LAD#16- Emancipation Proclamation

During the Civil War, Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation that stated all slaves in the rebellious states of the Confederacy were to be freed. It was not an actual law passed by congress, rather a Presidential order empowered by his position as commander and chief of the army and the navy. Only slaves that were on Union-controlled land were free, while all others still in the South remained captive to their owners. During peacetime Lincoln would not have had the power to free the slaves, but the war game him the power. The Proclamation also allowed free blacks to join the United States military, and gave the north an added advantage over the south towards the end of the war.

LAD#15- Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address on March 4th, 1865. It mainly concerned the Civil War which was in full swing at the time. At his first inauguration all thoughts were directed to an impending civil war. Yet insurgents were bent on destroying the Union. Two parties emerged, but one would make war that than let the nation survive, while the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. The interest of slaves who were 1/8 of the population, thought localized in the south, was somehow the cause of the war. Neither party anticipated that the war would last for as long as it had. Nor that the cause might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. (Lincoln is referring to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863) It was ironic that both sides prayed to the same God and read the same Bible. Each invoking His against the other yet, both can not be answered. Lincoln hoped that the war would speedily pass away in favor of completely destroying the brutal institution of slavery. He concludes with urging the people to work together to achieve “a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

LAD#14- The Dred Scott Decision

The Dred Scott Decision had a lot to do with the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise and if the United States was going to go according to the laws of the Missouri Compromise or write new laws. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was the spokesperson for the court. This decision spread across the country, and it forced people to take a side on the issue of slavery and how far each state should go in deciding this question for themselves. Only two days after Buchanan’s inauguration, everyone filed into the courthouse to hear the decision made by Taney. He raised the question of whether a black can be given the rights of a normal American citizen, and be entitled to the privileges held by these citizens. Another one of these rights was the right to sue, and he stated that blacks did not even have this right, so it was unconstitutional that Dred Scott was even suing them in the first place. Also, they designated Dred Scott as a piece of property. Therefore, he said that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. They were still slaves because they were bought in a slave holding state, and would thus remain enslaved. Since Scott was purchased in Missouri and Missouri was a slave holding state, he was a slave.

LAD#13 - Lincoln's Ghettysburg Address.

Lincoln started the Gettysburg Address with a brief history of the country and then stated how the country is now engaged in a civil war to see if the nation can last. He then goes on to state that they have all come to dedicate a portion of the battlefield to those who have died to help try and safe the nation. He states this was necessary and proper and that we cannot forget what they did.

LAD#12- Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address

President Abraham Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861, thus becoming President of a divided nation. The main ideas of Lincoln's address concerned sectionalism and slavery. He addressed the fact that many people of the Southern States felt that their property, aka slaves, their peace, and personal security were endangered. Yet he continues to say, he will have no purpose to interfere with the issue of slavery in the States, since Lincoln believes he has no right to do so nor the inclination to do so. It was the right of each State to order and control its own institutions accordingly. When addressing the controversy of runaway property, he assures that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be any ways endangered. He refers to the Constitution, reading a clause that says in a nutshell, any fugitive slave (property) will not be freed but delivered up on the claim of the owner. Lincoln acknowledges that there is some difference of opinions whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but he calls such difference, not very material. Yet it should not matter who enforces such a clause, but more of should the clause even be enforced. Lincoln urges the nation to stay remain as one. Making historical allusions, to previous presidents and the founding of the nation. If the destruction of the Union should take place, than it is less perfect than before the Constitution. He assures that he will do everything in his power derived from the Constitution, to execute the laws of the Union in all states. Though there is no need for bloodshed or violence, there will be none unless forced upon the national authority. He implores those who wish to disrupt the Union, to consider the whole Union as well, and not just of their own securities. "Physically speaking, we can not separate" supports his statements that the United States of American must not become dis-united. Lincoln closes his speech in saying the American people that the issue of civil war is in their hands and that sections must not be enemies but friends.

LAD#11- Calhoun

John C. Calhoun, a senator from South Carolina and the preeminent spokesperson for Southern exclusionism, was so ill at the time of this speech he had to ask someone else to deliver it. He died in Washington on March 31, 1850. Here he offers his version of “the nature and character of the cause by which the Union is endangered.” Calhoun asserts that the South’s long-standing “almost universal discontent” over the “agitation of the slavery question” is only one of the causes that have endangered the unity of the nation. The “great and primary cause” is a sort of Original Sin, the North’s deliberate destruction of the balance of power between the two regions enshrined in the Constitution at the nation’s birth. With that equilibrium gone, the South is left weak and vulnerable and cannot “with honor and safety” remain in the Union. in the speech he starts to discuse the differences that the two major political parties and how that they need to come together to realize the problems facing the nation before a national disaster will occur.

LAD#10- Polk

The reason for Polk’s address to Congress was because he was pointing out the offenses of the Mexican Government against the citizens of the United States. Polk had attempted to have diplomatic relations with the Mexicans and eventually wanted to establish peace with them, but this failed. Conflict between the Mexicans was avoided at all costs. The Mexican Government would not recognize our attempts for peace and they continued to invade territories and kill Americans on their own soil. The Mexican minister finally agreed to settle the disputes between Mexico and the United States in 1945. The only thing was that the military had to remove the naval force from Vera Cruz, but this was a small price to pay for peace, and was removed immediately. One of the issues needed to be address by leader of the envoy, John Slidell was the boundary of Texas. When this was brought up the Mexican’s wanted nothing to do with this issue and made it clear they wanted no negotiations with the United States. Mexico refused to authorize any of these requests to Slidell. Within the next few days the Mexican Government was handed over to General Paredes who Slidell was now working through. Although he was rejected once again, Slidell’s attempts to reason with the Mexicans were unsuccessful. Because no peaceful decisions had come about, Polk ordered troops to set up between the Nueces and Rio del Norte in order to protect Americans from Mexico hostility. Shortly after, Texas annexed herself into the Union, since Texas was now part of the Union; the Rio del Norte was the southern boundary. Americans still wanted to have a peaceful relationship with the Mexican’s and were trying everything possible to acquire this, even war. Polk asks Congress to recognize that war is inevitable if they ever want the Mexican’s to listen, therefore war was declared on Mexico soon there after. Polk shared openly that as soon as the Mexicans were ready to negotiate with him, he was ready.

LAD #9- Seneca Falls Declaration

The reason for this Declaration by the women at the Seneca Falls Convention wrote was to explain why they were protesting. They believed that they had been wronged and their rights suppressed, and that it was their duty to rise up and seek equal suffrage. Then, they listed rights that had been prevented to them by men: women couldn't vote; they had to follow rules which they had no part in making; they didn't even have as many rights as foreign or uneducated men; and they had no rights of property if married. The list went on: their husbands were their masters; if they divorced, all property went to the men; they had few job opportunities and were not well paid; and they had no opportunity to go to college. They also complained that they had no rights in the Church and, lastly, that men had ruined women's confidence and self-respect. All of these injustices led these women to come up with resolutions to change society's problems. They decided that women were equal to men, and all laws that prevented this equality were nullified. Women should be educated so they are not ignorant to the injustices of society. It is the duty of men to help and teach women and give them religious equality. Men must be forced to behave the same proper way as women. Women should enlarge the bounds of their rights, gain the right to vote, and have equal rights. The women at Seneca Falls decreed that all women no longer had to put up with these injustices