How the proponents and opponents of slavery used the analytical concepts that framed this course whe
How the proponents and opponents of slavery used the analytical concepts that framed this course when making their arguments
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The American Anti-Slavery Society’s “Declaration of Sentiments”
Founded by William Lloyd Garrison, among others, the American Anti-Slavery Society (AAS)
arose as one of the major voices of the abolition movement in the 1830s. The AAS called for
immediate, uncompensated emancipation, racial equality, and separation of the Free States
from the slave states. It was a radical organization that help develop the moral critique of
slavery and slaveholders. The selection here lays all that out quite well.
As you read, keep the following questions in mind: How did the authors of the Declaration of
Sentiments view the abolition movement’s relationship to the American Revolution? Why did
they argue emancipation should not involve compensation? What power did they believe the
federal government had over slavery? And how did the AAS propose to proceed against
slavery?
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 17
Again, I feel very reluctant to claim to be an Abolitionist, because
I think it to be a very high pretension for a man to make. I am
perfectly willing to bear the obloquy of the name ; but it looks like
pride, and may imply a want of self-knowledge, for a man to claim
with confidence that he is a genuine, thorough-going Garrisonian
Abolitionist. Under these circumstances, I esteem myself honored,
inasmuch as I have been invited to read to you the ” Declaration of
Sentiments” upon which this Society was founded; a Declaration
made in this city thirty years ago, and second only in time to the
Declaration of 1776.
DECLARATION OP SENTIMENTS.
The Convention assembled in the city of Philadelphia, to organize
a National Anti-Slavery Society, promptly seize the opportunity to
promulgate the following DECLARATION OP SENTIMENTS,
as cherished by them in relation to the enslavement of one sixth
portion of the American people.
More than fifty-seven years have elapsed since a band of patriots
convened in this place, to devise measures for the deliverance of this
country from a foreign yoke. The corner-stone upon which they
founded the TEMPLE OF FREEDOM was broadly this—”that all men
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with cer
tain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, LIBERTY, and
the pursuit of happiness.” At the sound of their trumpet-call, three
millions of people rose up as from the sleep of death, and rushed to the
strife of blood ; deeming it more glorious to die instantly as free
men, than desirable to live one hour as slaves. They were few in
number—poor in resources; but the honest conviction that THDTH,
JUSTICE and RIGHT were on their side made them invincible.
We have met together for the achievement of an enterprise, with
out which that of our fathers is incomplete ; and which, for its mag
nitude, solemnity, and probable results upon the destiny of the world,
as far transcends theirs as moral truth does physical force.
In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of purpose,
in intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit,
we would not be inferior to them.
Their principles led them to wage war against their oppressors,
and to spill human blood like water in order to be free. Ours forbid
the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to reject, and to
entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnal weapons for de
liverance from bondage ; relying solely upon those which are spirit
ual, and mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
Their measures were physical resistance — the marshalling in
arms — the hostile array— the mortal encounter. Ours shall be
such only as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption—
3
18 THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
the destruction of error by tho potency of truth — the overthrow of
prejudice by the power of love—and the abolition of Slavery by the
spirit of repentance.
Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in comparison
with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom we plead. Our
fathers were never slaves—never bought and sold like cattle—never
shut out from the light of knowledge and religion—never subjected
to the lash of brutal taskmasters. •
But those for whose emancipation we are striving—constituting,
at the present time, at least one sixth part of our countrymen—are
recognized by the law, and treated by their fellow-beings, as market
able commodities, as goods and chattels, as brute beasts; are plun
dered daily of the fruits of their toil without redress ; really enjoy
no constitutional nor legal protection from licentious and murderous
outrages upon their persons ; are ruthlessly torn asunder— the tender
babe from the arms of its frantic mother—the heart-broken wife from
her weeping husband—at the caprice or pleasure of irresponsible
tyrants. For the crime of having a dark complexion, they suffer the
pangs of hunger, the infliction of stripes, and the ignominy of brutal
servitude. They are kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly
enacted to make their instruction a criminal offence.
These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of more
than two millions of our people, the proof of which may be found
in thousands of indisputable facts, and in the laws of the slavehold-
ing States.
Hence we maintain—that in view of the civil and religious privi
leges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is unequalled by any
other on the face of the earth ; and, therefore,
That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy burden, to
break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free.
We further maintain—that no man has a right to enslave or im-
brute his brother—to hold or acknowledge him, for one moment, as
a piece of merchandize—to keep back his hire by fraud—or to bru
talize his mind by denying him the means of intellectual, social and
moral improvement.
The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to usurp
the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own
body—to the products of his own labor—to the protection of law—
and to the common advantages of society. It is piracy to buy or
steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. Surely the sin
is as great to enslave an AMERICAN as an AFRICAN.
Therefore we believe and affirm—That there is no difference, in
principle, between the African slave trade and American Slavery :
That every American citizen, who retains a human being in invol
untary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, (Ex. 21 :
16,) a MAN-STEALER !
That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought under
the protection of the law :
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 19
That if they had lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the
present period, and had been entailed through successive generations,
their right to be free could never have been alienated, but their
claims would have constantly risen in solemnity : =
That all those laws which are now in force, admitting the right of I
Slavery, are therefore, before God, utterly null and void ; being an }
audacious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, a daring infringement
on the i^w jj’ nature, a base overthrow of the very foundations of ir >
the socjal^aispact, a complete extinction of all the relations, endear- *•*> /-
ments, and obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous transgression
of all the holy commandments—and that, therefore, they ought in
stantly to be abrogated.
We further believe and affirm— that all persons of color who
possess the qualifications which are demanded of others, ought to be
admitted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same privileges, and the
exercise of the same prerogatives, as others ; and that the paths of
preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, should be opened as
widely to them as to persons of a white complexion.
We maintain that no compensation should be given to the planters
emancipating their slaves ;
Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental princi
ple, that man cannot hold property in man ;
Because SLAVERY is A CRIME, AND THEREFORE is NOT AN ARTICLE
TO BE SOLD;
Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors of what
they claim ; freeing the slaves is not depriving them of property, but
restoring it to its rightful owners ; it is not wronging the master, but
righting the slave— restoring him to himself;
Because immediate and general emancipation would only destroy
nominal, not real property ; it would not amputate a limb, or break
a bone of the slaves, but, by infusing motives into their breasts, would
make them doubly valuable to the masters as free laborers ; and
Because, if compensation is to be given at all, it should be given
to the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not to those who have plun
dered and abused them.
We regard as delusive, cruel and dangerous, any scheme of expa
triation which pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, in the
emancipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute for the immediate
and total abolition of Slavery.
We fully and unanimously recognize the sovereignty of each State
to legislate exclusively on the subject of the Slavery which is tole- j
rated within its limits ; we concede that Congress, under the pzesent “”i
natiojial_ compact, has no right to interfere with any of the Slave
States, in relation to this momentous subject :
But we maintain that Congress has a right, and is solemnly bound,
to suppress the domestic slave trade between the several States, and
to abolish Slavery in those portions of our territory which the Con
stitution has placed under its exclusive jurisdiction. ^
20 THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the highest
obligations resting upon the people of the Free States to remove
Slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed in the Constitu
tion of the United States. They are now living under a pledge of
their tremendous physical force to fasten the galling fetters of
tyranny upon the limbs of millions in the Southern States; they are
liable to be called at any moment to suppress a general insurrection
of the slaves ; they authorize the slave-owner to vote on three fifths
of his slaves as property, and thus enable him to perpetuate his op
pression ; they support a standing army at the South for its protec
tion ; and they seize the slave who has escaped into their territories,
and send him back to be tortured by an enraged master or a brutal
driver. This relation to Slavery is criminal, and full of danger : IT
MUST BE BROKEN UP.
These are our views and principles—these our designs and meas
ures. With entire confidence in the overruling justice of God, we
plant ourselves upon the Declaration of Independence and the
truths of divine revelation as upon the Everlasting Hock.
We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in every
city, town and village in our land.
We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remonstrance, of
warning, of entreaty and rebuke.
We shall circulate, unsparingly and extensively, Anti-Slavery
tracts and periodicals.
We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the cause of the suffer
ing and the dumb.
We shall aim at a purification of the churches from all participa
tion in the guilt of Slavery.
We shall encourage the labor of freemen rather than that of
slaves, by giving a preference to their productions : and
We shall spare no exertions nor means to bring the whole nation
to speedy repentance.
Our trust for victory is solely in God. We may be personally
defeated, but our principles never. TRUTH, JUSTICE, REASON, HU
MANITY, must and will gloriously triumph. Already a host is coming
up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, and the prospect
before us is full of encouragement.
Submitting this DECLARATION to the candid examination of
the people of this country, and of the friends of Liberty throughout
the world, we hereby affix our signatures to it ; pledging ourselves
that, under the guidance and by the help of Almighty God, we will
do all that in us lies, consistently with this Declaration of our prin
ciples, to overthrow the most execrable system of Slavery that has
ever been witnessed upon earth—to deliver our land from its dead
liest curse— to wipe out the foulest stain which rests upon our
national escutcheon—and to secure to the colored population of the
United States all the rights and privileges which belong to them as
men and as Americans—come what may to our persons, our inter
AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVEKY SOCIETY. 21
ests, or our reputation—whether we live to witness the triumph of
LIBERTY, JUSTICE and HUHAHITY, or perish untimely as martyrs in
this great, benevolent and holy cause.
Done at Philadelphia, the 6th day of December, A. D. 1833.
I am informed that of the sixty persons and upwards, who appended
their names to this Declaration, only fifteen have died, when the an
ticipation here expressed has been realized. The large body of the
signers ” lire to witness the triumph of liberty, justice and humanity.”
You all know what have been the weapons of our friends in the
great war in which they have been engaged. If our country had
responded to these sentiments thirty years ago, as they responded to
the tidings of the attack upon Fort Sumter, slavery would have been
utterly abolished by this time, without the shedding of a single drop
of blood. But there is a homely proverb, that it is in vain to talk
about what might have been, or what should have been. Blood is
running like water, and the consolation and reward of our friends is,
that when the South broke out in brutal assault upon the life of the
nation, that the nation was so well prepared for the hour was due in
great part to the fidelity with which they have redeemed the pledges
they gave in this Declaration, in forming Anti-Slavery Societies
throughout all the North, and in sending every where anti-slavery
information.
I confess there are very strong points of resemblance between the
Abolitionists of the North and the conspirators of the South. Our
friends at the North, thirty years ago, undertook to fire the Northern
heart, insensible to the fact that they were in danger of firing the
Southern heart at the same time. So, also, a few years ago, the ‘
leading conspirators at the South undertook to fire the Southern
heart, never dreaming what a tremendous fire they were going to
kindle in the Northern heart. So that, in this respect, the Aboli
tionists of the North and the Fire-eaters of the South resembled
each other; with this difference —that the Abolitionists undertook to
kindle the Northern heart with fire from heaven ; the Fire-eaters
undertook to kindle the Southern heart with fire from—the other
place. (Applause.)
SPEECH OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
On the Fourth of July, 1776, our fathers put their names to the
Declaration of American Independence. They testified before the
Frederick Douglass on the Fourth of July
Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery and became one of the most prominent abolitionist in
the United States. Before he fled Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write, and
ultimately became a masterful writer. He published his own paper, The North Star, as well as
autobiographical slavery narratives like The Narrative of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage,
My Freedom. He also was a popular speaker on the antislavery circuit.
The selection here comes from a Fourth of July Speech Douglass delivered in 1852, a
particularly bleak time for the antislavery movement because it appeared to be making little
headway. As you read, pay attention to the following things. Note how Douglass uses pronouns.
Why did he make a point to discuss your Revolution (instead of our Revolution)? What
emotions did the Revolution evoke in Douglass? Finally, what significance did Douglass place on
the relatively young age of the Republic? Why point that out?
Extracts from Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” Speech made at Rochester’s
Corinthian Hall (July 5, 1852)
Full text
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which
I escaped, is considerable — and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former,
are by no means slight. That I am here to-day is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude.
You will not, therefore, be surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace
my speech with any high sounding exordium. With little experience and with less learning, I have been
able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and trusting to your patient and generous
indulgence, I will proceed to lay them before you.
…This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the 4th of July. It is the birthday of your National
Independence, and of your political freedom… This celebration also marks the beginning of another year
of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now 76 years old. I am glad,
fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a
mere speck in the life of a nation…. Were the nation older, the patriot’s heart might be sadder, and the
reformer’s brow heavier. Its future might be shrouded in gloom, and the hope of its prophets go out in
sorrow. There is consolation in the thought that America is young. Great streams are not easily turned
from channels, worn deep in the course of ages.
…Fellow-citizens, I shall not presume to dwell at length on the associations that cluster about this day.
The simple story of it is that, 76 years ago, the people of this country were British subjects. The style and
title of your “sovereign people” (in which you now glory) was not then born. You were under the British
Crown. Your fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government; and England as the
fatherland. This home government, you know, although a considerable distance from your home, did, in
the exercise of its parental prerogatives, impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens and
limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right and proper.
…To say now that America was right, and England wrong, is exceedingly easy. Everybody can say it; the
dastard, not less than the noble brave, can flippantly discant on the tyranny of England towards the
American Colonies. It is fashionable to do so; but there was a time when to pronounce against England,
and in favor of the cause of the colonies, tried men’s souls…. [but now] The cause of liberty [in the form
of slavery] may be stabbed by the men [Americans who tolerate slavery while they] … glory in the deeds
of your fathers [the patriots]. But, to proceed.
…Feeling themselves harshly and unjustly treated by the home government, your fathers, like men of
honesty, and men of spirit, earnestly sought redress. They petitioned and remonstrated; they did so in a
decorous, respectful, and loyal manner. Their conduct was wholly unexceptionable. This, however, did
not answer the purpose. They saw themselves treated with sovereign indifference, coldness and scorn. Yet
they persevered. They were not the men to look back.
…They [the founding fathers and patriots of ‘76] loved their country better than their own private
interests [that is, they showed ‘republican virtue] ; and, though this is not the highest form of human
excellence, all will concede that it is a rare [republican] virtue, and that when it is exhibited, it ought to
command respect. He who will, intelligently, lay down his life for his country, is a man whom it is not in
human nature to despise. Your fathers staked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, on the
cause of their country. In their admiration of liberty, they lost sight of all other interests.
…Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? 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 [African
Americans]? 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 [as an
African American and former slave] am not included within the pale of this 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 life and
healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may
rejoice, I must mourn….
….Fellow-citizens; above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose
chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that
reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may
my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!” To forget them,
to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most
scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. 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 [slave], 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! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the
professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false
to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God
and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in
the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded
and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command,
everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of America! “I will not
equivocate; I will not excuse;” I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall
escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder,
shall not confess to be right and just.
Alexander Stephens on the Confederacy’s Corner-Stone
Alexander Stephens began his political career in the 1840s as a Georgia Whig in the House of
Representatives before the Civil War. When the South seceded in 1860-1861, Stephens had
become prominent enough to serve as Vice-President of the Confederacy. After the war, he
would again serve in the House of Representatives as well as governor of Georgia. Stephens
also spent the post-war years developing an interpretation of the coming of the Civil War as a
conflict over states’-rights rather than slavery.
That effort stood in stark contrast with what he argued on the eve of the war. The selection
here comes from what historians call Stephens’s “Corner-Stone” speech. His speech provided a
description of the constitution for the newly created Confederate States of America, but our
interest rests in what he believed to be the foundation (or “corner-stone”) of the new
government. As you read this selection, keep the following questions in mind. What did
Stephens claim to be the corner-stone of the Confederacy? What was the truth (so-called) that
the Confederate Constitution acknowledge that the framers of the original constitution had
missed? Finally ask yourself, does Stephens’s description of the original constitution square
with depictions made by other documents you have read (or with the textbook for that
matter)?
Extracts from Alexander Stephens, “Corner Stone” Speech.
Savanah, GA March 21, 1861
EXTRACTED FROM http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/cornerstone-speech/
This new constitution [for the Confederate States of America] or form of government, constitutes
the subject to which your attention will be partly invited. In reference to it, I make this first
general remark: it amply secures all our ancient rights, franchises, and liberties. All the great
principles of Magna Charta are retained in it. No citizen is deprived of life, liberty, or property,
but by the judgment of his peers under the laws of the land. The great principle of religious
liberty, which was the honor and pride of the old constitution, is still maintained and secured. All
the essentials of the old constitution, which have endeared it to the hearts of the American
people, have been preserved and perpetuated. Some changes have been made. Some of these I
should have preferred not to have seen made; but other important changes do meet my cordial
approbation. They form great improvements upon the old constitution. So, taking the whole new
constitution, I have no hesitancy in giving it as my judgment that it is decidedly better than the
old.
….Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this [Slavery], as the “rock upon which the old Union
would split.” He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he
fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The
prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the
formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the
laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil
they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that,
somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away.
This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The
constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and
hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured,
because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong.
They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy
foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the “storm came and the wind blew.”
Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its
corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery
subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government,
is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral
truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the
various departments of science. It has been so even amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can
recollect well, that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the
past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago. Those at the North, who still cling
to these errors, with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism
springs from an aberration of the mind from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One
of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions
from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right
if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is
entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. If their premises were correct, their
conclusions would be logical and just but their premise being wrong, their whole argument fails.
I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the northern States, of great power and
ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South
would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery, that it was as impossible to
war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the
principle would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were
warring against a principle, a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of men.
The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds, we should, ultimately, succeed, and
that he and his associates, in this crusade against our institutions, would ultimately fail. The truth
announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as it was
in physics and mechanics, I admitted; but told him that it was he, and those acting with him, who
were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator
had made unequal.
George Fitzhugh on the Declaration of Independence
Among proslavery theorists, none was more extreme that George Fitzhugh of Virginia. Other
major proslavery advocates generally worked as politicians or college professors, but Fitzhugh
made a living through writing, and he attracted an audience by taking extreme positions. Only
Fitzhugh made the case that slavery was such a good social system that all poor people
(whether black or white) should be enslaved. He either understood the logical implications of
the proslavery argument when taken to its full implications, or he was a grandstanding crank.
Either way, he did tend to clearly explain the issues at stake in the debate over slavery.
In the passage here, Fitzhugh takes on the Declaration of Independence. Why did he think the
idea of all men being equal was wrong? What were some of the other issues he had with the
Declaration of Indpendence?
Fitzhugh, George. Sociology for the South: or, The Failure of Free Society. UNC Electronic Edition: 1998
[1854]. Web. < http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/fitzhughsoc/fitzhugh.html>.
CHAPTER XIX.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND VIRGINIA BILL OF RIGHTS.
An essay on the subject of slavery would be very imperfect, if it passed over without noticing these
instruments. The abstract principles which they enunciate, we candidly admit, are wholly at war with
slavery; we shall attempt to show that they are equally at war with all government, all subordination, all
order. Men’s minds were heated and blinded when they were written, as well by patriotic zeal, as by a
false philosophy, which, beginning with Locke, in a refined materialism, had ripened on the Continent
into open infidelity. In England, the doctrine of prescriptive government, the divine right of kings, had
met with signal overthrow, and in France there was faith in nothing, speculation about everything. The
human mind became extremely presumptuous, and undertook to form governments on exact
philosophical principles, just as men make clocks, watches or mills. They confounded the moral with the
physical world, and this was not strange, because they had begun to doubt whether there was any other
than a physical world. Society seemed to
Page 176
them a thing whose movement and action could be controlled with as much certainty as the motion of a
spinning wheel, provided it was organized on proper principles. It would have been less presumptuous
in them to have attempted to have made a tree, for a tree is not half so complex as a society of human
beings, each of whom is fearfully and wonderfully compounded of soul and body, and whose aggregate,
society, is still more complex and difficult of comprehension than its individual members. Trees grow
and man may lop, trim, train and cultivate them, and thus hasten their growth, and improve their size,
beauty and fruitfulness. Laws, institutions, societies, and governments grow, and men may aid their
growth, improve their strength and beauty, and lop off their deformities and excrescences, by punishing
crime and rewarding virtue. When society has worked long enough, under the hand of God and nature,
man observing its operations, may discover its laws and constitution. The common law of England and
the constitution of England, were discoveries of this kind. Fortunately for us, we adopted, with little
change, that common law and that constitution. Our institutions and our ancestry were English. Those
institutions were the growth and accretions of many ages, not the work of legislating philosophers.
Page 177
The abstractions contained in the various instruments on which we professed, but professed falsely,
to found our governments, did no harm, because, until abolition arose, they remained a dead letter.
Now, and not till now, these abstractions have become matters of serious practical importance, and we
propose to give some of them a candid, but fearless examination. We find these words in the preamble
and Declaration of Independence,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among them, 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 abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its
foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their safety and happiness.”
It is, we believe, conceded on all hands, that men are not born physically, morally or intellectually
equal, – some are males, some females, some from birth, large, strong and healthy, others weak, small
and sickly – some are naturally amiable,
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others prone to all kinds of wickednesses – some brave, others timid. Their natural inequalities beget
inequalities of rights. The weak in mind or body require guidance, support and protection; they must
obey and work for those who protect and guide them – they have a natural right to guardians,
committees, teachers or masters. Nature has made them slaves; all that law and government can do, is
to regulate, modify and mitigate their slavery. In the absence of legally instituted slavery, their condition
would be worse under that natural slavery of the weak to the strong, the foolish to the wise and
cunning. The wise and virtuous, the brave, the strong in mind and body, are by nature born to command
and protect, and law but follows nature in making them rulers, legislators, judges, captains, husbands,
guardians, committees and masters. The naturally depraved class, those born prone to crime, are our
brethren too; they are entitled to education, to religious instruction, to all the means and appliances
proper to correct their evil propensities, and all their failings; they have a right to be sent to the
penitentiary, – for there, if they do not reform, they cannot at least disturb society. Our feelings, and our
consciences teach us, that nothing but necessity can justify taking human life.
We are but stringing together truisms, which every body knows as well as ourselves, and yet
Page 179
if men are created unequal in all these respects; what truth or what meaning is there in the passage
under consideration? Men are not created or born equal, and circumstances, and education, and
association, tend to increase and aggravate inequalities among them, from generation to generation.
Generally, the rich associate and intermarry with each other, the poor do the same; the ignorant rarely
associate with or intermarry with the learned, and all society shuns contact with the criminal, even to
the third and fourth generations.
Men are not “born entitled to equal rights!” It would be far nearer the truth to say, “that some were
born with saddles on their backs, and others booted and spurred to ride them,” – and the riding does
them good. They need the reins, the bit and the spur. No two men by nature are exactly equal or exactly
alike. No institutions can prevent the few from acquiring rule and ascendency over the many. Liberty
and free competition invite and encourage the attempt of the strong to master the weak; and insure
their success.
“Life and liberty” are not “inalienable;” they have been sold in all countries, and in all ages, and
must be sold so long as human nature lasts. It is an inexpedient and unwise, and often unmerciful
restraint, on a man’s liberty of action, to
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deny him the right to sell himself when starving, and again to buy himself when fortune smiles. Most
countries of antiquity, and some, like China at the present day, allowed such sale and purchase. The
great object of government is to restrict, control and punish man “in the pursuit of happiness.” All
crimes are committed in its pursuit. Under the free or competitive system, most men’s happiness
consists in destroying the happiness of other people. This, then, is no inalienable right.
The author of the Declaration may have, and probably did mean, that all men were created with an
equal title to property. Carry out such a doctrine, and it would subvert every government on earth.
In practice, in all ages, and in all countries, men had sold their liberty either for short periods, for
life, or hereditarily; that is, both their own liberty and that of their children after them. The laws of all
countries have, in various forms and degrees, in all times recognized and regulated this right to alien or
sell liberty. The soldiers and sailors of the revolution had aliened both liberty and life, the wives in all
America had aliened their liberty, so had the apprentices and wards at the very moment this verbose,
newborn, false and unmeaning preamble was written.
SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions for HIST 1305 Essay
(NB: Be sure to read the
full assignment in the syllabus)
Using the primary texts supplied, choose two pro-slavery and two anti-slavery documents and write a 750-word essay that examines how the proponents and opponents of slavery used the analytical concepts that framed this course when making their arguments (
Mobility,
Democracy,
Capitalism, and
Difference). You should identify the authors’ main point, and utilizing two of the four concepts, examine how they defended their positions. Your paper should conclude by explaining why some contemporaries of slavery may have found certain arguments compelling, while others found them offensive (to conclude effectively, you will need to explain the historical context in which these texts were written, based on what you have read in the OpenStax text and learned in class discussion).
No secondary sources, other than the Open Stax text, should be integrated into this paper’s analysis.
See Canvas for the primary sources.
Please note that the proslavery texts reflect the racism found in many quarters of nineteenth-century America. As historians, it is only right that we reject these views as we analyze how these writers constructed their defense of slavery. Other researchers have noted that the proslavery appeal to racism was intended to undermine the Abolitionist efforts to put forth “all men are created equal” as the core American value (see the antislavery texts). Please beware that the level of racism seen in these documents can be shocking and disturbing to modern readers.
Goals of this Paper: The purpose of this assignment is to advance your ability to reason through a specific historical question and to express your ideas in writing. Thus:
·
Your paper should briefly introduce your paper’s topic or question and provide a thesis statement. In a paper of this size, your introduction and thesis statement should appear on the first page, in the paper’s first paragraph.
·
Your paper should show that you reasoned through the evidence in a fair-minded way. In other words, you should state (paraphrase) what your evidence says and not what you wish it said or think it should say. You need to state the evidence fairly, even if you think it wrong or offensive.
·
Your paper should use evidence to answer the historical question. You need to explain how the evidence answers the question. The easiest way to figure this is to think through your evidence and argument using one or more of the key concepts for this course.
·
Your paper should briefly explain an implication or limitation of your analysis. For an implication, you might consider how your analysis sheds light on one of the course’s key terms. For a limitation, you might note which key concepts your analysis does not (or cannot) address.
·
Your paper should develop and organize your thoughts clearly and logically. Outlining is a necessary, but not required, step in writing a well-organized paper.
·
Your paper should draw a conclusion that addresses the paper’s chief topic or question and that states your answer to the question or your contribution to the topic.
Typewritten, double-spaced
Length: 750 words
Documentation: MLA in-text parenthetical style
How to cite the sources using MLA:
Below you will see examples of the formatting for citing your sources. Note that there is an “in text” format, which appears after you directly cite or paraphrase a passage from one of the sources. The “cited reference page” format is for listing only the sources you use, at the very end of the paper.
CRP= Cited Reference Page Style
ITR= In-Text Reference Style
Textbook
CRP: Corbett, P. Scott, et al.
U.S History. Houston: OpenStax. 2019.
ITR: (Corbett et. al. <
insert page #>)
Antislavery Primary Sources
CRP: “Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Convention [1833]” in
Proceedings of the American Anti-Slavery Society at the Third Decade. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1864.
ITR: (“Declaration, ” 17-21).
CRP: Douglass, Frederick.
The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery. Glasgow,
UK, 1863.
ITR: (Douglas, 1863, 4-6)
CPR: Douglass, Frederick. “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July.” July 5, 1852. Web. Teaching American History.org.
ITR:(Douglass, 1852)
CRP: Lincoln, Abraham. “Annual Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859.”
The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, vol. 5. Eds. John G. Nicolay and John Hay. New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, 1894.
ITR: (Lincoln, 248-50)
CRP: Brent, Linda (AKA Harriet Jacobs).
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston, 1861.
Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/files/11030/11030-h/11030-h.htm.
ITR: (Brent)
CRP: Walker, David.
Appeal, in Four Articles. Electronic Edition.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2001 [1829]. Web.
ITR: (Walker)
CRP: Helper, Hinton Rowan.
The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It. New York, NY, 1857.
ITR: (Helper, 21-4)
Proslavery Texts
CRP: Christy, David.
Cotton is King: Slavery in the Light of Political Economy. Fully reprinted in E.N. Elliot, ed.,
Cotton is King and Proslavery Arguments. Augusta: Pritchard, Abbott, and Loomis. 1860.
ITR: (Christy, 55-6)
CRP: Fitzhugh, George.
Sociology for the South: or, The Failure of Free Society. UNC Electronic Edition: 1998 [1854]. Web.
ITR: (Fitzhugh, “Sociology” 176-188)
CRP: Hammond, James H.
Selections from the Letters and Speeches of the Hon. James H. Hammond of South Carolina. New York: John F. Trow and Co. 1866.
ITR: (Hammond, 318-20)
CRP: Stephens, Alexander. “The Cornerstone Speech.” March 1861. Web. Teaching History.
ITR: (Stephens)
CRP: Taney, Roger. Opinion on Dred Scott Case. fully reprinted in E.N. Elliot, ed.,
Cotton is King and Proslavery Arguments. Augusta: Pritchard, Abbott, and Loomis. 1860.
ITR: (Taney, 756-758)
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