This book is an account of how Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 helped set the stage for the Civil War. There was a war over escaping fugitive slaves before the big war starting in 1861.
The book explains the infamous Compromise of 1850. Instead of calming the situation this so-called compromise hastened the coming of war. interestingly, if the Southern States had seceded in 1850, they likely would have remained seceded. Historians have debated and will continue to debate the "causes" of the Civil War. The author makes the case that the turmoil unleashed by the Fugitive Slaw Law should take its place as a major factor.
The hard truth is that the U.S. was founded on act of accommodation between two fundamentally different societies. P. 1
One of the chilling points in the book is that Southern slaveholders worked under the assumption that replacement of slaves was cheaper than maintaining the ones they had. P. 45
Slavery was a national institution from the beginning in the 17th Century. P. 45
Jefferson offers a startling reward for one of his runaways. P. 46
Douglass scorned the use of the world "slavery." Meaning various things were called slavery but everyone knew the real slavery. P. 60
The curse of Ham. Cursed from the beginning. At least we don't hear this much anymore. P. 61
No forgiveness for Jefferson. I do not see how his reputation will ever rebound. P. 63
Defenses of slavery were merely rationalizations. P. 64
"A prudent mean." P. 68
Slavery in the Constitution justifying slavery retrieval. P. 69
The Revolutionary War was a bloody and brutal war. P. 75
Hamilton and slavery. P. 76
The Southern states saw greater slave protection within the union. P. 82
No security in protection of property in slaves without the union. P. 82
Explaining the protection of slavery where it already existed in the Constitution. P. 85-86
Slavery: a middle ground between people and property. P. 87
Positive law and natural law with regard to slavery. P. 89
Madison's hypocrisy over slavery. P. 100
No position on the rightness or wrongness of slavery itself. P. 100
The Era of Good Feelings ignored slavery. P. 100
Slavery became impervious to compromise. P. 127
The South wanted to keep its slaves but the North didn't want runaways. P. 127
Antislavery sentiment and racial animosity coexisted. P. 31
The belief that slavery was a benevolent institution. P. 147
Douglass broke thru. P. 154
Douglass became famous. P. 156
Slave narratives: a distinct American literary form. P. 158.
Mark Twain's birthday passes while I read this book.
What would Twain say about today's politics?
Seeing Stan White at the Cajun Steamer.
Article 4 Section 2 Clause 3 protects slavery where it already exists? P. 165
So the Constitution requires the return of runaway slaves. P. 168
The Constitution put a stranglehold on the status of runaway slaves. P. 177
The first fugitive slave law in 1793. P. 177
The Priggs decision.
The 1840's reached a fever pitch with the Mexican War. P. 189
The project of British interference in Tejas was real. P. 191
Racist Whitman. P. 192
Slavery Democrats. P. 193
Violence was always in the white mind. P. 199
It is difficult to the world at the time in the eyes of antebellum Southern whites. P. 210
The drift to war in the 1850's is so chilling. P. 219
The Fugitive Slave Law was introduced in January of 1850. P. 219
Colonization = ethnic cleansing. P. 229
Calhoun defends slavery as a positive good. P. 239
Furthermore: Calhoun on slavery. P. 240
Calhoun is the preeminent defender of slavery. P. 243
Calhoun: The U.S. had become two countries. P. 244
Only slowly did the Civil War become a war of emancipation. P. 250-51
Webster's famous Senate speech on the Fugitive Slave Law. P. 252-57
Webster: statesman or sellout? Different opinions. P. 256-57
Seward: No concept in the Constitution on property in humans. P. 258
In retrospect the so-called Compromise of 1850 showed that the North and South could live together in peace. P. 261
Webster's fugitive slave bill. P. 263
Webster defending the Fugitive Slave Law. P. 284
Sen. Webster became Secretary of State.
It is TREASON said Webster. P. 285
Thoreau used the term "higher law." P. 293
Melville and Billy Budd. P. 302
A less than flattering picture of Hawthorne. P. 302-03
Cincinnati was an entry and exit point for runaways. P. 303
Captain Ahab as John C. Calhoun? P. 305
It became clear that compromise was no longer possible. P. 314
For the anti-slavery crusade the Fugitive Slave Law was a godsend. P. 317
Increasing fugitive cases led the moment to greater militancy. P. 321
For Southerners there was no such thing as a moderate Republican. P 340
Lincoln and the Dred Scott decision. P. 341
The dispute over fugitive slaves may not have been THE cause of the war, but it set in motion events that led to the final thrust to war. P. 346
Derivation of the word "compromise. P. 347
"Compromise" became a dirty word. P. 347
The Compromise of 1850 put fire in the fugitive slave provision in the Constitution. P. 349
Casualty counts from the war continue to rise. P. 350
Lincoln's famous letter to Horace Greeley. P. 374
No comments:
Post a Comment