History of the Civil War on Stamps

History of the Civil war On stamps This album was created by Dan Pattison for the APS for free use in the public domain. American Philatelic Society©2020 www.stamps.org Events that led up to the start of the Civil War 1820 The Missouri Compromise was a United States statute devised by Henry Clay. It regulated slavery on the country’s western territories by prohibiting the practice in the former Lousiana Ter- ritory north of the parallel 36, degrees 30’ north except for the proposed state of Missouri. The compromise was agreed to by both the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress and passed as a law in 1820, under the presidency of James Monroe. The Missouri Compromise was effectively repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, submitted to Congress by Stephen A. Douglas in January 1854. The act opened Kansas Territory and Nebras- ka Territory to slavery and future admission of slave states by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through “popular sovereignty” whether they would allow slavery within each territory. Thus, the Kansas-Nebraska Act effectively undermine the prohibition of slavery in the north territory which had been established by the Missouri Compromise. This change was viewed by many abolitionist Northerners as an aggressive, expansionist maneuver by the slave-owning South, and led to the creation of the Republican Party. January 1831 William Lloyd Garrison co-founded a weekly anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator, with his friend Isaac Knapp. In 1834 subscriptions number about 2000 with three-fourths of whom were blacks, Benefactors paid to have the newspaper distributed to influential statesmen and public officials. Although Garrison rejected physical force as means for ending slavery, his critics took his demand for immediate emancipation literally. Some believed he advocated the sudden and total freeing of all slaves, and considered him a dangerous fanatic. Nat Turner’s slave re- bellion in Virginia just seven months after The Liberator, started publication fueled the outcry against Garrison in the South. A North Carolina grand jury indicted him for distributing in- cendiary material, the Georgia Legislature offered a $5,000 reward for his capture and convey- ance to the state for trial. March 1832 John C. Calhoun became senator of South Car- olina, after serving as Vice President of the United States since 1825. Calhoun was a great proponent of states’ rights, limited government, and free trade. He saw these means as the only way to save the Union. He is best known for his intense and original defense of slavery as a positive good and for pointing the South to- ward secession from the Union. As a side note, his fourth child Anna Marie married Thomas C. Clemson who founded Clemson University. The Clemson’s inherited Calhoun’s home and acreage, leaving it to South Carolina to start an agricultural college. The home remains on the campus of Clemson University as a museum. History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 2 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org History of the civil war on stamps Missouri Statehood Henry Clay Scott 1426 James Monroe Scott 274 Scott 810 Nebraska Territory Kansas Territory Scott 1060 Scott 1061 Stephen A. Douglas John C. Calhoun CSA 14 History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 3 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org Events that led up to the start of the Civil War August 1841 Fredrick Douglass delivers his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Convention. Rad- ical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison spoke at a meeting of the Bristol County Anti-Slavery Society in New Bedford, Massachusetts on August 9th. Induced to speak himself about freeing slaves before the assembled group of abolitionist Douglass caught Garrison’s attention. Douglass was invited to speak two days later on Nantucket Island at the annual convention, in front of a largely white audience. It was this speech that got him on the path to becoming a lecturer for the society. He proceeded to go on tour, delivering speeches that touched upon his life and expe- rience as a slave. His oratory skills were so striking and impressive that many who heard him speak were skeptical, unable to believe a former slave could have such talents. During the Civil War he met with President Lincoln to discuss conditions of black soldiers in the Union Army and advised him on other subjects relating to African Americans. September 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five different bills passed by the United States Con- gress, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the territories acquired during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) under the leadership of General Stephen W. Kearny. The compromise, drafted by Henry Clay of Kentucky and bro- kered by Clay and Stephen Douglas of Illinois, reduced sectional conflict. The compromise became possible after the sudden death of President Zachary Taylor, who, although a slave owner, had favored excluding slavery from the Southwest. The Compromise of 1850 was greeted with relief, although each side disliked specific provisions. March 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin . It depicts the harsh life for African Americans under slavery. It reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and Great Britain. It energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 4 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org History of the civil war on stamps Fredrick Douglass Scott 1290 General Kearny proclaiming New Mexico part of the United States Aug. 15, 1846 on the plaza in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Stephen Kearny Scott 944 Zachary Taylor Harriet Beecher Stowe Scott 817 Scott 3430 History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 5 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org Events that led up to the start of the Civil War March 1857 Dred Scott vs. Sandford was a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court in which the Court held that African Americans whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens, and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. Dred Scott, an enslaved African American man who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom. In a 7-2 decision written by Chief Justice Rog- er B. Taney, the court denied Scott’s request. The court’s decision proved to be an indirect cata- lyst for the American Civil War, and to this day is considered by legal scholars to be the Su- preme Courts worst decision ever. August—October 1858 The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Re- publican candidate for the US Senate from Illinois and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic candidate. At the time senators were appointed by the state legislatures; thus Lincoln and Douglas were trying for their respective parties to gain control of the legislature. The debates previewed the issues Lincoln would face in the aftermath of his victory in the 1860 presidential election. Although Illinois , itself, was a free state, the main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery in the United States. Newspaper coverage of the debates was intense. Newspapers that supported Douglas would edit his speeches to remove any errors made by ste- nographers and to correct grammatical errors, while they left Lincoln’s speeches in the rough form in which they had been transcribed. Pro-Lincoln papers edited Lincoln’s speeches, but left the Douglas texts as reported. After losing the election for Senator in Illinois, Lincoln edited the texts of all the debates and had them published in a book. The widespread coverage of the original debates and the subse- quent popularity of the book led eventually to Lincoln’s nomination for President of the United States by the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago October 1859 John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, (West) Virginia was an effort by abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now part of West Virginia) The arsenal was a huge complex of build- ings that contained 100,000 muskets and rifles. Brown accompanied by 21 men in his party, was defeated by a platoon of US Marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee. John Brown originally asked Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglass, both of whom he had met in his formative years in Springfield Massachusetts, to join him in the raid. Tubman was prevented by illness and Douglass declined indicating to Brown that he believed the raid was a suicide mission. “You will never get out alive” he warned. Douglass was correct. Of the 22 raid- ers only 5 escaped. Ten were killed, seven captured. All of the seven captured were tried and hung. Brown was the first to be hanged on December 2, 1859. History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 6 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org History of the civil war on stamps Lincoln-Douglas Debates Scott 1115 Abraham Lincoln Scott 555 Civil War Cancel on Scott 65 Enlargement of a rare Harper’s Ferry cancel August 29, 1864; during the Civil War. West Virginia Scott 1232 Robert E. Lee Scott 1049 Harriet Tubman Scott 1744 History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 7 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org Events that led up to the start of the Civil War Marines under the direction of Colonel Robert E.

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