PP CIV US L3bis

The Notion of Compromise in American Politics (1787-1861)

Last year, you studied: period 1776-1890

republican experiment individual rights liberty, property, equal opportunity and justice for all.

What was obvious: WASPS held economic and political power

what treatment was given to the other minorities Especially Indians & Blacks

As for Blacks, If their condition did not change much during the period from 1776 until the civil war… the question of slavery more and more divided

North and South : sectionalism

(opposition North / South)

NATIVE AMERICANS: Native Americans : belonging to foreign nations by the Founding Fathers, but special relationships between them & white Americans

The American dream… … not for minorities, ( the utter denial of the founding Fathers’ ideals). .. And the founding myths of the nation: a contradiction to lead to the civil war.

THIS YEAR’S COURSE: THE NOTION OF COMPROMISE - is part of Am. Life & culture

Made it possible to create the American constitution => Am. Nation Has influenced Am. Politics through the 19th cent. to the day *** Book: Peter B.Knupfer, The Union as it is, (Constitutional Unionism & Sectional Compromise, 1787-1861), Univ. Of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill & London, 1991.

CM: I) Slavery in Context

II) Am. Law (Articles Confederation/ Bill of Rights/ Declaration of independence Compromise in context

Début TD: semaine 7: QCM + méthodo III)Compromise & Concepts

TD 3: suggested paper

Semaine 10: Commentaire sur table (exercice)

PART I: SLAVERY

Distressing & violent aspect of American history:institution of slavery Africans brought ag. their will to Britain's Am. colonies and to the new USA

Herbert Aptheker (HISTORIAN), calculated : 100 separate slave revolts and conspiracies took place from the 1600's to the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865.

many slaves:acts of individual opposition

damaging tools, working slowly, burning down buildings occasional act of violence against whites to attempt escape

SLAVERY In the New World (the Americas), slavery: a system of forced labor designed to facilitate the production of staple crops… … included sugar, tobacco, coffee, and cotton

southern US, most important staples were tobacco and cotton.

SLAVERY… played a central role in the history of US. It existed in all the English mainland colonies and came to dominate productive relations from Maryland south Most of the Founding Fathers: large-scale slaveholders, as were eight of the first 12 presidents of the US

DEBATE… …over slavery increasingly dominated Am. politics, leading to the nation's only civil war, wh. in turn finally brought slavery to an end After emancipation, overcoming slavery's legacy: a crucial issue in Am. history, from Reconstruction following the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement a century later

. Although Dutch traders brought 20 Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, as early as 1619, throughout most of the 17th century the number of Africans : grew very slowly During those years : colonists experimented with two other sources of unfree labor: Native American slaves and European indentured servants.

Most indentured servants: poor Europeans, to escape harsh conditions traded 3 to 7 years of their labor in exchange for the transatlantic passage. At first English but later Irish, Welsh, and German, servants consisted primarily of young males:temporary slaves : bulk of immigrants (17th cent.) That number of indentured servant declined sharply toward the end of the 17th century:=> labor crisis

To meet the need, landowners turned to African slaves In Virginia, blacks : from about 7 % pop. in 1680 to + than 40 % by middle of 18th cent.

Beg. 17th: Holland/Portugal late 17th and 18th centuries, naval superiority England:dominant position in slave trade, English traders transported millions of Africans across the Atlantic

:=> slave trade 1 of the largest forced migrations in history early 16th century to mid-19th cent. , bet. 10 and 11 million Africans torn from their homes

largest importers of slaves : Brazil / Caribbean sugar colonies: received well over 3/4 of all Africans to the New World. About 6 % came to the area of the present US.

SLAVE REBELLIONS Gloucester County, Virginia--Sept. 1663: first major conspiracy New York City Slave Rebellion--1712 Cato's Conspiracy/Stono Rebellion--1739

New York Conspiracy--March and April, 1741 Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion--1800

Slave rebellion in St. John the Baptist Parish -Jan 8-10, 1811

Fort Blount--1816

Denmark Vesey's Uprising--1822 (ingenuity of the plot) Nat Turner's Revolt--August, 1831

… Among other smaller rebellions

Jamestown – Plimouth Plantation – Founding one nation: 1607 first permanent British settlement in America

3 years later, 1619 first African slaves(+/-20) are brought to Virginia (byJohn Rolfe) : arrive in port of Jamestown (named in honor of King James) & sold to English settlers. word « slave » not before 1656, and statutes (blacks) appear casually in the 1660s

!!! Millions of Native Americans were also enslaved, part. in South America.

1620 Mayflower arrives at Cape Cod. English Pilgrims : freely practice their religion. They arrived: at Cape Cod, now coast of Massachusetts a colony in 1691. Right now, settle and colonize the new village of Plymouth (named after a town in England). What were to become of "peculiar institution »: defined in the Virginia General Assembly from about 1640 onwards

Whipping and branding borrowed from Roman practice appeared early

Slave ( Emanuel) convicted :trying to escape, ( 1640) condemned to thirty stripes, with the letter "R" for "runaway » on his cheek

Slavery in the US … governed by extensive body of law developed from the 1660s to the 1860s. Every slave state : its own slave code and body of court decisions All slave codes : slavery a permanent condition

Slaves : property no slave marriage had any legal standing

Slaves charged with crimes in Virginia …were tried in special non-jury courts created in 1692 not to guarantee due process but to set an example speedily.

The courts: hideous punishments to reassert white authority. Offending slaves : hung, burned at the stake, dismembered, castrated and branded in addition to the usual whippings

White fear of black rebellion : a constant undercurrent

SLAVE LAWS 1660 Slavery spread quickly in the American colonies

US slaves states and free states a slave state: where slavery of African Americans and Native Americans was legal // a free state : slavery was either prohibited or eliminated over time. 15 states of the Union in wh. Slavery:legal before civil war: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

1660 Slavery spread quickly

At first, legal status of Africans in Am. poorly defined. some, (like European indentured servants), managed to become free after several years of service. From the 1660s, however, the colonies began enacting laws that defined and regulated slave relations

Central to these laws … :provision that black slaves, (+ children of slave women) would serve for life => meant that slavery could survive and grow… demand for African slaves' labor arose from the dvpt of plantation agriculture, the long-term rise in prices and consumption of sugar, and the demand for miners

Africans… were the final solution to the acute labor problem in the New World

1641 : Massachusetts permits slavery of Indians, whites, and Blacks in its Body of Liberties: first mainland British colony to legalize slavery.

1642 : Virginia passes a fugitive slave law. Offenders helping runaway slaves :fined in pounds of tobacco. An enslaved person is to be branded with a large R after a second escape attempt.

1645 : Merchant ships from Barbados arrive in Boston Cliquez pour modifier les styles du texte du masque Deuxième niveau  Troisième niveau  Quatrième niveau  Cinquième niveau

The profitability of this exchange… …encourages the slave trade in New England. 1650 : Connecticut legalizes slavery. Rhode Island by this date has large plantations worked by enslaved Africans.

1650 : Connecticut legalizes slavery. Rhode Island by this date has large plantations worked by enslaved Africans.

1663 : Maryland slave laws rules… => all Africans arriving in the colony : presumed slaves. Free Europ. Am. women who marry enslaved men lose their freedom/ Children of Europ. Am. women and enslaved men are enslaved Other North American colonies develop similar laws.

Same year: In South Carolina every new white settler : granted 20 acres for each black male slave and 10 acres for each black female slave he or she brings into the colony.

1664 : SLAVE LAWS AND RACIAL RESTRICTIONS Maryland establishes slavery for life for persons of African ancestry New Jersey and New York also recognize the legality of slavery.

Maryland enacts the first law in Colonial America banning marriage between white women and black men.

1670 : The Massachusetts legislature: its citizens can sell the children of enslaved Africans into bondage => separating them from their parents. 1672 : Virginia law now bans prosecution for the killing of a slave if the death comes during the course of his or her apprehension. 1682 : New York enacts its first slave codes restricting the freedom of mvt and the ability to trade of all enslaved people in the colony.

THE ABOLITION MVT 1688 : Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania denounce slavery (in first recorded formal protest in North Am. Ag. the enslavement of Africans. 1690 *** By this year, all English colonies in America have enslaved Africans. IN THE SAME YEAR : resistance : Enslaved Africans and Native Americans in Massachusetts plan a rebellion.

glossary Abolitionist: an individual who held strong antislavery views African Diaspora: the dispersal of Africans in the New World Bondsperson: a person held in servitude as human property to another Coffle: a group of enslaved individuals transported together for sale Conductor: one who helped escaping persons

In 1690… South Carolina enacts its first laws regulating slave movement & behavior.

in 1691, Virginia enacts a new law which punishes white men and women for marrying black or Indians.

1694: 1694 : The success of rice cultivation in South Carolina encourages the importation of larger numbers of enslaved laborers esp. from Senegal and other rice producing regions of West Africa.

NOTE : Late 1600s to late 1700s -The height of the slave trade is sometimes called the Triangular Trade, because it moves in a triangle.

The Triangle Trade The demands of European consumers for New World crops and goods helped fuel the slave trade. Following a triangular route between Africa, the Caribbean & North Am., and Europe, slave traders from Holland, Portugal, France, and England delivered Africans in exchange for products such as colonial rum, sugar, and tobacco

1705: The Colonial Virginia Assembly defined as slaves all servants brought into the colony who were not Christians in their original countries as well as Indians sold to the colonists by other Native Americans.

1708 : Africans in South Carolina outnumber Europeans, making it the first English colony with a black majority. 1711 : A public slave market opens in New York City at the east end of Wall Street 1712 : The New York City slave : April 6. 9 whites killed, unknown number of blacks die Colonial authorities execute 21 slaves and six commit suicide.

1718 : New Orleans founded ( French). By 1721 the city has more enslaved black men than free white men.

RACIAL RESTRICTIONS 1724 : Boston :curfew on non-whites.

1735 : South Carolina: laws : enslaved people to wear clothing identifying them as slaves. 1741 : South Carolina: most extensive slave restrictions in British North Am. The laws ban the teaching of enslaved people to read & write, prohibits their assembling in groups or earning money for their activities. The law also permits slaveowners to kill rebellious slaves.

1762 : Virginia :voting rights to white men.

1775 : Af. Ams participate on the Patriot side in the earliest battles of the Rev., Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill. IN THE SAME YEAR, General George Washington reverses his earlier policy of rejecting the services of slaves and free blacks in the army. 5000 Af.-Ams serve during the Rev. War including two predominantly black units in Massachusetts, one in Connecticut, one in Rhode Island.

1775… The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes: first of 4 meetings in Philadelphia on April 14: first abolitionist meeting in North America. In 1784 the organization => the Pennsylvania Abolition Society with Benjamin Franklin : first president.

1775-1781: The American War of Independence. Approximately 450,000 enslaved Africans comprise 20% of the population of the colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence.

PART II 1777 - THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

The first Constitution of the US: the Articles of Confederation, BUT they could not work and keep the new nation united. Why?

1) There was no chief executive, no president of the U.S. There was a "Committee of States" made up of one delegate from each state (13). This committee existed only during the intervals between the sessions of the Congress. This committee could in the absence of Congress perform routine governmental functions only.

2) There was no real judicial department. There was no court to handle disputes between the states. 3) A majority of 9 votes was required to pass important laws. 4) Congress could requisition taxes from the States but could not force the collection of taxes: the states didn't pay the amount requisitioned.

5) Congress could not enlist troops. It could not draft men, only requisition them into the armed forces.

6) The members of Congress were paid by the states and a state could recall any delegate at any time. =>the first, essential function of the delegates: protect & advance the interests of their own states & cooperate for the welfare of the US when possible and when it coincided with their states' interests

7) Congress was not given real power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce. Each state set its own import duties & soon each state tried to protect its own internal trade by levying tariffs against goods from other states. Trade agreements between the US and a foreign nation were nearly impossible => inter-state trade—internal trade across state borders— was very low.

8) Congress :not given the exclusive power to issue paper money. The paper money situation soon chaotic.

10) Amending the Articles of Confederation required the unanimous vote of the 13 states, which was difficult to obtain.

The Articles of Confederation …effective only when ratified by all of the 13 states. All states ratified them quickly except Maryland who held out until March 1781. Why? Many large states had claims to western lands, across the Alleghenies and into the Mississippi River valley

Maryland was a small state and was afraid of union with so many large states.... So Maryland ratified the Articles of Confederation only when the larger states relinquished their claims to western lands.

An attitude : very important consequences … in that it induced the states to cede their western lands to the United States. The acquisition of these lands by the central government set the stage for the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 . It opened the settlement of the West under federal control and avoided later conflicts between the first 13 states.

1787 The Constitution is completed. (Ratified 1788-89) On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was completed in Philadelphia… The new government it prescribed came into existence on March 4, 1789, after fierce fights over ratification in many of the states.

Article Seven of the Const. of the US: process by it was to become effective => 9 of the thirteen original States: ratify the Const. through legislative approval. With 11 states , the Congress of the Confederation : resolution on September 13, 1788 to put the new Const. into operation.

The US Constitution… … provides for the continuation of the slave trade for another 20 years and required states to aid slaveholders in the recovery of fugitive slaves. It also stipulates that a slave counts as three-fifths of a man for purposes of determining representation in the House of Representatives.

1791 The Bill Of Rights (first ten amendments) : added to the Const. Wh. was ratified by all states before 1791.

(1) freedom of press, speech, and religion;

(2) the right to bear arms; (3) prohibition of quartering of troops; (4) protection against unlawful search and seizure; (5) the right of due process of law;

(6) the right to a fair and public trial;

(7) the right to a trial by jury; (8) prohibition of cruel punishments; (9) protection of non enumerated rights; and (10) reservation of powers, i.e. powers not reserved for the fed. gvt reside in the states.

In 1793… … the United States Congress enacts the first Fugitive Slave Law. Providing assistance to fugitive slaves is now a criminal offense.

One year later… 1794New York adopts a gradual emancipation law.

THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT 1795 : Bowdoin College is founded in Maine. It later becomes a center for Abolitionist activity; Gen. Oliver O. Howard (Howard University) graduated from the college; Harriet Beecher Stowe taught there & began to write Uncle Tom's Cabin while there (in 1850)

WHAT CONCLUSIONS CAN WE DRAW? Right from colonial times, a strong environmental, cultural and economic opposition between North and South (sectionalism). Right from the times of the birth of the nation, there existed a contradiction between the principles of the Declaration ("All men are created equal …") and the grim fact of slavery.

The Constitution had tried to evade this

contradiction by resorting to compromise

sac was the issue of slavery and its extension to the West.