History Coursework

Lincoln Himself

Ways he did advance civil rights

Sources

Ways he restricted/his impact was limited

The Emancipation Proclamation

Racist attitudes

Lincoln, Abraham. 1854. Speech. Speech, Springfield, , 1854.

States that that it is an extremely tricky task to remove slavery as an institution

Implication is that he has desire to end slavery

But under what grounds?

Political power?

Genuine acknowledgement of the need for African American equality?

Moral evil?

Argues that his initial impulse was to send them to Liberia

Specifically mentions the fact that he's not willing on a moral level to allow them to become politically and socially his equals

Interpretation of Lincoln as being a bold emancipator who was restricted by the culture he was in being challenged here by this statement

Foner 2010: "The origins of his thoughts and feelings about slavery remain shrouded in mystery"

Confusing perspectives as only in 1855 Foner states that Lincoln saw a dozen slaves shackled together and Lincoln thought it was a sight of "continual torment"

Interpretation of Lincoln as a cautious and politically expedient man who had no real concern for the welfare and political oppression of African Americans

Purposes of the different accounts of Lincoln's attitudes

Speech in Springfield likely to tap into the mildly abolitionist stances of most Northern Voters

Personal memoirs show a repulsion of the brutality of slavery

Importantly he didn't advocate his views on slavery

Fredrick Douglass stated that he wished that they'd had a candidate "of more decided anti-slavery convictions"

How can he be influential in the progression of African American civil rights if he didn't do much to change the attitudes of the people?

Long term Impact

Even as late as March 4th 1861 during his inauguration speech he declares that "he has no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where is exists."

Implies that the Emancipation Proclamation was a hollow politically expedient and military-motivated move

Short term impact

13th Amendment

Short term impact of the amendment as lifting millions of people out of slavery

Whether motivated by the genuine desire of Lincoln to further African American rights or through political expediency, the fact that millions of people were freed from the horrors of slavery can't be understated

But did this actually benefit people in the long run

Failure to change the views of the masses

Reconstruction era

Although his tenure was cut short unintentionally, this did have a huge impact on the efficacy of his legacy on the future of African American civil roghts

Johnson's policies towards AAs

Lynchings

Political Oppression through things such as the black codes etc

Economic Oppression

Activities of people like the KKK

Impact of other notable individuals

Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence

Other factors which helped the rights of African Americans to progress between 1789 and 1877.

Work of abolitionists

Warfare

Possible focus as one of the key primary documents

"Language of Liberty"

How did the language of freedom and liberty lay the foundations for a nation free from slavery?

All men were created equal

Enlightenment ideals

Created the underlying tension between the fulfilment of the Declaration of Independence

Foundation of a nation based on common values as opposed to monarchical right

US exceptionalism

Although the language of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was rarely used to justify or defend African American civil rights, the establishment of a nation built upon these values and the institution of slavery are fundamentally incompatible

White Abolitionism

Black abolitionism

Violence/Slave Revolts

Accommodationism

William Lloyd Garrison

Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Liberator

Phillis Wheatley

Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral

Proof of the intellectual capabilities of African Americans

Especially as an AA woman

Revolutionary rhetoric

Working with the Black abolitionist movement to further the abolitionist cause

Is it useful to consider the abolitionist movement as one of split between black and white abolitionism?

Sinha 2019 "The Slave's Cause A History of Abolition"

Offers the perspective that the story of abolition is an interracial one

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Anthony Benezet

Founded the Philadelphia Abolition Society in 1775

2019? Pressures of modern society in order to credit the work of African American abolitionists as having a profound influence?

Justified?

Does this give undue credit on the ideologies behind slavery as being influential?

Economic forces behind slavery important?

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More racially tolerant society will undoubtedly give more credit to the work of African American abolitionists

Reverses the racial prejudices of previous historians?

Would be easy for white historians in a racially tense context to give themselves (white people) more credit in coming to a moral conclusion as to the evils of slavery

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Individuals such as Tadeusz Kosciuszko

Brigadier General in the Continental Army

Berated Jefferson over slavery

Dedicated all of his assets in his will to the education and freedom of U.S slaves

Letter from Quaker Robert Pleasants December 1785

"How sad it would then be to read that the great hero of American independence 'the destroyer of tyranny and oppression' had failed the final test by holding 'a number of People in absolute slavery, who were by nature equally entitled to freedom as himself"

Individuals were noticing the underlying ideological tensions in the language of liberty and the admission of slavery

Described as Jefferson himself as being "a pure son of liberty as I have ever known"

However as stated in Chernow's book of 2010 "Washington" that despite the fact that Washington had "never met any black person on such terms of social inequality." he still "appreciated Washinton's poetry and received her warmly"

Some of the white intellectual class were beginning to appreciate the capabilities of some AAs

Not widespread or

Haitian Revolution of 1791

Largest slave revolt since Spartacus' unsuccessful revolt over 1,900 years earlier

Although it did a lot in this particular country to promote the rights of African Americans, the violence and brutality used by the slaves hindered the work done by accomodationist blacks

The rebels sought revenge through "pillage, rape, torture, mutilation and death" (Source: Censer and Hunt, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity)

Did this hinder the perceptions of African Americans?

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IF NECESSARY A DEBATE ON THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF JEFFERSON COULD BE INCLUDED HERE