The Crisis of the Union 1857-1860

There are so many important things that happened for our country in these three short years. In this section we meet James Buchanan. He was neither impulsive or fanatic about any ideas. He was a moderate and avoided controversy. He presided over one of the most controversial administrations in American history. it Started with the Dred Scott case in 1857. At this time Congress had a "noninterference" agreement with slavery in the territories. Dred Scott v Stanford was a case on March 6,1857 - two days after Buchanan's inauguration into congress - where in 1830, Dred Scott, a slave, was taken by his master from the slave state of Missouri to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory which were closed to slavery. After his master's death Scott sued for his freedom on the grounds of residence in a free state. The supreme court could have easily sidestepped the issue by saying Scott had no right to sue in federal court. Instead Chief Justus Roger B. Terry said Scott couldn't sue for freedom, no black (slave or free) could become a US citizen, and Scotts residence in a free territory didn't make him free. Taney believed the Missouri compromise, prohibiting slavery in the Wisconsin territory was unconstitutional. The decision made on Dred Scott continued the controversy and did not settle the expansion of slavery.

The Lecompton Constitution of 1857 would either prohibit or permit slavery. Congress would then admit Kansas as a state. the bases of Buchanan's plan demanded fair play; not an easy thing to come by in Kansas. Buchanan was also a supporter of popular sovereignty.Once introduced, the Lecompton Constitution protected slaveholders already residing in Kansas and prohibited referendum to decide whether to allow more slaves into the territory.

The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 was an important step forward in the slavery battle. Despite the acclaim for his stance against the Lecompton Constitution, Douglas had a hard time with the 1858 Illinois senatorial election. There was a striking contrast between the two candidates both physically and ideologically. Lincoln was 6'4", gangling republican from Illinois, who had energy ambition, and passion, was self-educated, had knowledge of law and politics. Douglas on the other hand was from New England and the 5'4" personification of the Democratic party. The farmers in the territories called him the "little Giant." These debates were between the senate's leading democrat and the republican's rising star. The debates portrayed Lincoln as a virtual abolitionist and an advocate for racial equality. Lincoln thought congress had no constitutional authority to abolish slavery in the south. He compromised his own position by rejecting both abolition and equality for blacks. There was no clear victory during the debates however Douglas won the election. There was also no settlement of major issues like slavery. 

Chapter 3: The Emergence of Colonial Societies

In the year 1600 there was not a single english person living anywhere in America but in the year 1700, just a mere century later, there was almost 250,000 people living in the small amount of land we had saw in America so far. In addition to those 250,000 free Europeans living here in America there was about 30,000 West African slaves. The English came to america for economic opportunities and for religious freedom. Unfortunately for the Slaves and their descendants, the Africans were brought to America against their will to be owned by another person.

In Chesapeake Bay tobacco boomed in the 1620's allowed for the collonies along the Chesapeake bay to thrive. It wasn't until the European settlers took Native American land for the tobacco growth and switched from indentured servants to black slaves brought in from West Africa did they become stable and minimally prosperous. Just enough to keep going.

Chapter 2: The rise of thw Atlantic World

What really stood out to me this time around in the reading was the kinships as a part of African culture before they came to America. The people of West Africa had tight knit family groups; these family groups included everyone: aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents. Keeping these kinships tight ensured some stability. Because there was a high mortality rate at the time in order to keep these kinships of a decent size they would marry. Women would typically marry just after puberty and men, many times, had more than one wife for child baring reasons. Children were very important as part of a kinship, to keep it going, but also as part of the labor force. These children contributed to family wealth by upping the food production and the amount of land in which was able to be cultivated.

Because of the sparse population in Africa the farmers were able to maintain a high soil quality as well as a high productivity right when it came to their yield. This was due to the fact that the farmers could move around a lot and rotate the land they had in use for crops. Both men and women farmed and pulled their weight as part of this large family unit.

Also something the Africans had was a sense of spirituality. Most Africans believed there was a world beyond our own where one would go in death. The Africans also practiced ancestor worship. They would share stories orally and have dramatic public presentations of these religious stories utilizing masks, dance, and music with complex rhythm structures (which later led to jazz music).

Around this same time the Europeans were reaching the hight of the Renaissance movement in 1492 when Columbus came over to America. The European people were eager to come to America because in Europe 70% - 80% of the population were a part of the peasant class. There were taxes going around Europe so high no one could afford to pay them. Another trouble they faced was the lack in the food supply. As the population was expanding the food production was not due to the process of enclosure. Enclosure also made it harder for the peasants to make a living or provide themselves with food. But unfortunately there was nothing the peasants could do about enclosure because most had no written title to their land.

Chapter 1: Native Peoples of America

I was really surprised to see how many different native peoples settled all over the Americas and how they got there. Apparently there are two recognized routes. The first being their travel over the Bering land bridge during the last ice age following a land based food source from Siberia to Alaska. From there the Naive people walked all over North and South America and settling along the way. The other theory is that the Native people came over on boats following the West Coastline. This theory does make a lot of sense because some of the oldest settlements started at the southern most tip of South America. What they must have done is take boats down the coastline until they couldn't do it anymore.

I also find it really interesting almost all of the settlements had some sort of agriculture stet up to supplement their diet. Not only did they hunt and gather they created a farming system to make sure they always had some sort of sustenance throughout the year. Some grew potatoes in the mountains and others squash, beans, and peppers on the coast.

It is so interesting to me that in some of the Native Americans' families the woman's immediate family took precedence. But in all Native American Society the kinship and extended family bond was more important that the nuclear family. The former reminds me a lot of the way my family generally goes. We see my mother's side of the family more and see my dad's side of the family less even thought we all live in just about the same area. Generally though my aunts, uncles, and cousins all bring their significant others into our family. Here is where we differ though. In Native American cultures any wrongful deaths were resolved by the extended families of both the victim and the attacker. Either a satisfactory gift was accepted or retaliation occurred.

Woman also played a large role in Native American Society. In some tribes the women shared the work. The men hunted and the women farmed. They cultivated fields and some communities had women with more power and a higher standing than in European societies at the time. Today we as a society need to get back to where we were and give women equal say and rights. We need to get everyone back on an even playing field.

Tada!!!!