Major slave revolts in colonial and early American history

American History

SLAVE REVOLTS

Although African-American slaves revolted in ways that ranged from subtle sabotage to downright murder of their individual masters, there were also several major insurrections. These rebellions only strengthened the white resistance to allowing African-Americans to seek freedom, as the government enacted stricter laws that compelled both Blacks and whites to bind the African-American even tighter to his enforced servitude.

Attempted slave revolts during the 1600s and 1700s took the form of escaping British or colonial slavery and going to live with Native Americans, or running to "maroon" societies that were communities of escaped slaves. Some of these societies enlisted Native Americans to help them escape. British laws, already set up to enforce slavery of whites and Indians, supported the plantation system in both the north and south of the American colonies with patrol officers, written passes and white constables.

There were two major rebellions in New York City in the early 1700s, when thousands of Blacks were living in the cities. Arson was most effectively used by these insurrectionists to get back at their masters. After trials of the slaves who had revolted, along with other innocents who were wrongly accused, horrible means of death were meted out to those convicted, creating fear in all remaining slaves and squelching any further thoughts of rebellion. The first revolt took place in Providence Rhode Island in 1638. Then there were rebellions in 1712, 1720, 1734, 1738, and 1739 in the northern colonies. There was a major rebellion in New York in 1741.

In the South there were rebellions in 1687 and 1730 in Virginia, and a famous one in 1739 in South Carolina called the Stono rebellion. Charleston, South Carolina was the site of a plot to destroy it by fire in 1740. Other rebellions occurred in Sourh Carolina in 1761 and 1765, when many Blacks rose up against their white masters. In 1774, a group of slaves who arose against their masters in Georgia, were captured and put to death, but the next year, two more conspiracies took place in the Carolinas with the same results. In 1781 there was a small attack of local plantations in Virginia and some slaves set fire to public buildings in Williamsburg.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Frederick Douglass was a slave born in Maryland in 1817 or 1818, whose father was probably the master of the farm where his mother lived and served. On his mother's side of the family, he inherited Native American blood. Early in his life, he was deliberately separated from his mother, who was not allowed to see him, and he lived with an aunt. As a child, Douglass witnessed and experienced many episodes of cruel treatment by the masters and their overseers, from beatings to murders, of his fellow Blacks. Douglass was forced to work and allowed only a few pieces of clothing from the time he was very small. Sometimes he was systematically starved and often beaten.

As a young boy, he was sent to Baltimore to work for a family named Auld. The wife began to teach him how to read and when she bragged to her husband about how well Douglass was doing he stated that she should immediately stop because literacy would allow Blacks to escape slavery. Overhearing this, Douglass determined to educate himself. The wife no longer schooled him, so he went to other children on the streets who knew how, to learn to read. He worked on the docks, in the shipyards and learned the caulking trade. He was returned to plantation life to be "broken" by a slave-master named Covey. However, he turned on Covey and fought him hand to hand and was able to prevail. After changing hands, he went to Baltimore again to be hired out to earn wages for his master, a Mr. Freeland. He worked in the shipyards for a wage, which he handed over to his master. Douglass determined to free himself, which he did by writing his own letters of passage to the North. Douglass had met his former wife in Baltimore and they ran away together in 1838.

Douglass's freedom was still not secure in the North. He wrote under a pseudonym and worked toward freeing the African-American people, surviving many fights and threats in doing so. He raised his family, wrote books and went on a lecture tour to advance the cause of the African-American. His books gained in popularity and he made money giving lectures regarding the institution of slavery. He finally purchased his own freedom in 1846. It cost $711. He wrote several books, including a couple of autobiographies, and campaigned for antislavery laws. In his later life he achieved respect and was considered an honored statesman.

AMERICAN POLITICS

Political parties existed early during the first president's term, as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson clashed over many issues, representing two different perspectives toward solving the problems of the nation. Jefferson's followers called themselves Democratic-Republicans or simply Republicans, while Hamilton's followers called themselves Federalists. George Washington preferred the Federalist point-of-view.

The early period of Federalist-Republican clashes lasted until the early 1820s, when candidates were presented to run for most political offices and there was fierce competition for political office. The reasons for becoming a two-party system may have had its roots in the British system, but Gudelunas says that the U.S. has "always had 'single member-simple plurality' or 'single-member-winner take all' electoral districts" and this is why the two party system has prevailed. If one side splits its votes up among candidates with similar viewpoints, then the other side will win. Therefore, it is better to have a two-party system, where the votes might be split closer to 50-50.

The Federalists favored more governmental control, a federal bank and promotion of business and commerce, while the Democratic-Republicans opposed taxes, a federal bank and other governmental controls. After the Federalists appeared to support Britain in the war of 1812, the tide turned against them and the Federalists did not support a presidential candidate and James Monroe won in 1820. After that, Henry Clay and John Adams ran against each other and from then on the Republicans opposed the Democrats. This ideological division has continued to this day in the two-party system.

ENSURING AMERICAN NATIONAL SECURITY and AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

From the beginning of the political history in the United States, the country has relied upon allies to aid in times of war, to take up for them in international councils and for trade agreements. The first alliance was made in 1783, when England and the U.S. signed the Definitive Treaty of Peace officially ending the American Revolution, signed in Paris, since France had been the U.S. ally. Various repercussions were felt from that treaty, since the British, French and Americans were all unhappy with the final outcome of the Colonies' war with England.

The U.S. Constitution says that the federal government has authority to make foreign policy, to "make war, negotiate treaties, raise armies, establish diplomatic missions and regulate commerce with foreign nations." While the president may negotiate treaties, the Senate must ratify them by a 2/3s vote.

Problems in war with France and in shipping and trade with Britain forced President George Washington to appoint John Jay to negotiate maritime concerns and seek solutions to British problems. By 1796, Jay's diplomatic wrangling accomplished only the evacuation of posts in the northwest U.S. while the majority of problems remained unsolved; American negotiations with foreign bodies was begun and tensions eased between the U.S. And Britain. After that, Thomas Pinkney forged an alliance with Spain in 1795 and George Washington advised the country to "steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world," advising only temporary alliances. The U.S. did not sign any more alliances until 1942, with the Declaration of United Nations against the Axis Powers, in World War II. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was signed in 1949, to aid European nations to fight Communism. Since the time of George Washington, the presidents of the United States have dictated foreign policy. In the beginning of the nation, national security meant keeping the nation free of foreign influences, but eventually internal strife over slavery brought national security concerns into internal affairs that dealt with problems within and between the states.

THE COMING of the CIVIL WAR

Leon Martin Ennis describes the major cause of the Civil war to be fundamental differences between the North and the South. Slavery was originally entrenched in the North and the South before the 18th century. In the Colonies, slavery had been imposed on not only Blacks, but Whites and Native Americans. During the 1700s, the South began to believe that Blacks were preferred as slaves and soon used them predominantly. Meanwhile, 28 million people were rounded up in Africa and forced to board ships, where they were sometimes brutally treated, being tied to decks or below deck, for the long voyage to the American Colonies (and elsewhere, as slavery was not only confined to this continent). Until slaves arrived and began to be the labor force in a largely agricultural economy in the South and an industrial economy in the north, the colonies were not profitable ventures.

In the North, the Quakers and other cultural forces began to discourage the holding of slaves in order to exist economically. They also opposed the institution as being immoral. However, slavery did exist in the North and some of those who wrote the Declaration of Independence owned slaves. The issue of slavery was not addressed in the Declaration or in the Constitution because of the internal debate that was going on in the nation about it. The paradox was argued at the constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and its many complexities were considered as the Constitution was drafted. The Southern representatives were granted compromises, as they "maintained that slaves were property, yet they demanded that slaves be included in population totals which influenced representation in Congress" (Page 268).

When the cotton gin was invented, cotton production became cost effective and cotton was needed to supply the demand for the product. By 1840, the production of cotton in the South increased to over 60% of the world's cotton, as did the system's dependence on slaves to produce over one billion pounds by 1860. Conflicts with foreign power approached and Alien and Sedition acts banned criticism of the government. In reaction, Virginia and Kentucky enacted "nullification" laws, enabling states to nullify or disregard unconstitutional federal laws and the idea of states rights began.

The South used this issue to validate the secession of southern states in 1860. By then new territory and states had been added to the Union and Slave states equaled Free states. As Western states were added and slavery spread, the Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery beyond 36 degrees 30 minutes N. latitude. It appeared the balance was made but the promise of new states being added that would upset the balance caused great uneasiness on the part of southern slave states. Westward expansion was therefore one of the contributing factors to the war between the states that broke out in 1860.

By 1860, Southerners and Northerners were aware of their great cultural and ideological differences. Southern states often did not think of themselves as part of the Union and felt the Northern states thought of them as possessions. They were taxed along with Northern states, but threatened to secede if the federal government attempted to collect. On the Senate floor, Robert Hayne of South Carolina claimed that the North was trying to destroy the South through its support of high protective tariffs and its growing opposition to slavery. The abolitionist movement begun by William Lloyd Garrison had gained prominence and stirred up hatred against him in the South.

When Texas and California were added as states, it was felt that the slavery issue again needed to be balanced. Another compromise was reached, but the Compromise of 1850 failed to avoid conflict on a separation that was considered temporary, as new states continued to be added. Violence in Kansas and on the floor of Congress, along with inflammatory and instructional literature only added fuel to the fire. In 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown became a martyr to the antislavery cause when he was hanged by the military for invading Harper's Ferry arsenal in Virginia to distribute arms to slaves so they could free themselves. The Dred Scott case and the Lincoln-Douglas debates also created great controversy and in 1860, actual war broke out over the slavery issue as Southern states began to secede from the Union and the federal government took up arms to prevent the separation.

1. Who had a more difficult presidency Washington or Lincoln and why?

The more difficult presidency must have belonged to Washington, as he was the one responsible for starting a brand-new country during his term. Washington and his troops endured snow and extreme cold during the winters of 1777 and 1778 when he was a Valley Forge, but this was nothing to the extreme political climate while he dealt with political personalities which included plantation owners, statesmen and royalty, during his term in office, carving out the structure of a two-party system, of setting up Congress and the House of Representatives and leading others to consider the ideals of a new nation that he hoped would last forever. It must have been a great burden to him to make decisions when it came to whether slaves would be counted as part of the population or lead others in opinions concerning the powers of the central government, the constitutionality of the federal bank and how much it deserved governmental protection and funding, compared to the needs of the people.

Lincoln came into office at a crucial time, it is true, and dealt with the heavy burdens of whether or not to free the Black slaves who toiled and suffered and died across the South. When he came into office eleven states seceded because they felt they could not belong to a union of states headed up by a Republican president. It was a difficult period for the nation as it struggled with speakers, preachers, newspapers, militants and citizens who protested for and against slavery. Then, when the War Between the States broke out, when he took office, he had to try to lead the nation in spite of the war going on. It was such a divided nation that he led, and he did his best not to alienate either the Southern states or the Northern ones.

2. Describe the formation of our basic two party political system.

In the beginning of the U.S. national political system, there were two parties: The Hamiltonian Federalists (who supported taxes, a strict interpretation of the laws and support for a federal bank) and the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans or "Republicans," who supported inclusive interpretations of the law.

The Whig Party was born in 1837 and was considered to be an anti-Jacksonian party made up of former National Republicans, Antimasons and southerners against Jackson. Named for the English party that opposed the king, they advocated getting rid of Jackson. The Liberty and Free-Soil parties were formed in the 1850s in response to the slavery issue, as well as the new Republican Party. The new Republican Party was made up of diverse political interests pledging to increase free over slave labor, but was not against slavery in the South. The Federalists declined and died in the early 1800s when their members supported unpopular causes and Former President George Washington died. This left the Republicans and the Democrats to support most of the major candidates since then (with independent parties also supporting candidates in almost every election, for, although the United States maintains a two-party system, the Constitution allows for additional parties).

3. Who was the worst early president and why?

All of the early presidents were great, but if one were to choose the one who was lesser than other, perhaps one might chose Madison. When the importation of slaves was outlawed in 1808, that same year James Madison became president, with his vice-president, George Clinton. Facing a comeback by the Federalists, Madison appointed Monroe as Secretary of State. Other choices of Cabinet members were ill-advised. His Secretary of War, John Armstrong was against Monroe, believing he had made wrong decisions in the past. After Armstrong failed to properly defend Washington and the British invaded it, Madison replaced him with Monroe, who restored the morale of the city. The appointment of Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, was strongly opposed by Congress and created discord among other cabinet members.

The war of 1812 began as a result of Madison's proclamation known as the Erskine Agreement and because Madison desired to declare war on England. The House refused to enlarge the Navy, but Congress enlarged the second regular army to 25,000 over Madison's protests. Madison and his cabinet decided to invade Canada, while Indian wars were being fought in which the U.S. took lands from the Native Americans. In 1814 George Washington Campbell of Tennessee replaced Gallatin as secretary of the treasury. William Henry Harrison also resigned as Major General and was replaced by Andrew Jackson, against Madison's strict orders. Monroe replaced John Armstrong with Monroe, in 1814, and Monroe served as Secretary of both War and State until the end of the war. Monroe later went on to become president.

4. Compare and contrast the 2 Adams as presidentsew3333.

President John Adams was elected in 1797, serving until 1801as the nation's second president. He faced struggles by the Federalist Party against Hamiltonians, and broke with them. He kept America out of the French and British war, in spite of the French anger, and sent a party to negotiate a treaty with France. Meanwhile, he was augmenting the navy and army. He made the mistake of keeping the last president's cabinet instead of appointing his own people. He passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. He lost his bid for re-election in 1801.

John Quincy Adams was elected in 1824, serving until 1828 as the nation's sixth president. He first appointed Henry Clay as Secretary of State. He proposed connecting the diverse sections of the United States together with a network of highways and canals and set up public domains. He broke ground for the C&O Canal in 1828. He was concerned with the arts and culture, and wanted to establish a national university, finance scientific expeditions and build an observatory. Accused of corruption during his tenure, he lost the election of 1828.

One Adams president was concerned with war and negotiations, the second Adams with the arts, sciences and the preservation and appreciation of the physical land mass that made up the United States.

5. Who were the two land presidents and how did they get us land?

One of the land presidents was Ulysses S. Grant, who bought land and placed it in the public domain so that it would be developed and conserved, using funds from the sale of public lands. It was during his tenure, in 1872, that Yellowstone Park was obtained and dedicated as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.

President Lincoln was the president who signed the bill giving Yosemite Valley and the Giant Sequoias to the State of California to hold in public trust. He signed the Act of Congress in 1864, ceding the land. Yosemite Park has had a long and eventful history.

In 1877, another thoughtful President set aside land to be protected. This was President Andrew Jackson, who set aside Hot Springs, Arkansas, to protect the natural thermals there and of the mountainsides around it. The National Park Service notes that the NPS was formed and signed into law on August 25, 1916.

6. Who were the two veto presidents and why did they use the veto?

Franklin Roosevelt takes the prize for having the most vetoes during his presidency. With 372 regular vetoes and 263 pocket vetoes, his total is 635. Nine were overridden. He served four terms between 1933 and 1945, dying in office. He stood against the Axis Powers and was considered a warmonger. Confident and aggressive, FDR believed in preparedness and in the Allied coalition. His buildup of the military created national prosperity and by 1941, unemployment was lowered to 1 million people. Factories and manufacturing created the Great Migration of African-Americans and underemployed whites to the north, where they lived and worked in the industrial cities. The results of FDR's efforts were that when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. was ready to fight.

Grover Cleveland was the president who came in next in numbers of vetoes. With 304 regular vetoes and 110 pocket vetoes, the number totaled 414. Two were overridden. Praised for his honesty and integrity, Grover Cleveland was committed to classical liberalism, opposing imperialism, taxes, patronage and inflation. He intervened in strikes to keep the railroads going and believed in the gold standard. He had a negative view of what a president should do, believing that his job was to prevent Congress from passing bad bills, and he could not in good conscience sign an unconstitutional bill into law. His views lost him his power and the agrarians and silverites controlled Congress in 1896. A man who was as strict with himself as he was with his goals for the nation, Cleveland is to be admired for his righteous character.

7. Who was the depression president and how did he try to solve the depression?

FDR. Herbert Hoover was in office in 1931, when the depression arrived. Arriving at the presidency on a wave of economic triumph, he promised prosperity and triumph over poverty. Yet three years later the stock market crashed and a national depression set in. Since Hoover believed that people should take care of themselves and that care offered should be voluntary, he was considered cold and calculating, and to be working toward his own political gain. When Roosevelt took office and introduced the New Deal, he called it "statism," strongly opposing it.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1936 and promptly set about repairing the damage done by the depression. He closed banks temporarily and worked with Congress in his first 100 days in office to find solutions to the distress that the depression had brought on. His New Deal reform legislation, with "alphabet agencies" such as the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), employed poor people from all over the country to repair, build and regulate services everywhere in the United States. He instituted the Works Projects Administration (WPA) to provide jobs for laborers, artists, writers, musicians and authors and set Social Security in motion. Although the New Deal did not end the depression, it lifted the nation out of a difficult low period and gave the nation cures for many of its ills.

8. List the four stooges before the Civil War and show which stooge was the worst president and why.

The years just before the Civil War were chaotic with changes that took place as the young nation grew into maturity. With an increasingly industrialized North and an agrarian South, the market grew to depend on wages and the exchange of services and goods. The cotton gin created a huge need for cotton in the South and laborers in the North and South. Industrialism, urbanization, states rights and slavery dominated the news and thoughts of the citizens of the United States as more states were added to the Union.

Zachary Taylor, who won the presidency in 1848, was known as "Old Rough and Ready." He catered to the Northern Whigs, was a devout unionist and strong antislavery advocate. He polarized the nation even more with his views, yet he owned a Louisiana sugar plantation with dozens of slaves. Zachary Taylor, died in office during 1850.

Millard Fillmore succeeded Taylor and passed the laws that were termed the Compromise of 1850, which temporarily stopped the debate over slavery and included the controversial Fugitive Slave Law. Fillmore called the compromise laws "final and irrevocable," which infuriated anti-slavery advocates and showed his ignorance of the situation.

The fourth president was Franklin Pierce, who stood for president on the Democratic ticket. He supported the Fugitive Slave law, opposed a national bank and called for limited government. He came out in favor of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repealing the Missouri Compromise, which "brought down an avalanche of public criticism."

James Buchanan, another Democrat, was elected in 1857 and was in the presidency when the Civil War began. He believed that secession (of states from the Union) was illegal, but so was going to war against them to stop it. His inaction and unwillingness to stand firm on his beliefs in the antislavery cause created the final reason for the Civil War to begin. James Buchanan had to have been the worst of the presidents that preceded the Civil War.

9. Compare and contrast Jefferson and Lincoln as presidents.

Abraham Lincoln came into office just as the Civil War began. A wise man and outspoken critic of slavery, he attempted to avoid taking sides during his presidency, yet introduced measures in Congress that would result in the abolition of slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoted the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, to the Constitution in 1865. He chose his cabinet wisely and was an astute politician. A lawyer by trade, he was good at logic and speaking.

George Washington also was an admirable speaker and logician. A brilliant "Renaissance Man," Washington owned slaves and did not see anything wrong with it, since it was widely practiced throughout the existing colonies at the time. An inspired and inspiring general during the Revolutionary War with England, he was the right choice as leader of the budding country. He was able to see his ideals and beliefs enacted into the laws and constitution of the young nation.

Both men embodied to an exaggerated extent, the American value system and even though they disagreed on the issue of slavery, they were strong advocates of personal freedom and liberty. They were both able to choose their cabinets wisely and to find and utilize the best minds around for the good of the country, pressing wise and rational men into their service while they were presidents. Neither believed in war, yet each managed one, being Chief Executive at the time, and attempted to lead a country that was divided into harmony and reconciliation as best they could.

10. How were the Sons of Liberty and War Hawks similar?

The Sons of Liberty were a secret inter-colonial group that opposed the Stamp Act. In various towns across the colonies, these members did seditious acts that resisted implementation of the Stamp Act enforced by Britain on the colonists. They used personal persuasion and violence at times. They were the ones who dumped the tea into the harbor in Boston. After the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, they disbanded, having accomplished their goals.

The war hawks were those who were for fighting for independence. They supported the candidates, such as Andrew Jackson, who wanted to go to war against the British Navy. The colonies were eventually at war and it was because of these two groups that the war began.

11. How did the Revolution lead to the War of 1812?

The War of 1812 involved Americans fighting the British Navy, primarily because they had impressed thousands of Americans into service in the navy. The British had also placed restraints on trade and defended Native Americans against settlers in the new country. Bad feelings toward the British were left over from the Revolutionary War, as some of these aggressive acts were practiced during the Revolution by the British in Canada and at sea, but had never been dealt with or resolved.

When the Revolution was over, British troops were left in Canada and the navy was never fully withdrawn. Trade with the colonies and the Americas was important to the British and they felt they ruled the seas. However, the newly formed nation of the United States was adamant in demands for control of the seas around their territory. It was for this reason that the American Navy and privateers were dispatched to fend off British commercial ships. America won control of the Great Lakes and, in essence, won the war. The British controlled Lake Ontario, while the Americans controlled Lake Champlain after a sea battle in 1814.

12. How was the Mexican War a war of imperialism?

The Mexican War began in 1846, while Polk was in office. The United States had been annexing territory and creating states with a mind to establishing either Slave or Free states and balancing the number of states on each side. When the Mexican government informed the U.S. that it would consider annexation of the territory that makes up Texas, the equivalent to a declaration of war, negotiations began. Herrera, the President in Mexico, did not wish to go to war and, while the U.S. wished to annex the independent territory, they did not want to negotiate interminably.

Herrera asked for a minister to represent the United States and Polk sent John Slidell. Slidell was authorized to purchase California and New Mexico and settle the Texas boundary problem. But the Mexican government was being criticized from within by the Centralists for being too moderate and demanded an attack on the United States. Slidell was ordered to leave the country. Immediately U.S. troops were moved to just north of the Rio Grande. Meanwhile, Mexican leaders were talking about capturing New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. The Americans moved swiftly and defeated an invading Mexican army that crossed the Rio Grande. On May 13, 1846, America declared war on Mexico. Polk was determined to annex Texas and the upshot of the war was just that. Imperialism, or desires to take over land territories was indicated by both sides, but in these battles only the borders were finally established.

13. Show how economics was involved in our early wars.

Each of the early wars fought by the United States involved economics as their basis. The Revolutionary war was fought over taxation and free trade differences between Britain and the colonies.

The War of 1812 was fought over who had the right to trade on the seas and Great Lakes. This desire for the rights was economically based.

The war with Mexico was over the possession of vast territories which included California, New Mexico and California was economically motivated. These territories represented to the North and the South the ability to extend slavery and manufacturing into them in order to produce more cotton and goods, both of which were beginning to show promise as abundant sources of money to lift the economy of a struggling nation. Each of them saw the addition of new states as endangering the balance of trade within the U.S., as slavery would be permitted, or not permitted in these new states.

The Civil War was actually seen by the South as a struggle to maintain an economy that was lucrative in the South, or to destroy the basis on which it was built: slavery. The South saw the North's intention of removing slavery as an intent to take away incomes. Slavery was a necessary institution in the eyes of the Southerners, who used the labor of millions of Blacks in the cotton fields. Wars throughout history have been based on either gaining territory or money-producing goods.