well as state, but a suborinate position, claiming apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and, with some exceptions, from any public participation in the affairs of the church.

He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man.

He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphere of action, when that belongs to her conscience and to her God.

He has endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her conficence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.

Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation--in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States.

1. How is the Declaration of Sentiments similar and different from the Declaration of Independence?

2. Has the U.S. corrected all of the issues that are listed in the Declaration of Sentiments? If not, what still needs to be addressed with regards to the treatment of women? Explain.

Problem 43: Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

David Walker, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, Article I “Our Wretchedness in Consequence of Slavery,” September 28, 1829.



OUR WRETCHEDNESS IN CONSEQUENCE OF SLAVERY.

My beloved brethren:--The Indians of North and of South America--the Greeks--the Irish, subjected under the king of Great Britain--the Jews, that ancient people of the Lord--the inhabitants of the islands of the sea--in fine, all the inhabitants of the earth, (except however, the sons of Africa) are called men, and of course are, and ought to be free. But we, (coloured people) and our children are brutes!! and of course are, and ought to be SLAVES to the American people and their children forever!! to dig their mines and work their farms; and thus go on enriching them, from one generation to another with our blood and our tears!!!!

[The] coloured people of these United States of America are the most wretched, degraded, and abject set of beings that ever lived since the world began, and that the white Americans having reduced us to the wretched state of slavery, treat us in that condition more cruel (they being an enlighted and Christian people), than any heathen nation did any people whom it had reduced to our condition…

[The] Israelites was better under the Egyptians than [we are] under the whites. I call upon the professing Christians, I call upon the philanthropist, I call upon the very tyrant himself, to show me a page of history, either sacred or profane, on which a verse can be found, which maintains, that the Egyptians heaped the insupportable insult upon the children of Israel, by telling them that they were not of the human family. Can the whites deny this charge? Have they not, after having reduced us to the deplorable condition of slaves under their feet, held us up as descending originally from the tribes of Monkeys or [orangutans]? O! my God! I appeal to every man of feeling--is not this insupportable? Is it not heaping the most gross insult upon our miseries[?]…

[If we were the Israelites] would they be able to drag our mothers, our fathers, our wives, our children and ourselves, around the world in chains and hand-cuffs as they do, to dig up gold and silver for them and theirs? This question, my brethren, I leave for you to digest; and may God Almighty force it home to your hearts…

Never make an attempt to gain our freedom of natural right, from under our cruel oppressors and murderers, until you see your way clear (It is not to be understood here, that I mean for us to wait until God shall take us by the hair of our heads and drag us out of abject wretchedness and slavery…[but] you must remember that we are men as well as they. God has been pleased to give us two eyes, two hands, two feet, and some sense in our heads as well as they. They have no more right to hold us in slavery than we have to hold them…) when that hour arrives and you move, be not afraid or dismayed; for be you assured that Jesus Christ…will surely go before you. And those enemies who have for hundreds of years stolen our rights, and kept us ignorant of Him and His divine worship, he will remove. Millions of whom, are this day, so ignorant and avaricious, that they cannot conceive how God can have an attribute of justice, and show mercy to us because it pleased Him to make us black...They think because they hold us in their infernal chains of slavery, that we wish to be white, or of their color--but they are dreadfully deceived--we wish to be just as it pleased our Creator to have made us…

Have you not, Americans, having subjected us under you, added to these miseries, by insulting us in telling us to our face, because we are helpless, that we are not of the human family? I ask you, O! Americans, I ask you, in the name of the Lord, can you deny these charges? Some perhaps may deny, by saying, that they never thought or said that we were not men. But do not actions speak louder than words?--have they not made provisions for the Greeks, and Irish? Nations who have never done the least thing for them, while we, who have enriched their country with our blood and tears--have dug up gold and silver for them and their children, from generation to generation, and are in more miseries than any other people under heaven, are not seen, but by comparatively, a handful of the American people?

I have been for years troubling the pages of historians, to find out what our fathers have done to the white Christians of America, to merit such condign punishment as they have inflicted on them, and do continue to inflict on us their children. But I must aver, that my researches have hitherto been to no effect. I have therefore, come to the immoveable conclusion, that they (Americans) have, and do continue to punish us for nothing else, but for enriching them and their country. For I cannot conceive of any thing else. Nor will I ever believe otherwise, until the Lord shall convince me.

The world knows, that slavery as it existed among the Romans, (which was the primary cause of their destruction) was, comparatively speaking, no more than a cypher, when compared with ours under the Americans. Indeed I should not have noticed the Roman slaves, had not the very learned and penetrating Mr. Jefferson said, "when a master was murdered, all his slaves in the same house, or within hearing, were condemned to death."

…I ask the whole American people, had I not rather die, or be put to death, than to be a slave to any tyrant, who takes not only my own, but my wife and children's lives by the inches? Yea, would I meet death with avidity far! far! ! in preference to such servile submission to the murderous hands of tyrants…I know well, that there are some talents and learning among the coloured people of this country, which we have not a chance to develop, in consequence of oppression; but our oppression ought not to hinder us from acquiring all we can. For we will have a chance to develop them by and by. God will not suffer us, always to be oppressed. Our sufferings will come to an end, in spite of all the Americans this side of eternity. Then we will want all the learning and talents among ourselves, and perhaps more, to govern ourselves. "Every dog must have its day," the American's is coming to an end…

1. According to Walker, how has slavery harmed African Americans?

2. Who is the intended audience of this document?

3. What is he suggesting be done regarding slavery and slave owners?

Problem 44: Gradual Abolition

Pennsylvania- An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, March 1, 1780.



SECTION 1. WHEN we contemplate our abhorrence of that condition to which the arms and tyranny of Great Britain were exerted to reduce us; when we look back on the variety of dangers to which we have been exposed…when even hope and human fortitude have become unequal to the conflict; we are unavoidably led to a serious and grateful sense of the manifold blessings which we have undeservedly received from the hand of that Being from whom every good and perfect gift cometh. Impressed with their ideas, we conceive that it is our duty, and we rejoice that it is in our power to extend a portion of that freedom to others, which hath been extended to us; and a release from that state of thralldom to which we ourselves were tyrannically doomed, and from which we have now every prospect of being delivered. It is not for us to enquire why, in the creation of mankind, the inhabitants of the several parts of the earth were distinguished by a difference in feature or complexion. It is sufficient to know that all are the work of an Almighty Hand. We find in the distribution of the human species, that the most fertile as well as the most barren parts of the earth are inhabited by men of complexions different from ours, and from each other; from whence we may reasonably, as well as religiously, infer, that He who placed them in their various situations, hath extended equally his care and protection to all, and that it becometh not us to counteract his mercies. We esteem it a peculiar blessing granted to us, that we are enabled this day to add one more step to universal civilization, by removing as much as possible the sorrows of those who have lived in undeserved bondage, and from which, by the assumed authority of the kings of Great Britain, no effectual, legal relief could be obtained. Weaned by a long course of experience from those narrower prejudices and partialities we had imbibed, we find our hearts enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards men of all conditions and nations; and we conceive ourselves at this particular period extraordinarily called upon, by the blessings which we have received, to manifest the sincerity of our profession, and to give a Substantial proof of our gratitude.

SECT. 2. And whereas the condition of those persons who have heretofore been denominated Negro and Mulatto slaves, has been attended with circumstances which not only deprived them of the common blessings that they were by nature entitled to, but has cast them into the deepest afflictions, by an unnatural separation and sale of husband and wife from each other and from their children; an injury, the greatness of which can only be conceived by supposing that we were in the same unhappy case. In justice therefore to persons so unhappily circumstanced, and who, having no prospect before them whereon they may rest their sorrows and their hopes, have no reasonable inducement to render their service to society, which they otherwise might; and also in grateful commemoration of our own happy deliverance from that state of unconditional submission to which we were doomed by the tyranny of Britain.

SECT. 3. Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the representatives of the freeman of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in general assembly met, and by the authority of the same, that all persons, as well Negroes and Mulattoes as others, who shall be born within this state from and after the passing of this act, shall not be deemed and considered as servants for life, or slaves; and that all servitude for life, or slavery of children, in consequence of the slavery of their mothers, in the case of all children born within this state, from and after the passing of this act as aforesaid, shall be, and hereby is utterly taken away, extinguished and forever abolished.

SECT. 13. Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no covenant of personal servitude or apprenticeship whatsoever shall be valid or binding on a Negro or Mulatto for a longer time than seven years, unless such servant or apprentice were at the commencement of such servitude or apprenticeship under the age of twenty one years; in which case such Negro or Mulatto may be holden as a servant or apprentice respectively, according to the covenant, as the case shall be, until he or she shall attain the age of twenty eight years, but no longer.

JOHN BAYARD, SPEAKER

Enabled into a law at Philadelphia, on Wednesday, the first day of March, A.D. 1780

1. What did the act of the Pennsylvania state legislature do?

2. What were the reasons given for this law?

Problem 45: Fourth of July Speech

Frederick Douglass, Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro- Rochester, New York, July 5, 1862.

The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, Volume II, Pre-Civil War Decade 1850-1860.



(Audio)

"The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro"

...Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

…But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can today take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!

…Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them… My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July!

…For the present, it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are ploughing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and ciphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators and teachers; that, while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hill-side, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives and children, and, above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian's God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are men!

Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it…There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven that does not know that slavery is wrong for him…What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? No! I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply…

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival....

...Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope…In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it:

God speed the year of jubilee

The wide world o'er!

When from their galling chains set free,

Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee,

And wear the yoke of tyranny

Like brutes no more.

That year will come, and freedom's reign,

To man his plundered rights again

Restore.

1. What is Frederick Douglass’s main point in his speech?

2. Was the Fourth of July a hypocritical event? Explain.

Slave Narratives

Document Based Essay Writing Assessment

Directions:

This assignment is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. You are expected to answer the question posed by using the documents provided and to integrate quotes, ideas, and evidence from those documents into a clear and organized essay.

Historical Background:

Slave Narratives are first-hand accounts of slavery written from the point of view of those who have experienced it. They provide historians with a glimpse into the lives and experiences of slaves that might otherwise have been lost to history. They humanize and personalize the individual slaves who experienced slavery, which has a tendency to become lost in statistics and generalizations. Most importantly, slave narratives reflect the people who experienced and lived through slavery and teach us not only about slavery, but also about humanity.

American slavery was by no means a uniform and consistent institution throughout the United States, yet slavery itself was a part of our history since the earliest settlements in the Chesapeake and New England. Despite the reality that slavery varied greatly from one time period to another, from one place to another, and by individual circumstances, many have assumed that slavery was practiced the same regardless of when, where, or how it existed.

It is critical to remember that slavery was by no means a uniform institution. Nevertheless, slavery, by its very nature, included the existence of inequality, domination, and control of one group of people over another. In America, that inequality was not only racial in character, but its proponents argued that it was justified by notions of innate superiority and inferiority, and ultimately sanctioned by the Bible.

Despite the vast differences concerning American slavery, the one unifying element that has existed across times, places, and people has been that of control. In this document based essay writing assessment, you will examine different methods of control used in American slavery. While each instance of slavery was unique, slaveholders and slave society consistently attempted to exert control over enslaved blacks, albeit in different ways.

DBQ Essay Prompt:

Describe the most successful ways in which slaveholders and society controlled enslaved blacks in the Antebellum period to prevent slaves from challenging their masters, running away, and rebelling against the institution of slavery. What was it about each technique that made it so successful?

The Documents:

The first thing you must do is to read through the documents to understand the different methods of control used to control slaves. Every source will relate in some way to control. As you read try to group the different types of control into useful categories. Those categories should then form the three (3) evidence paragraphs of your essay.

The Writing Process:

Your essay will contain no fewer than five (5) paragraphs. Your essay will have a brief introductory paragraph (which should end with your thesis statement), three evidence paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. In each of the three evidence paragraphs you will begin with a topic sentence. After writing the topic sentence, the remainder of your paragraph should be devoted to providing evidence and support for that sentence.

The Documents

Document 1: Peter Randolph, From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit, autobiography, 1893. Peter Randolph was a former slave and a minister at the Old African Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. In the following excerpt, he describes religious instruction for slaves.

In some places, if the slaves are caught praying to God, they are whipped more than if they had committed a great crime. The slaveholders will allow the slaves to dance, but do not want them to pray to God. Sometimes, when a slave, on being whipped, calls upon God, he is forbidden to do so, under threat of having his throat cut, or brains blown out. Oh, reader! This seems very hard—that slaves cannot call on their Maker, when the case most needs it. Sometimes the poor slave takes courage to ask his master to let him pray, and is driven away, with the answer, that if discovered praying, his back will pay the bill.

Document 2: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, autobiography, 1845. Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became an orator, writer, and key leader in the antislavery cause.

I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquiries of my master concerning it. He deemed all such inquiries on the part of a slave improper and impertinent, and evidence of a restless spirit.

Document 3: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, autobiography, 1845.

Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, "If you give a n****r an inch, he will take an ell. A n****r should know nothing but to obey his master--to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best n****r in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that n****r (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy."

Document 4: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, autobiography, 1845.

We were worked in all weathers. It was never too hot or too cold; it could never rain, blow, hail, or snow, too hard for us to work in the field. Work, work, work, was scarcely more the order of the day than of the night. The longest days were too short for him, and the shortest nights too long for him. I was somewhat unmanageable when I first went there, but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!

Document 5: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, autobiography, 1845.

Aunt Hester went out one night,—where or for what I do not know,—and happened to be absent when my master desired her presence. He had ordered her not to go out evenings, and warned her that she must never let him catch her in company with a young man, who was paying attention to her belonging to Colonel Lloyd…Aunt Hester had not only disobeyed his orders in going out, but had been found in company with Lloyd's Ned; which circumstance, I found, from what he said while whipping her, was the chief offence. Had he been a man of pure morals himself, he might have been thought interested in protecting the innocence of my aunt; but those who knew him will not suspect him of any such virtue. Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester, he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked. He then told her to cross her hands, calling her at the same time a d****d b***h. After crossing her hands, he tied them with a strong rope, and led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook. She now stood fair for his infernal purpose. Her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. He then said to her, "Now, you d****d b***h, I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!" and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor.

Document 6: Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, The Dred Scott Decision, 1857. The following excerpt is from the majority decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. Written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.

Now . . . the right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution. The right to traffic in it, like an ordinary article of merchandise and property, was guaranteed to the citizens of the United States, in every state that might desire it, for twenty years. And the government in express terms is pledged to protect it in all future time, if the slave escapes from his owner. This is done in plain words—too plain to be misunderstood…The only power conferred [to Congress] is the power coupled with the duty of guarding and protecting the owner of his rights.

Document 7: Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, memoir, 1861. Harriet A. Jacobs recounts the unique struggles of female slaves in her autobiography.

Even the little child, who is accustomed to wait on her mistress and her children, will learn, before she is twelve years old, why it is that her mistress hates such and such a one among the slaves. Perhaps the child's own mother is among those hated ones. She listens to violent outbreaks of jealous passion, and cannot help understanding what is the cause. She will become prematurely knowing in evil things. Soon she will learn to tremble when she hears her master's footfall. She will be compelled to realize that she is no longer a child. If God has bestowed beauty upon her, it will prove her greatest curse. That which commands admiration in the white woman only hastens the degradation of the female slave.

Document 8: Mother Ann Clark, "But I Can Kill You," slave narrative, c. 1936. New Deal’s Federal Writers’ Project interviewed former slaves during 1930s. Mother Ann Clark, born June 1, 1825, was a slave in Louisiana and describes the ruthlessness of her master.

My papa was strong. He never had a licking in his life. He helped the master, but one day the master says, "Si, you got to have a whopping," and my papa says, "I never had a whopping and you can't whop me." And the master says, "But I can kill you," and he shot my papa down. My mama took him in the cabin and put him on a pallet. He died.

Document 9: Virginia Slavery Act, 1669. During the 1660s and 1670s, Maryland and Virginia established slave codes.

If any slave resists his master (or other by his master's order correcting him) and by the extremity of the correction should chance to die, that his death shall not be accounted a felony, but the master (or that other person appointed by the master to punish him) be acquitted from molestation, since it cannot be presumed that premeditated malice (which alone makes murder a felony) should induce any man to destroy his own estate.

Document 10: The Slave Auction, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911).

…And mothers stood, with streaming eyes,

And saw their dearest children sold;

Unheeded rose their bitter cries,

While tyrants bartered them for gold.

And woman, with her love and truth—

For these in sable forms may dwell—

Gazed on the husband of her youth,

With anguish none may paint or tell.

And men, whose sole crime was their hue,

The impress of their Maker’s hand,

And frail and shrinking children too,

Were gathered in that mournful band.

Ye who have laid your loved to rest,

And wept above their lifeless clay,

Know not the anguish of that breast,

Whose loved are rudely torn away…

Document 11: Am I Not a Man and a Brother? Library of Congress. Image

[pic]

Slavery DBQ Rubric Common Core-Aligned Rubric

| |Below Grade |Beginning |Emerging |Proficient |Above Grade |

|Introduction |No Introduction of |Suggestion of an |Simple Introduction |Introduces a topic |Introduces a topic clearly and |

|Writing (Hist/SS, Sci&Tech): |the topic or preview |introduction, with a |of a topic with a |clearly, previews what |creatively previewing what is |

|WHST.6-8.2a |of what is to follow.|limited preview of |rudimentary preview |is to follow. |to follow with masterful use of|

| | |what is to follow. |of what is to | |language. |

| | | |follow. | | |

|Supporting Facts & Details |Does not incorporate |Limited incorporation|Basic incorporation |Satisfactory |Superior incorporation of the |

|Writing (Hist/SS, Sci&Tech): |evidence and/or |of evidence and/or |of the evidence |incorporation of |evidence and/or supporting |

|WHST.6-8.2b |supporting facts |supporting facts |and/or supporting |evidence and/or |facts relevant to the topic |

| |relevant to the topic|relevant to the topic|facts relevant to |supporting facts |throughout the writing |

| | | |the topic |relevant to the topic | |

| | | | |throughout most of the | |

| | | | |writing | |

|Explanation & Comprehension |Does not develop |Limited explanation |Basic explanation of|Satisfactory explanation|Superior explanation of |

|Writing (Hist/SS, Sci&Tech): |explanation of |of evidence and/or |evidence and/or |of evidence and/or |evidence and/or supporting |

|WHST.6-8.2b |evidence and/or |supporting facts with|supporting facts |supporting facts with |facts with definitions, |

| |supporting facts with|definitions, details,|with definitions, |definitions, details, |details, evidence, and support |

| |definitions, details,|evidence, and support|details, evidence, |evidence, and support |from the sources throughout the|

| |evidence, and support|from the sources. |and support from the|from the sources |writing |

| |from the sources. | |sources |throughout most of the | |

| | | | |writing | |

|Grammatical Usage |Sentence structure |Sentence structure |Sentence structure |Sentence structure and |Sentence structure and grammar |

|Writing (Hist/SS, Sci&Tech): |and grammar generally|and grammar mostly |and grammar meet |grammar show mastery of |show mastery of English |

|WHST.6-8.2c |do not meet English |meet English |English conventions |English conventions with|conventions with virtually no |

| |conventions with |conventions |but show little |few errors, which do not|errors that interfere with |

| |serious errors in |(occasional |variation and/or |interfere with |communication throughout the |

| |grammar and/or |misspellings) but |creativity. |communication throughout|writing |

| |spelling. |show virtually no | |most of the writing | |

| | |variation and/or | | | |

| | |creativity. | | | |

|Conclusion |Does not provide a |Provides a limited |Provides a simple |Provides a concluding |Provides an insightful |

|Writing (Hist/SS, Sci&Tech): |concluding statement.|concluding statement |concluding statement|statement that follows |concluding statement that |

|WHST.6-8.2f | |that attempts to |that rudimentarily |from and supports the |follows from and supports the |

| | |support the |supports the |information or |information or explanation |

| | |information or |information or |explanation presented. |presented. |

| | |explanation |explanation | | |

| | |presented. |presented. | | |

Raw Score _________________ Final Grade ___________________

Problem 46: Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852.



(Video)

It took but a short time to familiarize Tom with all that was to be hoped or feared in his new way of life. He was an expert and efficient workman in whatever he undertook; and was, both from habit and principle, prompt, and faithful. Quiet and peaceable in his disposition, he hoped, by unremitting diligence, to avert from himself at least a portion of the evils of his condition. He saw enough of abuse and misery to make him sick and weary; but he determined to toil on, with religious patience, committing himself to Him that judgeth righteously, not without hope that some way of escape might yet be opened to him.

Legree took a silent note of Tom's availability. He rated him as a first-class hand; and yet he felt a secret dislike to him,—the native antipathy of bad to good…Tom in various ways manifested a tenderness of feeling, a commiseration for his fellow-sufferers, strange and new to them, which was watched with a jealous eye by Legree. He had purchased Tom with a view of eventually making him a sort of overseer…[but] requisite for that place, was hardness. Legree made up his mind, that, as Tom was not hard to his hand, he would harden him forthwith....

Just then Sambo came up. He seemed to have a special spite against this woman; and, flourishing his whip, said, in brutal, guttural tones, "What dis yer, Luce,—foolin a'?" and, with the word, kicking the woman with his heavy cow-hide shoe, he struck Tom across the face with his whip.

Tom silently resumed his task; but the woman, before at the last point of exhaustion, fainted.

"I'll bring her to!" said the driver, with a brutal grin. "I'll give her something better than camphire!" and, taking a pin from his coat-sleeve, he buried it to the head in her flesh. The woman groaned, and half rose. "Get up, you beast, and work, will yer, or I'll show yer a trick more!"

The woman seemed stimulated, for a few moments, to an unnatural strength, and worked with desperate eagerness.

"See that you keep to dat ar," said the man, "or yer'll wish yer's dead to-night, I reckin!"

"That I do now!" Tom heard her say; and again he heard her say, "O, Lord, how long! O, Lord, why don't you help us?"

At the risk of all that he might suffer, Tom came forward again, and put all the cotton in his sack into the woman's.

"O, you mustn't! you donno what they'll do to ye!" said the woman.

"I can bar it!" said Tom, "better 'n you;" and he was at his place again. It passed in a moment.

Suddenly, the stranger woman whom we have described, and who had, in the course of her work, come near enough to hear Tom's last words, raised her heavy black eyes, and fixed them, for a second, on him; then, taking a quantity of cotton from her basket, she placed it in his.

"You know nothing about this place," she said, "or you wouldn't have done that. When you've been here a month, you'll be done helping anybody; you'll find it hard enough to take care of your own skin!"

"The Lord forbid, Missis!" said Tom, using instinctively to his field companion the respectful form proper to the high bred with whom he had lived.

"The Lord never visits these parts," said the woman, bitterly, as she went nimbly forward with her work; and again the scornful smile curled her lips.

But the action of the woman had been seen by the driver, across the field; and, flourishing his whip, he came up to her.

"What! what!" he said to the woman, with an air of triumph, " YOU a foolin'? Go along! yer under me now,—mind yourself, or yer'll cotch it!"

A glance like sheet-lightning suddenly flashed from those black eyes; and, facing about, with quivering lip and dilated nostrils, she drew herself up, and fixed a glance, blazing with rage and scorn, on the driver.

"Dog!" she said, "touch me, if you dare! I've power enough, yet, to have you torn by the dogs, burnt alive, cut to inches! I've only to say the word!"

"What de devil you here for, den?" said the man, evidently cowed, and sullenly retreating a step or two. "Didn't mean no harm, Misse Cassy!"

"Keep your distance, then!" said the woman. And, in truth, the man seemed greatly inclined to attend to something at the other end of the field, and started off in quick time.

…"Lucy was real aggravatin' and lazy, sulkin' round; wouldn't do nothin',—and Tom he tuck up for her."

"He did, eh! Wal, then, Tom shall have the pleasure of flogging her. It'll be a good practice for him, and he won't put it on to the gal like you devils, neither."

* * * * * *

Slowly the weary, dispirited creatures, wound their way into the room, and, with crouching reluctance, presented their baskets to be weighed.

Legree noted on a slate, on the side of which was pasted a list of names, the amount.

Tom's basket was weighed and approved; and he looked, with an anxious glance, for the success of the woman he had befriended.

Tottering with weakness, she came forward, and delivered her basket. It was of full weight, as Legree well perceived; but, affecting anger, he said,

"What, you lazy beast! short again! stand aside, you'll catch it, pretty soon!"

The woman gave a groan of utter despair, and sat down on a board.

…"And now," said Legree, "come here, you Tom. You see, I telled ye I didn't buy ye jest for the common work; I mean to promote ye, and make a driver of ye; and tonight ye may jest as well begin to get yer hand in. Now, ye jest take this yer gal and flog her; ye've seen enough on't to know how."

"I beg Mas'r's pardon," said Tom; "hopes Mas'r won't set me at that. It's what I an't used to,—never did,—and can't do, no way possible."

"Ye'll larn a pretty smart chance of things ye never did know, before I've done with ye!" said Legree, taking up a cow-hide, and striking Tom a heavy blow across the cheek, and following up the infliction by a shower of blows.

"There!" he said, as he stopped to rest; "now, will ye tell me ye can't do it?"

"Yes, Mas'r," said Tom, putting up his hand, to wipe the blood that trickled down his face. "I'm willin' to work, night and day, and work while there's life and breath in me; but this yer thing I can't feel it right to do;—and, Mas'r, I never shall do it,—never!"

Tom had a remarkably smooth, soft voice, and a habitually respectful manner, that had given Legree an idea that he would be cowardly, and easily subdued. When he spoke these last words, a thrill of amazement went through every one; the poor woman clasped her hands, and said, "O Lord!" and every one involuntarily looked at each other and drew in their breath, as if to prepare for the storm that was about to burst.

Legree looked stupefied and confounded; but at last burst forth,—

"What! ye blasted black beast! tell me ye don't think it right to do what I tell ye! What have any of you cussed cattle to do with thinking what's right? I'll put a stop to it! Why, what do ye think ye are? May be ye think ye'r a gentleman master, Tom, to be a telling your master what's right, and what an't! So you pretend it's wrong to flog the gal!"

"I think so, Mas'r," said Tom; "the poor crittur's sick and feeble; 't would be downright cruel, and it's what I never will do, nor begin to. Mas'r, if you mean to kill me, kill me; but, as to my raising my hand agin any one here, I never shall,—I'll die first!"

Tom spoke in a mild voice, but with a decision that could not be mistaken. Legree shook with anger; his greenish eyes glared fiercely, and his very whiskers seemed to curl with passion; but, like some ferocious beast, that plays with its victim before he devours it, he kept back his strong impulse to proceed to immediate violence, and broke out into bitter raillery.

"Well, here's a pious dog, at last, let down among us sinners!—a saint, a gentleman, and no less, to talk to us sinners about our sins! Powerful holy critter, he must be! Here, you rascal, you make believe to be so pious,—didn't you never hear, out of yer Bible, 'Servants, obey yer masters'? An't I yer master? Didn't I pay down twelve hundred dollars, cash, for all there is inside yer old cussed black shell? An't yer mine, now, body and soul?" he said, giving Tom a violent kick with his heavy boot; "tell me!"

In the very depth of physical suffering, bowed by brutal oppression, this question shot a gleam of joy and triumph through Tom's soul. He suddenly stretched himself up, and, looking earnestly to heaven, while the tears and blood that flowed down his face mingled, he exclaimed,

"No! no! no! my soul an't yours, Mas'r! You haven't bought it,—ye can't buy it! It's been bought and paid for, by one that is able to keep it;—no matter, no matter, you can't harm me!"

"I can't!" said Legree, with a sneer; "we'll see,—we'll see! Here, Sambo, Quimbo, give this dog such a breakin' in as he won't get over, this month!"

The two gigantic negroes that now laid hold of Tom…The poor woman screamed with apprehension, and all rose, as by a general impulse, while they dragged him unresisting from the place.

1. Summarize what happened in this scene.

2. What physical violence occurred in this scene?

3. What psychological or emotional violence occurred in this scene?

4. Why do you think Stowe included this scene in her book? What did she want readers to take away from it?

Problem 47: Dred Scott

Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sanford (1857).



Chief Justice, Roger Taney

…The question is simply this: Can a negro whose ancestors were imported into this country, and sold as slaves, become a member of the political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitution… [and] become entitled to all the rights and privileges and immunities guaranteed to the citizen? One of which rights is the privilege of suing in a court of the United States in the cases specified in the Constitution…The only matter in issue before the court, therefore, is, whether the descendants of such slaves, when they shall be emancipated, or who are born of parents who had become free before their birth, are citizens of a State, in the sense in which the word citizen is used in the Constitution of the United States…

…[N]o State can, by any act or law of its own, passed since the adoption of the Constitution, introduce a new member into the political community created by the Constitution of the United States. It cannot make him a member of this community by making him a member of its own. And for the same reason it cannot introduce any person or description of persons, who were not intended to be embraced in this new political family, which the Constitution brought into existence, but were intended to be excluded from it.

The question then arises, whether the provisions of the Constitution… embraced the negro African race…[to be] raised there to the rank of a citizen, and immediately clothe him with all the privileges of a citizen in every other State, and in its own courts?

The court think the affirmative of these propositions cannot be maintained. And if it cannot, the plaintiff in error could not be a citizen of the State of Missouri, within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States, and, consequently, was not entitled to sue in its courts.

It is true, every person, and every class and description of persons, who were at the time of the adoption of the Constitution recognized as citizens in the several States, became also citizens or this new political body; but none other; it was formed by them, and for them and their posterity, but for no one else…It becomes necessary, therefore, to determine who were citizens of the several States when the Constitution was adopted…In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories of the times, and the language used in the Declaration of Independence, show, that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor intended to be included in the general words used in that memorable instrument.

…They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold, and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a profit could be made by it…

[A]ccordingly, a negro of the African race was regarded by them as an article of property, and held, and bought and sold as such, in every one of the thirteen colonies which united in the Declaration of Independence, and afterwards formed the Constitution of the United States…Indeed, when we look to the condition of this race in the several States at the time, it is impossible to believe that these rights and privileges were intended to be extended to them…

[The Constitution] must be construed now as it was understood at the time of its adoption. It is not only the same in words, but the same in meaning, and delegates the same powers to the Government, and reserves and secures the same rights and privileges to the citizen; and as long as it continues to exist in its present form, it speaks not only in the same words, but with the same meaning and intent with which it spoke when it came from the hands of its framers, and was voted on and adopted by the people of the United States. Any other rule of construction would abregate the judicial character of this court, and make it the mere reflex of the popular opinion or passion of the day. This court was not created by the Constitution for such purposes. Higher and graver trusts have been confided to it, and it must not falter in the path of duty.

And upon a full and careful consideration of the subject, the court is of opinion, that… Dred Scott was not a citizen of Missouri within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States, and not entitled as such to sue in its courts..

Now, if the removal of which he speaks did not give them their freedom, then by his own admission he is still a slave; and whatever opinions may be entertained in favor of the citizenship of a free person of the African race, no one supposes that a slave is a citizen of the State or of the United States. If, therefore, the acts done by his owner did not make them free persons, he is still a slave, and certainly incapable of suing in the character of a citizen…

1. Is the reasoning of the court sound?

2. Did the Founding Fathers intend for African Americans to be citizens? How does the court make the argument that they did not?

3. In the end, why did the Supreme Court rule against Dred Scott?

Problem 48: Declaration of Secession

Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina From the Federal Union, December 20, 1860.



The people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, on the 26th day of April, A.D., 1852, declared that the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States, by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States, fully justified this State in then withdrawing from the Federal Union…And now the State of South Carolina having resumed her separate and equal place among nations, deems it due to herself…that she should declare the immediate causes which have led to this act.

…[O]n the 4th of July, 1776, in a Declaration, by the Colonies, "that they are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; and that, as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do."

They further solemnly declared that whenever any "form of government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government.”

…In pursuance of this Declaration of Independence, each of the thirteen States proceeded to exercise its separate sovereignty; adopted for itself a Constitution, and appointed officers for the administration of government in all its departments-- Legislative, Executive and Judicial. For purposes of defense, they united their arms and their counsels; and, in 1778, they entered into a League known as the Articles of Confederation…

Thus were established the two great principles asserted by the Colonies, namely: the right of a State to govern itself; and the right of a people to abolish a Government when it becomes destructive of the ends for which it was instituted. And concurrent with the establishment of these principles, was the fact that each Colony became and was recognized by the mother Country a FREE, SOVEREIGN AND INDEPENDENT STATE.

In 1787, Deputies were appointed by the States to revise the Articles of Confederation, and on 17th September, 1787, these Deputies recommended for the adoption of the States, the Articles of Union, known as the Constitution of the United States…

By this Constitution, certain duties were imposed upon the several States, and the exercise of certain of their powers was restrained, which necessarily implied their continued existence as sovereign States. But to remove all doubt, an amendment was added, which declared that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people…This limitation left the whole remaining mass of power subject to the clause reserving it to the States or to the people, and rendered unnecessary any specification of reserved rights…

…We assert that fourteen of the States have deliberately refused, for years past, to fulfill their constitutional obligations…The Constitution of the United States, in its fourth Article, provides as follows: "No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due."

…We affirm that these ends for which this Government was instituted have been defeated, and the Government itself has been made destructive of them by the action of the non-slaveholding States. Those States have assume the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery; they have permitted open establishment among them of societies, whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and to eloign the property of the citizens of other States. They have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes; and those who remain, have been incited by emissaries, books and pictures to servile insurrection.

For twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily increasing, until it has now secured to its aid the power of the common Government…A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. He is to be entrusted with the administration of the common Government, because he has declared that that "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free," and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in the course of ultimate extinction…

The guaranties of the Constitution will then no longer exist; the equal rights of the States will be lost. The slaveholding States will no longer have the power of self-government, or self-protection, and the Federal Government will have become their enemy.

We, therefore, the People of South Carolina… have solemnly declared that the Union heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America, is dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the world, as a separate and independent State; with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do.

Adopted December 24, 1860

1. What reasons did South Carolina give for secession?

2. Is the ultimate reason for South Carolina’s secession the threat to slavery imposed by the Republicans/the North/Abraham Lincoln? Explain.

Problem 49: Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address

Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.



Fellow-Citizens of the United States:

…Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension…I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so…

I take the official oath today with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules…

…I now enter upon the…[presidency] for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.

I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments…Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever…[N]o State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.

I therefore consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States…

In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere…

Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy…

One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute…

The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and…his duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time…Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

1. What did Lincoln hope to accomplish with his inaugural address?

2. How would you describe Lincoln’s tone towards the South?

3. What does Lincoln say about slavery?

4. What does Lincoln say about secession?

5. How do you think the leaders of the Confederacy might have reacted to this speech?

Problem 50: Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863.



Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States…shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."

Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

1. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do for the slaves of the U.S.?

2. Did it free all of the slaves? Explain.

Problem 51: Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.



Gettysburg Address

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

1. Why did Lincoln give the Gettysburg Address?

2. What was Lincoln’s main point?

3. Why has the Gettysburg Address become so important in American history?

Problem 52: Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.



At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first…Now, at the expiration of four years…little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself...

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war…The Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph…Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other…The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes…Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

1. What did Lincoln say to the South in his Second Inaugural Address?

2. Would Lincoln have been a good president (if he didn’t get assassinated) to rebuild the country after the Civil War?

Problem 53: Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction, December 8, 1863.



BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President “shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment;” and

Whereas, a rebellion now exists…and many persons have committed, and are now guilty of, treason against the United States; and

Whereas…laws have been enacted by congress, declaring…that the President was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend…pardon and amnesty…and…

Whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to reinaugurate loyal state governments within and for their respective states: Therefore–

I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:–

“I, , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by congress, or by decision of the supreme court; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision of the supreme court. So help me God.”

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are all who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate government; all who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have been, military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate government above the rank of colonel in the army or of lieutenant in the navy; all who left seats in the United States congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States and afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than one tenth in number of the votes cast in such state at the presidential election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid … shall reestablish a state government…

To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it relates to state governments, has no reference to states wherein loyal state governments have all the while been maintained...

Given under my hand at the city of Washington the eighth day of December, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

U.S., Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America, vol. 13 (Boston, 1866), pp. 737–39.

1. What was Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction?

2. How would the South have fared if Lincoln’s plan had been adopted?

3. Was Lincoln’s plan a good one? In what ways was it problematic?

Problem 54: Organization & Principles of the KKK

Organization and Principles of the Ku Klux Klan, 1868.



This organization shall be styled and denominated the Order of the---

We, the Order of the ---, reverentially acknowledge the majesty and supremacy of the Divine Being and recognize the goodness and providence of the same. And we recognize our relation to the United States government, the supremacy of the Constitution, the constitutional laws thereof, and the Union of states thereunder.

Character and Objects of the Order

This is an institution of chivalry, humanity, mercy, and patriotism; embodying in its genius and its principles all that is chivalric in conduct, noble in sentiment, generous in manhood, and patriotic in purpose; its peculiar objects being:

First, to protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers.

Second, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and all laws passed in conformity thereto, and to protect the states and the people thereof from all invasion from any source whatever.

Third, to aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws, and to protect the people from unlawful seizure and from trial, except by their peers in conformity to the laws of the land.

Titles

Section 1. The officers of this Order shall consist of a Grand Wizard of the Empire and his ten Genii; a Grand Dragon of the Realm and his eight Hydras; a Grand Titan of the Dominion and his six Furies; a Grand Giant of the Province and his four Goblins; a Grand Cyclops of the Den and his two Night Hawks; a Grand Magi, a Grand Monk, a Grand Scribe, a Grand Exchequer, a Grand Turk, and a Grand Sentinel.

Section 2. The body politic of this Order shall be known and designated as "Ghouls."

Territory and Its Divisions

Section 1. The territory embraced within the jurisdiction of this Order shall be coterminous with the states of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee; all combined constituting the Empire.

Section 2. The Empire shall be divided into four departments, the first to be styled the Realm and coterminous with the boundaries of the several states; the second to be styled the Dominion and to be coterminous with such counties as the Grand Dragons of the several Realms may assign to the charge of the Grand Titan. The third to be styled the Province and to be coterminous with the several counties; provided, the Grand Titan may, when he deems it necessary, assign two Grand Giants to one Province, prescribing, at the same time, the jurisdiction of each. The fourth department to be styled the Den, and shall embrace such part of a Province as the Grand Giant shall assign to the charge of a Grand Cyclops.

Questions To Be Asked Candidates

1. Have you ever been rejected, upon application for membership in the ---, or have you ever been expelled from the same?

2. Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Radical Republican Party, or either of the organizations known as the "Loyal League" and the "Grand Army of the Republic"?

3. Are you opposed to the principles and policy of the Radical Party, and to the Loyal League, and the Grand Army of the Republic, so far as you are informed of the character and purposes of those organizations?

4. Did you belong to the Federal Army during the late war, and fight against the South during the existence of the same?

5. Are you opposed to Negro equality both social and political?

6. Are you in favor of a white man's government in this country?

7. Are you in favor of constitutional liberty, and a government of equitable laws instead of a government of violence and oppression?

8. Are you in favor of maintaining the constitutional rights of the South?

9. Are you in favor of the re-enfranchisement and emancipation of the white men of the South, and the restitution of the Southern people to all their rights, alike proprietary, civil, and political?

10. Do you believe in the inalienable right of self-preservation of the people against the exercise of arbitrary and unlicensed power?

1. From the stated purpose of this organization, what are the main reasons the organization exists?

2. With the exception of questions 5 & 6, are there any indications of prejudice and discrimination?

Problem 55: Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, Atlanta Compromise, 1895.



(Audio)

…One-third of the population of the South is of the Negro race…“Cast down your bucket where you are”— cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the commercial world…Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.

To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race,“Cast down your bucket where you are.” Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.

There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These efforts will be twice blessed—blessing him that gives and him that takes…

Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or they will pull against you the load downward. We shall constitute one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third [of] its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic…

The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing…

Let us pray God, will come, in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. This, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth.

Source: Louis R. Harlan, ed., The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol. 3, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1974), 583–587.

1. What was Booker T. Washington’s main message to African Americans in the South?

2. Do you agree with Washington? Was his method the best way to deal with the problems facing African Americans in 1895?

Problem 56: W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” in The Souls of Black Folk, 1903.



…Easily the most striking thing in the history of the American Negro since 1876 is the ascendancy of Mr. Booker T. Washington…His programme of industrial education, conciliation of the South, and submission and silence as to civil and political rights, was not wholly original [but] it startled the nation to hear a Negro advocating such a programme after many decades of bitter complaint; it startled and won the applause of the South, it interested and won the admiration of the North; and after a confused murmur of protest, it silenced if it did not convert the Negroes themselves…

This“Atlanta Compromise” is by all odds the most notable thing in Mr. Washington’s career. The South interpreted it in different ways: the radicals received it as a complete surrender of the demand for civil and political equality; the conservatives, as a generously conceived working basis for mutual understanding. So both approved it, and today its author is certainly the most distinguished Southerner since Jefferson Davis, and the one with the largest personal following…

Mr. Washington’s cult has gained unquestioning followers, his work has wonderfully prospered, his friends are legion, and his enemies are confounded…One hesitates, therefore, to criticize…the mistakes and shortcomings of Mr. Washington…

Among his own people, however, Mr. Washington has encountered the strongest and most lasting opposition, amounting at times to bitterness, and even today continuing strong and insistent even though largely silenced in outward expression by the public opinion of the nation…[T]here is among educated and thoughtful colored men in all parts of the land a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension at the wide currency and ascendancy which some of Mr. Washington’s theories have gained…

But the hushing of the criticism of honest opponents is a dangerous thing…this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society…

Mr. Washington represents in Negro thought the old attitude of adjustment and submission; but adjustment at such a peculiar time as to make his programme unique. This is an age of unusual economic development, and Mr. Washington’s programme naturally takes an economic cast, becoming a gospel of Work and Money to such an extent as apparently almost completely to overshadow the higher aims of life. Moreover, this is an age when the more advanced races are coming in closer contact with the less developed races, and the race-feeling is therefore intensified; and Mr. Washington’s programme practically accepts the alleged inferiority of the Negro races. Again, in our own land, the reaction from the sentiment of war time has given impetus to race-prejudice against Negroes, and Mr. Washington withdraws many of the high demands of Negroes as men and American citizens. In other periods of intensified prejudice all the Negro’s tendency to self-assertion has been called forth; at this period a policy of submission is advocated. In the history of nearly all other races and peoples the doctrine preached at such crises has been that manly self-respect is worth more than lands and houses, and that a people who voluntarily surrender such respect, or cease striving for it, are not worth civilizing.

In answer to this, it has been claimed that the Negro can survive only through submission. Mr. Washington distinctly asks that black people give up, at least for the present, three things, First, political power, Second, insistence on civil rights, Third, higher education of Negro youth, and concentrate all their energies on industrial education, the accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South. This policy has been courageously and insistently advocated for over fifteen years, and has been triumphant for perhaps ten years. As a result of this tender of the palm-branch, what has been the return? In these years there have occurred: 1. the disfranchisement of the Negro, 2. the legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro, 3. the steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negro.

These movements are not, to be sure, direct results of Mr. Washington’s teachings; but his propaganda has, without a shadow of doubt, helped their speedier accomplishment. The question then comes: Is it possible, and probable, that nine millions of men can make effective progress in economic lines if they are deprived of political rights, made a servile caste, and allowed only the most meagre chance for developing their exceptional men? If history and reason give any distinct answer to these questions, it is an emphatic No…

The other class of Negroes who cannot agree with Mr. Washington has hitherto…feel in conscience bound to ask of this nation three things. 1. the right to vote, 2 civic equality, 3. the education of youth according to ability…

Mr. Washington[‘s]…doctrine has tended to make the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro’s shoulders and stand aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators; when in fact the burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs.

Source: W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (Chicago, 1903).

1. What was W.E.B. Du Bois’s response to Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise?

2. What was W.E.B. Du Bois’s main message to African Americans in the South?

3. Whose plan do you think would have been most successful in the South, Du Bois or Washington? Explain.

Problem 57: Sherman Antitrust Act

Sherman Antitrust Act, July 2, 1890.



Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the second day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine.

An act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Sec. 1. Every contract, combination in the form of trust or other wise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to be illegal….

Sec. 2. Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty…

Sec. 3. Every contract, combination in form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce…is hereby declared illegal. Every person who shall make any such contract or engage in any such combination or conspiracy, shall be deemed guilty…

Sec. 4. The several circuit courts of the United States are hereby invested with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of this act; and it shall be the duty of the several district attorneys of the United States, in their respective districts, under the direction of the Attorney-General, to institute proceedings in equity to prevent and restrain such violations…

Approved, July 2, 1890.

1. What is the main purpose of the Sherman Antitrust Act?

2. Should the government get involved in regulating everyday business deals? Explain.

3. Should the government get involved in regulating business deals that take away competition? Explain.

Problem 58: Eugene V. Debs

Eugene V. Debs, “Speech of Acceptance,” International Socialist Review (October, 1912).



…The Socialist party is fundamentally different from all other parties. It came in the process of evolution and grows with the growth of the forces which created it. Its spirit is militant and its aim revolutionary. It expresses in political terms the aspiration of the working class to freedom and to a larger and fuller life than they have yet known.

The world’s workers have always been and still are the world’s slaves. They have borne all the burdens of the race and built all the monuments along the track of civilization; they have produced all the world’s wealth and supported all the world’s governments. They have conquered all things but their own freedom. They are still the subject class in every nation on earth and the chief function of every government is to keep them at the mercy of their masters.

The workers in the mills and factories, in the mines and on the farms and railways never had a party of their own until the Socialist party was organized. They divided their votes between the parties of their masters. They did not realize that they were using their ballots to forge their own fetters.

But the awakening came. It was bound to come. Class rule became more and more oppressive and wage slavery more and more galling. The eyes of the workers began to open. They began to see the cause of the misery they had dumbly suffered so many years. It dawned upon them that society was divided into two classes - capitalists and workers, exploiters and producers; that the capitalists, while comparatively few, owned the nation and controlled the government; that the courts and the soldiers were at their command, and that the workers, while in a great majority, were in slavish subjection.

When they ventured to protest they were discharged and found themselves blacklisted; when they went out on strike they were suppressed by the soldiers and sent to jail.

They looked about them and saw a land of wonderful resources; they saw the productive machinery made by their own hands and the vast wealth produced by their own labor, in the shadow of which their wives and children were perishing in the skeleton clutch of famine.

The very suffering they were forced to endure quickened their senses. They began to think. A new light dawned upon their dark skies. They rubbed the age-long sleep from their eyes. They had long felt the brutalizing effect of class rule; now they saw the cause of it. Slowly but steadily they became class conscious. They said, “We are brothers, we are comrades,” and they saw themselves multiplied by millions. They caught the prophetic battle cry of Karl Marx, the world’s greatest labor leader, the inspired evangel of working-class emancipation, “Workers of all countries, unite!”

And now, behold! The international Socialist movement spreads out over all the nations of the earth. The world’s workers are aroused at last. They are no longer on their knees; their bowed bodies are now erect. Despair has given way to hope, weakness to strength, fear to courage. They no longer cringe and supplicate; they hold up their heads and command. They have ceased to fear their masters and have learned to trust themselves.

And this is how the Socialist party came to be born. It was quickened into life in the bitter struggle of the world’s enslaved workers. It expresses their collective determination to break their fetters and emancipate themselves and the race…

Hail to this great party of the toiling millions whose battle cry is heard around the world!

…Capitalism is rushing blindly to its impending doom. All the signs portend the inevitable breakdown of the existing order. Deep-seated discontent has seized upon the masses. They must indeed be deaf who do not hear the mutterings of the approaching storm.

Poverty, high prices, unemployment, child slavery, widespread misery and haggard want in a land bursting with abundance; prostitution and insanity, suicide and crime, these in solemn numbers tell the tragic story of capitalism’s saturnalia of blood and tears and shame as its end draws near.

It is to abolish this monstrous system and the misery and crime which flow from it in a direful and threatening stream that the Socialist party was organized and now makes its appeal to the intelligence and conscience of the people. Social reorganization is the imperative demand of this world-wide revolutionary movement.

The Socialist party’s mission is not only to destroy capitalist despotism but to establish industrial and social democracy. To this end the workers are steadily organizing and fitting themselves for the day when they shall take control of the people’s industries and when the right to work shall be as inviolate as the right to breathe the breath of life.

Standing as it does for the emancipation of the working class from wage-slavery, for the equal rights and opportunities of all men and all women, for the abolition of child labor and the conservation of all childhood, for social self-rule and the equal freedom of all, the Socialist party is the party of progress, the party of the future, and its triumph will signalize the birth of a new civilization and the dawn of a happier day for all humanity.

1. What is the main point of this speech?

2. What is the problem with capitalism according to Debs?

3. Do you agree or disagree with Debs? Explain.

Problem 59: City Kids

The Old Brewery, and the New Mission House at the Five Points (1854)



A stranger, taking his position in Broadway, near the City Hospital, would find himself at one of the central points of the wealth, the fashion, and the commerce of the largest and most influential city of the Union. The Hospital, of massive stone, surrounded by fine trees and spacious grassplots, which present a beautiful oasis amid the desert of brick and sand that encompasses its outer railing, tells loudly that active benevolence has here its sphere, and Christian charity its appropriate work. Elegant stores, crowded with merchandise of the most costly description; carts bending beneath the pressure of valuable loads; handsome carriages, containing fair occupants, whose rich attire bespeaks an utter disregard of the value of money; well-dressed hundreds, crowding the innumerable omnibusses, or passing with rapid steps through this great thoroughfare of fashion and business; everything betokens progress, wealth and happiness.

"But here is just behind a drearier scene;

The people haunts another aspect wear;

Midst wealth and splendor, wasted forms are seen,

Victims of ceaseless toil, and want, and care;

And there the sterner nature that will dare

To live, though life be bought with infamy;

There guilt’s bold emissaries spread their snare,

Who law, or human or divine, defy,

And live but to perpetuate crime and misery."

One minute’s walk from that Broadway-point of wealth, commerce, and enjoyment, will place him in another world of vision, thought, and feeling. Passing down Anthony-street but two squares, a scene will be represented forming so entire a contrast to that he has just left, that imagination would never have pictured, nor can language in its utmost strength successfully portray it. Standing at the lower end of Anthony-street, a large area, covering about an acre, will open before him. Into this, five streets, viz., Little-Water, Cross, Anthony, Orange, and Mulberry, enter, as rivers emptying themselves into a bay. In the center of this area is a small triangular space, known as “Paradise-square,” surrounded by a wooden paling generally disfigured by old garments hung upon it to dry. Opposite this little park stands, or rather stood, the “Old Brewery,” so famed in song and story. Miserable-looking buildings, liquor-stores innumerable, neglected children by scores, playing in rags and dirt, squalid-looking women, brutal men with black eyes and disfigured faces, proclaiming drunken brawls and fearful violence, complete the general picture.

Gaze on it mentally, fair reader, and realize, if you can, while sauntering down Broadway, rejoicing in all the refinements and luxuries of life, that one minute’s walk would place you in a scene like this. Gaze on it, men of thought, when treading the steps of the City Hall or the Hall of Justice, where laws are framed, and our city’s interests discussed and cared for— one minute’s walk would place you in this central point of misery and sin. Gaze on it, ye men of business and of wealth, and calculate anew the amount of taxation for police restraints and support, made necessary by the existence of a place like this. And gaze on it Christian men, with tearful eyes—tears of regret and shame—that long ere now the Christian Church has not combined its moral influences, and tested their utmost strength to purge a place so foul; for this, reader, is the “Five Points!”—a name known throughout the Union, in England, and on the continent of Europe. The “Five Points!”—a name which has hitherto been banished from the vocabulary of the refined and sensitive, or whispered with a a blush, because of its painful and degrading associations. The “Five Points!” What does the name import? It is the synonym for ignorance the most entire, for misery the most abject, for crime of the darkest dye, for degradation so deep that human nature cannot sink below it. We hear it, and visions of sorrow—of irremediable misery—flit before our mental vision. Infancy and childhood, without a mother’s care or a father’s protection: born in sin, nurtured in crime; the young mind sullied in its first bloom, the young heart crushed before its tiny call for affection has met one answering response.

The Children of the “Five Points.”

"Alas! to think upon a child

That has no childish days,

No happy home, no counsel mild;

No words of prayer and praise!

"Man from the cradle—'tis too soon

To earn their daily bread,

And heap the heat and toil of noon

Upon an infant’s head.

"To labor ere their strength be come,

Or starve—such is the doom

That makes, of many a hapless home,

One long and living tomb."

1. Describe life for the children of the city that the author describes.

2. How was life different depending on a person’s social class?

Problem 60: What is Success?

“What is a Successful Life?” Firemen’s Magazine, October 1884.

What is a successful life? A few moments' thought will convince us that the question is by no means an easy one to answer. We say this, that, or the other man is successful, but what do we mean by it? One man has houses and lands, has a large bank account, drives fast horses and has many apparent friends, such a man is accounted successful. Yet all of these things that minister to his pleasure have been acquired by unremitting labor, by hard, avaricious dealings with his fellow-men, by trampling upon the hearts and affections of thousands; in the face of these facts is the man a successful one?

The question will be answered differently, according; to the views of life of the one answering it. Some think wealth is the only measure of success no matter how attained. Such people have tuned their psalm of life very low. Such people will read the grand tragedies of Shakespeare and remember only this line, “Put money in thy purse.” The horizon of their lives is bounded with dollars and the chink of silver is more melodious to them than the symphonies of Mozart.

The man who becomes wealthy is in a measure successful, but only so far as the acquirement sharpens his intellect, broadens his powers, and develops him into a self-reliant, powerful member of society for its good. Selfish wealth is never good. One may be a millionaire, but if with it comes greed, avarice, oppression of others, the success is small indeed. Scattered along the path of life we find examples of men whose success brought them fame and glory and proved an unqualified blessing to all mankind. . . .

There is one criterion by which success can be fairly measured, that is the estimate placed upon us by our fellows. If a man is hated, is feared and shunned, if he is looked upon as small, avaricious, greedy, he is not a successful man though he be worth millions. On the other hand, if a man’s praises are upon the lips of all, if his reputation is that of an honest, sincere, and sympathetic gentleman, his success is assured, although he has not a dollar of his own.

1. What critique does the author give about the Middle and Upper Classes?

2. What does the author believe defines success? Do you agree? Explain.

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