Mr. Levin Spring 2012 American Political Thought POLS 5025

Free Labor, Slavery and Union

Readings (in order of discussion):

Orestes Brownson, “The Laboring Classes,” 456 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 546 William Lloyd Garrison, Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 559 Frederick Douglass, Lectures on Slavery, 591; “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?,” 594 Harriet Beecher, Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, 598 John C. Calhoun, Speeches on Slavery, 601; Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions, 604; George Fitzhugh, Cannibals All!, or, Slaves Without Masters, 636 James Henry Hammond, “Mud Sill” Speech, 647 Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Peoria, Illinois, 649; Speech on the Dred Scott Decision in Springfield, Illinois, 654; Cooper Union Address, 666; New Haven Address, 667; First Inaugural Address, 668; Address to Congress, 676; Gettysburg Address, 683; Second Inaugural Address, 684 Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas, 497 Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth Amendments, 926 Thurgood Marshall, “The Constitution’s Bicentennial,” 1433

Major Themes for Discussion:

The arguments against slavery originate in two distinct traditions: Christianity and liberalism. As we read abolitionist works, attempt to discern which tradition is most prominent in each, and the relationship between the two traditions within each work. Some authors will seemingly prefer one tradition, other authors will attempt to intertwine the two traditions, seeing little difference between them.

There are several important arguments that sustain slavery in the readings before us. One of them is that slavery is still preferable to “free labor” (often referred to as wage slavery) because of the more permanent ties between owner and slave. Other arguments are most closely tied to racism, citing claimed racial differences as justifying the continuation of slavery. Another strain of arguments focuses on states’ rights and the problems that would follow from a national policy that would subvert the sovereignty of the southern states. To what extent can these arguments be separated? Which of these arguments is more convincing than any of the others?

Questions for Readings:

Orestes Brownson is critical of capitalism, and compares it unfavorably with slavery without exactly being a proponent for slavery. What is at the heart of Brownson’s objections to employment to wages and how is it inferior to slavery? What is the positive ethic which underlies his critique of wage labor?

The sections of Jefferson’s “Notes on the State of Virginia” that concern race does not provide us with a particularly attractive, by modern standards, view of Jefferson. Part of what makes them so troubling is the detail which Jefferson uses in describing the differences among the various races. Much of Jefferson’s historical reputation is based in his status as an Enlightenment thinker with a scientific cast of mind. How does that approach manifest itself in his depiction of race?

In “Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Society,” William Lloyd Garrison seemingly intertwines religious and political arguments against slavery. To what extent are the Declaration of Independence and Constitution distinguishable from holy revelation for Garrison? What, according to Garrison, are the greatest sins of slavery?

Frederick Douglass is the most famous of the former slaves who became active advocates for abolition in the years leading up to the Civil War. How does Douglass humanize the experience of slavery? How does he challenge what today would be labeled “white privilege”?

The lead character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom's Cabin has become a byword for weak African-American characters whose primary drive is to satisfy whites at the expense of their race. Does the excerpt from the novel support that characterization or was Stowe up to something quite different?

John Calhoun is properly remembered as the greatest of the pro-secession orators of the 19th century. Those who continue to justify secession do so on the basis that it was in defense of “States’ rights” and not primarily about slavery or white supremacy. Having read Calhoun, can his defense of States’ rights be separated from his defense of slavery and white supremacy?

George Fitzhugh’s Cannibals All! takes on both capitalism and liberalism in its defense of slavery. While shocking to modern readers, it represents a well-established school of thought in the ante-bellum South. What, if anything, do you find worthwhile in Fitzhugh’s argument?

James Henry Hammond’s “Mud Sill” speech represents the mainstream of Southern ante-bellum thought. Despite its racism, the Mud Sill speech incorporates an essential insight, that civilized society often requires the oppression of others. How might this pertain today?

Abraham Lincoln is often referred to as the “Great Emancipator.” But many argue that Lincoln’s role as an emancipator was largely involuntary and the result of political and military expediency. They argue that, instead of emancipation, Lincoln’s primary purpose was preservation of the Union. To what extent, do Lincoln’s works evince a preference for emancipation or for Union?

Thurgood Marshall, in his speech on “The Constitution’s Bicentennial,” argues that the Civil War Amendments constitute a re-founding and fundamental rewriting of the Constitution. How transformational are the Civil War Amendments in their redefinition of the relationship between the national and state governments and American citizenship? Should we view the Civil War as a second founding moment?