LAD #16

Frederick Douglass Speech - LAD#16

July 4, 1852 Rochester NY

Fellow Citizens: Why am I called to speak here ?  Are the principles of political freedom and natural justice extended to us ?  I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary.  This fourth of July is not mine.  You may rejoice, I must mourn.  Fellow citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions.

My subject is “American Slavery”.   The character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker.  The conduct of the nation seems hideous and revolting.

Some think I should argue more and denounce less.  But where all is plain, there is nothing to be argued.  Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man ?  That point is conceded already.  Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty ?  That he is the rightful owner of his body ? You have already declared it.  Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery ?  There is not  a man on earth who does not know that slavery is wrong for him.    What, then, remains to be argued ?

At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. It is not light that is needed, but fire.

To the slave, the fourth of July more than any other day reveals to him the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.

There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.

For revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.

 Photo2: Women even in the 20th century weren't completely equal, so posters such as "Rosie the Riveter" were produced to empower women.

LAD #15

Photo#1:Gettysburg Address

Lincolns Gettysburg Address

Fourscore and seven (87) years ago, our nation was created and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  We are now in a civil war which is testing whether our nation can endure.  We meet on a great battle-field of this war, to dedicate a gravesite for those that died in the battle.

We must dedicate ourselves to the cause for which these brave men died, so that they did not die in vain - that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Photo#2: Harry Truman, he was the man who made the decision to drop the bombs on Japan. His decision I think relates to Lincolns statement about dedicating ourselves to the preservation of our government. The bombs were dropped to end the war and save many American lives.

LAD #14

Photo#1: Lincolns inaugural address

Lincolns First Inaugural Address

I appear before you to take the oat of office as prescribed by the Constitution.  I don’t think it necessary to discuss matters about which there is no special anxiety.

The Southern States seem to be concerned about the accession of a Republican Administration.  There is no reasonable cause for this.  As I have said, ‘I have no purpose to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists’.

Each State has the right to control its own domestic institutions.  The property, peace, and security of no section of the country are to be endangered by the incoming Administration.

Fugitive slaves will be returned as is guaranteed by law.  It may be satisfied by national or State authority ... which one makes no difference.  Safeguards against returning a free man as a slave just be maintained.  I will not specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced.

It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President, and a disruption of the Union is now formidably attempted, but the Union of these States is perpetual.  The Union will ensure forever.  No State upon its own can get out of the Union.

The Union is unbroken, and the laws of the Union will be faithfully executed in all the States.  There need be no bloodshed of violence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national authority.  The mails will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union.

There are people who seek to destroy the Union.  Before entering upon so grave a matter as destruction of our national fabric, it would be wise to ascertain why.  Why hazard to desperate a step while there is possibility that the ills you fly from are not real. 

All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained.  They have been.  In controversies, if the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease.  If a minority would secede, what is to prevent a portion of a new confederacy then secede again in a year or two ?  The central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy.  Some believe that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, but the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government is to be fixed by the decisions of the Supreme Court, then the people have ceased to be their own rulers, having resigned their Government to the eminent tribunal.

One section of our country believes slavery is right and should be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and should not be extended.  The fugitive-slave clause and the law for suppression of foreign slave trade are both well enforced.  The country cannot physically separate.  People can exercise their constitutional right to amend their government, or their revolutionary right to overthrow it.  The convention mode seems better.  There should be patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people.  No administration can seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.

Think calmly and well upon this whole subject.  In your hands is the momentous issue of civil war.  The Government will not assail you.  You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.  My oath is to ‘preserve, protect, and defend it’.  We are not enemies, but friends.

Photo#2: this election has been very divisive, dividing the nation, just as slavery did when Lincoln became president. 

LAD #13

 

Photo1: slave vs. free states, neither side will give which forces the split

 

The agitation about slavery is threatening to destroy the Union.  How can this be prevented ?  It is important to first understand the cause which threatens the Union.  The immediate cause is the discontent which pervades the Southern states, which was caused by the agitation about slavery.  The Southern States now believe that they cannot stay in the Union with honor and safety.  There has been a long agitation of the slave question on the part of the North, but another cause is that the equilibrium between the Northern and Southern States has been destroyed.  The result is that the Northern States now control every department of the government.  With the growth of the Country, the North has more representatives in the House, the Senate, and the Electoral College.  Legislation has caused the South to be excluded from the territory belonging to the United States, and adopting a tax system which burdens the South, and uses the proceeds in the North.  This has also enabled the North to grow in population due to the number of immigrants and their descendants. 

The North is hostile to the Southern relationship of the two races.  Those most opposed view it as a sin, those less opposed view it as a crime, and those least opposed regard it as a ‘blot’ or ‘stain’ on our ‘nation’.  The South regards the relation as one which can not be destroyed without subjecting the two races to calamity, and feel bound to defend it.

If something is not done, the South will be forced to choose between abolition and secession.  Dis-union will take time to undo all the cords that bind the States together.

The only way to save the Union is to adopt measures that will satisfy the Southern States.  The South has already surrendered much, and cannot surrender more.  The North must stop the agitation of the slave question, and to amend the Constitution to restore the equilibrium between the North and South.   The responsibility for saving the Union is with the North ... the North can save the Union with no sacrifice whatsoever.  

Action is needed now.  California will be the test case ... this will tell the South if the North intends to exclude the South from the whole of the acquired Territories and completely destroy the equilibrium. 

Photo2: Abortion just like slavery was, is an issue that drives the nation into two. Neither side will concede and so it continues to be an issue.

LAD #12

 

photo#1: Polk

Polks war message of 1846

President Polk felt that he needed to notify Congress of the events leading up to the current state of affairs between the United States and Mexico.  

The Government of the United States wanted to establish peace on honorable terms with Mexico and was ready to adjust the boundaries and other causes of issues between the two countries. Mr. John Slidell was commissioned as envoy and given full powers to negotiate with Mexico.The Mexican government under General Herrera agreed to receive our envoy.  Unfortunately, the government of General Herrera fell to that of General Paredes, who then refused to see him.  After trying multiple avenues unsuccessfully, Mr. Slidell was forced to return home, as the Mexican government would not see him, thus refusing the offer of peaceful adjustment of our difficulties.

President Polk had ordered a military force to take position between the Nueces and the Del Norte, to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by Mexican forces because Texas had determined to annex itself into the United States, and the United States needed to protect our citizens.  The troops were moved to the Del Norte with instructions to abstain from aggressive acts toward Mexico or Mexican citizens, and to regard the relationship with Mexico as peaceful unless Mexico should declare war or commit acts of hostility.The Mexican forces assumed a belligerent attitude, and an American scouting party was attacked with 16 killed and wounded. 

The Mexican government has committed grievous wrongs against our citizens for years.  A government unable or unwilling to enforce execution of treaties is failing to perform one of its plainest duties.

Our commerce with Mexico, which was once highly beneficial to both nations, has been annihilated.  Upon the pretext that we have taken Texas from Mexico, they have invaded United States soil and shed American blood.  Mexico has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that our two nations are now at war. 

War now exists, and it it because of the actions of Mexico.  We must now protect the interests of our country. 

 

 Photo#2: Both Pearl Harbor and the incident with Mexico and Polk were not U.S. initiated.

LAD #11

Photo#1: Seneca Falls convention

Women haven't been given the same rights as men in the United States. Women have been subordinate to men despite the fact that the United States was founded on freedom. Furthermore they have been held accountable to laws in which they had no say. When a woman is married, she is expected to be subservient to her husband, and has no rights by law. A woman's wages were her husbands, she was "oppressed on all sides". In the Seneca Falls Convention women are demanding to be treated as equals to men including the right to vote. It is understood that the speedy success of the cause depends upon the untiring efforts of both men and women. It is also the right and duty of women, equally with men, to promote every righteous cause by every righteous means.

Photo#2: Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech