Oh my is the weather looking amazing outside this afternoon. As I write this I am eager to get out and tackle the final stages of the chicken coop I am building in our back yard. A month ago, I gave in to my wife's suggestions for chickens by promising a coop as a Mother's Day gift. Thinking about my weekend in that regard, I would like to wish all of you mom's reading this a fantastic weekend, and a special day on Sunday. I hope your kiddos treat you to something special.
We started off our week in class by completing our reading and discussion on the institution of slavery as an economic and social and cultural institution in the southern states of the Union. Proceeding from there, we have a baseline understanding that slavery is more than a economic right, but a Constitutional right - guaranteed by the document that created the Union of States. Perception of southern leaders in this way leads us to a recognition that the loss of slavery to them was more than an economic loss, but rather was the principle behind it - namely that laws limiting slavery would be more an infringement on their Constitutional rights than they would be an attack on their ownership of slaves. To them, losing slaves was a lesser transgression than an imposition of a "tyrannical government" on their rights.
From here we looked into the series of events that began in 1850 which led immediately to the most significant conflict on our nation's history. It begins with the Compromise of 1850. This arose out of the bill to admit California as a state - but the question, at least on the surface, was should it be a state that allows slavery (slave state) or a state that prohibits slavery (free state). Questions you should ask your student is:
- What compromise had previously settled the issues that arose in 1850? What changed?
- Why was there a debate over admitting California as a "free" state?
- What was the root of the problem behind the free/slave state debate?
- How did the Compromise of 1850 settle the problem but not really "fix" anything?
From there it was on to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This began as a railroad bill by Stephen Douglas but exploded into a full blown mini-war. Questions you should ask your student are:
- How did Douglas's bill about a transcontinental railroad become all about slavery?
- What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do to Kansas? What happened there as a result?
- What was the response of Senator Charles Sumner (R - Massachusetts) (see here for info on his speech)
- How did the actions of Congressman Preston Brooks (D - South Carolina) against Sen. Sumner lead Americans to recognize that Civil War was inevitable (see the video below)?
I can't not provide a link to the full speech given by Sumner titled "The Crime Against Kansas" where he roasts his fellow Senators for selling Kansas to slavery and ensuring a small scale war within the United States. We read an excerpt in class, but here's the whole thing from the U.S. Senate.
Overall, we had a great week and are looking now forward to how this conflict that is really about the presumed Constitutional rights of citizens and States under the Constitution against what is perceived to be a tyrannical expression of federal authority turns into a war to end the institution that has plagued the Union from the beginning - slavery. Next week, The Abolitionists.
Until then, I am yours,
Mr. Bruce
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