LAD #20

The Emancipation Proclamation

On January 1, 1863 a very important proclamation was written by Abraham Lincoln, it stated that all slaves in the United States shall be forever free! That is, specifically the slaves in states that take part in the rebellion which does not include the states that are pro slavery. The military and authority and the government too will make sure that this proclamation is followed sincerely and that each slave is free and has a right to his/her liberties. This document was proven to be a symbol of justice and social equality among the United States and did not fail to make it stronger. This proclamation not only did that but it also helped to redefine the purpose of war which gave the men who were fighting a greater drive to finally make it to victory.

LAD #19

Abraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address took place on March 4, 1865. Upon taking his second term in office he restates that his goals from his first term still stand and there is little new that he wants introduced, his hopes were high for the future. Lincoln mentions how the civil war that began soon after his first term had been going on for much longer then the people had hoped for. One of the causes of the war was the issue of slavery. The war began with the goal of protecting the Union in mind but little did we know that the issue of slavery would be the biggest factor in the midst of the war. It became a fight between the North and South with many factors involved and there had to be a victor in order to rebuild the United States stronger. Lincoln closes out his address by saying that the goal is to "let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds...". This speech came to be one of Abraham Lincolns most important speeches ever written.

LAD #18

The Dred Scott Decision in 1857 was delivered when sectionalist tensions in America were high. This was just before the Civil war and is known as the worst Supreme Court decision in history. The case was over Negro Citizenship as well as whether the Missouri Compromise was constitutional or not. Roger B Taney was the Chief Justice on the case after the first justice, Nelson was thrown out because he made the majority decision only his. When the decision was delivered by Taney, he delivered that any African American was not legally a citizen of the US, even if they were free and therefore Dred Scott didn’t even have the right to be suing in federal court because he wasn’t a citizen. Then he addressed the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise. Taney said the land bought in the Louisiana Purchase was under federal government’s control and that they can’t deny any given right to any citizens, which made the compromise unconstitutional because the government would be depriving the new territories in the purchase of the right to hold slaves. Leaving the only part of the case left to be settled if Scott was free because he was in Illinois for a period of time, but since Scott was suing in the state of Missouri, Scott wasn’t a free man because he was in a slave state. Scott’s case and the decision were unfair and America was affected, the Sectionalist tensions raged on after hearing the decision of the court and eventually ended up leading to the American Civil War.

LAD #17

"Ain't I a Woman?" By Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth is a black woman. The issues that are going on at this time are of slavery and women's rights specifically. In this speech given by Truth, "Ain't I women?" is the recurring line which goes along with all of the stereotypical ways that women should be treated. In reality, none of these things play out in real life, especially for a black women like herself. She stresses how women work just as hard as men and are just as important, so why are rights between the two genders different. Women deserve just the same. In the last paragraph it says how men are treated as superior because "Christ wasn't a woman!", which is not a viable reason because how did Christ come to be? In the end, this speech stressed the importance of women and how their rights and responsibilities are just as important as men's.

LAD #16

The 5th of July Speech by Fredrick Douglas

The 5th of July speech was a significant one delivered by Fredrick Douglas speaking on how the Fourth of July is only considered independence day to some, specifically white men only! To blacks this is considered a day of mourning. Douglas states how from a slaves point of view this day is only a celebration to those who can truly call themselves free. Now, these slaves along with the rest of the United States were freed from British rule, but they were still under the rule of their white owners and therefore they were not truly free men. Slavery was still a large issue that had not yet been stressed upon enough. He speaks on how it is wrong to have a day called independence when there are men in America who are still robbed of their own liberty and are forced to work and be controlled by other men without complaints. A slave is a victim on this day of celebration, they do not have any respect or independence and therefore this so called 'holiday' is meaningless to them.

LAD #13

This speech by John Calhoun was one of his most famous despite the fact that he was even to ill to deliver it himself. It addressed the issue of slavery and how it was tearing the Union apart bit by bit. This was due to the fact that the South approved of slavery and the North strongly opposed it and it was causing a controversy that needed to be addressed. Calhoun in his writing leaned more towards the South and their views in a sort of pitiful way. He knew that the real issue was that the South did have less representation in the senate, also were taxed more then the North and had unequal opportunities on many issues, especially slavery. The South was also affected more economically in comparison to the North with tariffs and taxes. Therefore, Calhoun then went on to state how the only way to preserve the Union was to equalize the power of the North and South in the government. Calhoun delivered this speech with the best of intentions for America, weather it became a success or not he knew he had done everything he possibly could to save it.

LAD #12

To sum up Polk's message on the War with Mexico stated why he declared this war and how he planned on going about it . He made it clear that Mexico had brought this war upon themselves and that they had continuously been attacking parts of America after each and every failed peace treaty. Polk eventually had had enough and sent Slidell to attempt one more effort at peace with Mexico, but the government of Mexico would not even acknowledge him and what he had to offer. Therefore, even when war was not yet declared officially it was plain to see that the U.S. and Mexico were enemies when it came to this border dispute. And so because of this, Polk knew that the only reasonable thing to do was to take action in order to protect the citizens of the U.S. and declare a war with them. This message made it very clear that America was fighting this war for the right reasons to protect its people and the country itself.

LAD #11

The Seneca Falls Declaration was a monumental document in the women’s suffrage movement which held roots in upstate New York. This document stated how in the Declaration of Independence the rights of women are very unclear; therefore in this Seneca Falls declaration it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal” only changing the words in order to add women into this equal group. They also restated the line about when the government is not supporting the interests of the people, they posses the right to rebel, in which case the Women’s rights activist did just that during this time period. The Declaration covered many rights that had been stripped from women throughout history. Some of these consisted of at marriage, women lose all wages as well as property to their new husbands, there are no rights for women to vote and the women of history never had any say in law making processes, therefore causing many of their interests to go unrepresented by the government. The writers then added a section of the Declaration when they made revisions to the problems stated earlier, suggesting things such as “women is man’s equal” and “that she should be recognized as such”. Their showing of the problems in treatment of women throughout history and the presented possible solutions were a big step in achieving Women’s suffrage. The Seneca Falls Declaration played a huge part in American history in achieving the equality sought by America and its founders for women throughout America.