Primary Source #1
Gettysburg Address of 1863
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal"
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground-- The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here. It is rather for us, the living, to stand here, we here be dedica-ted to the great task remaining before us -- that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - Abraham Lincoln |
Primary Source #2
Emancipation Proclamation of 1863
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States." Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. - Abraham Lincoln |
Primary Source #3
An African American protests the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
This 1850 letter written by Henry Weeden is a statement against slavery by a free African American. Weeden was one of Boston’s leading abolitionists. In the 1840s, he had been an activist for the integration of Boston’s schools.[1]
Henry Weeden was also a tailor with a shop at 10 Franklin Avenue in Boston. On December 4, 1850, Weeden’s shop received an overcoat in need of repair from Watson Freeman (1797–1868), a US Marshal in Massachusetts appointed by President Franklin Pierce. One of Freeman’s jobs as a marshal was upholding the Fugitive Slave Law, passed in September 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850. Upon receiving Freeman’s overcoat, Weeden wrote this strongly worded letter to Freeman refusing his business and returning the coat. Weeden wrote that he did “crave the patronage of no Being that would volunteer his services to arrest a Fugitive Slave” and had “take[n] this method of returning [the coat] without complying with Your request.” Weeden closed his letter by responding to a declaration Freeman had once made of his “readiness to hang any number of negroes remarkably cheap.” A dedicated abolitionist who would not overlook his commitment to equality in order to make a profit, Weeden wrote, “With me[,] Money afterwards.” "Mr Watson Freeman Sir Your Coat came to me this morning for repairs. I take this method of returning it. without complying with Your request. With me Principle first. Money afterwards. Though a poor man I crave the patronage of no Being that would volunteer his services to arrest a Fugitive Slave or that would hang 100Niggers for 25 cents each – Henry Weeden 10 Franklin Avenue" |
Causes of The Civil War
- Slavery: A major cause for the civil war was the slavery. It was one of the most obvious reasons since the South wanted to keep slavery in the country but there was a huge rise in people who disagreed with the concept of slavery which were called Abolitionists. The huge rise in awareness started occurring because of the Great Awakening.
- State Rights: This was a major issue since the civil war at first was about slavery but then turned into a topic of state rights, since it should the states right to decide whether slavery should be abolished or not.
- Uncle Toms Cabin: This fiction book was based on what was occurring at the time which was slavery. It essentially opened the eyes of certain people and showed them how slaves were being treated and how they lived their lives. A created a major controversy since it raised the concern of slavery.
- Abraham Lincolns election: This election was one of the most prominent reasons for the civil war because Abraham Lincoln was not in the ballots for the southern states. It was the true definition of not my president since he won even though the southern states did not want him to become the president.
- Bleeding Kansas: Bleeding Kansas happened even before the civil war started and it even followed through into the war. It was a battle between pro-slavery and abolitionist on the topic of whether to keep Kansas a free state or a slave state.
- Popular Sovereignty: Popular sovereignty was a concept in which you decided whether it stayed a slave state or a free state. This created conflict between the states because it created an imbalance between free and slave states.
- The Dred Scott Decision: This was based on the case of Stanford vs Scott in which it was decided that a slave could not sue another person because they were not citizens they were property and it opened the eyes of the people of how injustice this was.
- The Missouri Compromise: The Missouri compromise was settled long before the civil war had started and stated that no other slave state could be admitted from a certain line of latitude. The slave states felt that with this the free states would have more political power and it overwhelmed the slave states.
- Secession: After Abraham Lincoln was elected as the President of the United States, 11 states seceded from the union since that was not their president and they didn't agree with his policies, that right there created tension between the North and the 11 southern states that seceded.
- The Abolitionist Movement: The abolitionist movement was a movement that included a majority of people who deemed slavery unconstitutional and that it violated the rights of the African Americans. They were very vocal on how they felt about slavery and were the minorities of America for a while since people were so used to having slaves and treating them however they felt like.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.