DOCSLIB.ORG

African American Citizens' Councils in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1864 to 1927 Melanie Alicia Adams University of Missouri-St

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
African American Citizens' Councils in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1864 to 1927 Melanie Alicia Adams University of Missouri-St View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Missouri, St. Louis University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 4-29-2014 Advocating For Educational Equity: African American Citizens' Councils in St. Louis, Missouri, From 1864 To 1927 Melanie Alicia Adams University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Adams, Melanie Alicia, "Advocating For Educational Equity: African American Citizens' Councils in St. Louis, Missouri, From 1864 To 1927" (2014). Dissertations. 261. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/261 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ADVOCATING FOR EDUCATIONAL EQUITY: AFRICAN AMERICAN CITIZENS’ COUNCILS IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, FROM 1864 TO 1927 by Melanie Alicia Adams B.A., University of Virginia, 1991 M.Ed., University of Vermont, 1993 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI- ST. LOUIS In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in EDUCATION Educational Leadership and Policy Studies May 2014 Advisory Committee Mathew Davis, Ph.D. Chairperson Lynn Beckwith, Jr. Ed.D. Committee Member Carl Hoagland, Ph.D. Committee Member Claude Weathersby, Ph.D. Committee Member Abstract Whether in slavery or in freedom, African Americans understood the important role education played in their quest towards citizenship. As enslaved people, they risked their lives to learn to read and write so they would be prepared when freedom came their way. As free people, they continued to strive for an education that would move them beyond their prescribed station in life. Throughout the history of African Americans, they actively pursued their educational aspirations instead of patiently waiting for them to be granted. The research associated with educational agency before and after the Civil War provides some insight into the ways African Americans worked towards liberation. From paying for their own teachers to building their own schools, African Americans are primary players in the narrative of educational advancements in the South. These stories of agency are in direct contrast to the stories of Northern philanthropists being responsible for African American education in the Southern states. Many of these narratives of African American agency are relatively new to the field and don’t take into account border states such as Missouri. This dissertation looks at African American educational agency in St. Louis, Missouri, a city in a state that was North enough to be in the Union, but South enough to permit slavery. Because of this dichotomy of ideology, Missouri is usually left out of discussions on issues of race and education because it did not neatly fit into a geographical region. Instead of asking how and why Missouri fit into the national narrative of African American education, such questions were merely a footnote, if they were mentioned at all. Instead of viewing the duality of Missouri’s state identity as something to be ignored, this dissertation views it as a challenge to propel the story of African American educational agency in St. Louis to center stage. Starting with the creation of an African American school board in the ii 1860s through the construction of Vashon High School in 1927, the story of African American agency is told through the lens of the citizens’ councils that were organized to advocate for educational advancement. The men who comprised the citizens’ councils worked tirelessly to insure that the educational dreams of former enslaved people were realized generation after generation. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 African American Citizens’ Councils ......................................................................................... 3 Purpose of This Study ................................................................................................................. 6 Significance of This Study .......................................................................................................... 6 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 8 Data and Sources ......................................................................................................................... 9 Literary Sources ....................................................................................................................... 9 Narrative Sources .................................................................................................................. 13 Diplomatic Sources................................................................................................................ 13 Social Documents .................................................................................................................. 14 Analytical Procedures ............................................................................................................... 15 Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II .......................................................................................................................... 16 The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration ......................... 17 Their Highest Potential: An African American School Community in the Segregated South19 Research Model ......................................................................................................................... 21 Historical Revisionism .......................................................................................................... 22 Critical Policy Analysis ......................................................................................................... 23 Critical Race Theory ................................................................................................................. 25 Delimitations ............................................................................................................................. 28 Definitions ................................................................................................................................. 29 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 2: African American Education in St. Louis until 1900 .................................................. 31 American Missionary Association ............................................................................................ 32 The Constitution of the St. Louis Board of Education for Free Colored Schools .................... 36 The St. Louis Board of Education for Free Colored Schools.................................................... 39 Reconstruction in Missouri ....................................................................................................... 43 African American Education After 1865 .................................................................................. 45 James Milton Turner .............................................................................................................. 45 iv Lincoln Institute Normal School ........................................................................................... 47 St. Louis Public Schools ........................................................................................................... 50 History of Sumner High School ................................................................................................ 52 Colored Education Council ....................................................................................................... 54 African American Educational Advocacy................................................................................. 57 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 59 Chapter 3: African American Education in St. Louis After 1900................................................ 61 Colored Citizens’ Council and George Stevens............................................................................ 61 A Complaint with Illustrations to The Board of Education of St. Louis ................................... 63 The New Sumner High School.................................................................................................. 64 White Opposition to New Sumner High School Location ........................................................ 67 Central School Patrons Association .............................................................................................. 72 African American Migration ..................................................................................................... 73 The Central School Patrons Association Resolutions ..............................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Police Chief No, Chief Politician Yes the Life of Leon Mercer Jordan, and the Shaping Memories of His Father and Grandfather
    1 Police Chief No, Chief Politician Yes The Life of Leon Mercer Jordan, and the Shaping Memories of His Father and Grandfather By Robert M. Farnsworth 2 Dedicated to James C. Olson, whose professional dedication to history led him to complete his biography of Stuart Symington despite years of physical difficulty near the end of his life. His example challenged me in my elder years to tell the story of a remarkable man who made a significant difference in my life. 3 Preface How All This Began I moved from Detroit to Kansas City with my wife and four children in the summer of 1960 to assume my first tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of American Literature at Kansas City University. The civil rights movement was gathering steam and I had made a couple of financial contributions to the Congress of Racial Equality while still in Detroit. CORE then asked if I were interested in becoming more socially active. I said yes, but I was moving to Kansas City. It took them months to catch up with me again in Kansas City and repeat their question. I again said yes. A few weeks later a field representative was sent to Kansas City to organize those who had showed interest. He called the first meeting in our home. Most who attended were white except for Leon and Orchid Jordan and Larry and Opal Blankinship. Most of us did not know each other, except the Jordans and the Blankinships were well acquainted. The rep insisted we organize and elect officers.
    [Show full text]
  • Black History, 1877-1954
    THE BRITISH LIBRARY AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND LIFE: 1877-1954 A SELECTIVE GUIDE TO MATERIALS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY BY JEAN KEMBLE THE ECCLES CENTRE FOR AMERICAN STUDIES AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND LIFE, 1877-1954 Contents Introduction Agriculture Art & Photography Civil Rights Crime and Punishment Demography Du Bois, W.E.B. Economics Education Entertainment – Film, Radio, Theatre Family Folklore Freemasonry Marcus Garvey General Great Depression/New Deal Great Migration Health & Medicine Historiography Ku Klux Klan Law Leadership Libraries Lynching & Violence Military NAACP National Urban League Philanthropy Politics Press Race Relations & ‘The Negro Question’ Religion Riots & Protests Sport Transport Tuskegee Institute Urban Life Booker T. Washington West Women Work & Unions World Wars States Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Bibliographies/Reference works Introduction Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, African American history, once the preserve of a few dedicated individuals, has experienced an expansion unprecedented in historical research. The effect of this on-going, scholarly ‘explosion’, in which both black and white historians are actively engaged, is both manifold and wide-reaching for in illuminating myriad aspects of African American life and culture from the colonial period to the very recent past it is simultaneously, and inevitably, enriching our understanding of the entire fabric of American social, economic, cultural and political history. Perhaps not surprisingly the depth and breadth of coverage received by particular topics and time-periods has so far been uneven.
    [Show full text]
  • Archival Expert Assignment Sheet
    Melissa Range Lawrence University [email protected] Archival expert assignment sheet This term, you will be in charge of leading one class as the “archival expert.” Your assignment is simple: I want you to read nineteenth century newspapers published by African American editors. Using two of the library’s electronic databases—African American Newspapers and/or Accessible Archives—you will make use of digital archives to provide historical context for the day’s reading. Here’s what to do for prep work, step by step: • On the date you’re signed up to be the archival expert, look at when the writer published their works. (So, for example: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper published Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects in 1855.) • Determine a location that is relevant to the writer, if possible. For Harper, this could be Baltimore (where she grew up), Philadelphia (where she lived and worked as an adult), or Boston (where she frequently lectured). • Now choose a newspaper that is relevant to the date and the location of the poet. If you want to get even more specific, you can (for example, you could look at an abolitionist newspaper for Harper). If you can find one, you can also choose a newspaper where the writer published. • Select an issue of the newspaper and read the whole thing: news, editorials, poetry, even the advertisements. (Be forewarned, the print is tiny and there’s a lot of text.) As you read, make note of anything at all—newspaper poems, news items, even weather—that you feel gives interesting context to the work the class will be discussing.
    [Show full text]
  • By Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Ph.D. Professor of History Norfolk State University
    By Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Ph.D. Professor of History Norfolk State University American Beacon April 24, 1834 American Beacon April 26, 1834 Southern Argus January 10, 1859 Southern Argus, January 24, 1855 Southern Argus, January 15, 1859 Southern Argus January 17, 1859 Southern Argus January 10, 1859 Southern Argus September 15, 1859 Southern Argus, January 17, 1855 Southern Argus March 7, 1855 Southern Argus January 13, 1855 Slavery was prosperous and economically important to the U.S., especially after the invention of the cotton gin In 1860 the South produced 7/8ths of the world's cotton. Cotton represented 57.5% of the value of all U.S. exports. 55% of enslaved people in the United States were employed in cotton production. Cotton Production in the South, 1820–1860 Cotton production expanded westward between 1820 and 1860 into Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and western Tennessee. Source: Sam Bowers Hilliard, Atlas of Antebellum Southern Agriculture (Louisiana State University Press, 1984) pp. 67–71. Ownership of Enslaved people in the South was unevenly distributed 25% of white families owned slaves in 1860 Fell from 36% in 1830 Nearly half of slaveholders owned fewer than five 12% owned more than twenty slaves 1% owned more than fifty slaves Typical slave lived on a sizeable plantation As Pro-Slavery supporters continued to use the law to protect their “property,” Abolitionists employed all manner of strategies to persuade the American public and its leadership to end slavery. One of their first strategies was to unite groups of like- minded individuals to fight as a body.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights and Disability
    Human Rights and Disability The current use and future potential of United Nations human rights instruments in the context of disability Gerard Quinn and Theresia Degener with Anna Bruce, Christine Burke, Dr. Joshua Castellino, Padraic Kenna, Dr. Ursula Kilkelly, Shivaun Quinlivan United Nations New York and Geneva, 2002 ii ________________________________________________________________________ Contents NOTE Symbols of United Nations document are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Nor does the term “national institution” in any way imply conformity with the “Principles relating to the status of national institutions” (General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993, annex). HR/PUB/02/1 Copyright © United Nations 2002 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be freely quoted or reproduced or stored in a retrieval system for non-commercial purposes, provided that credit is given and a copy of the publication containing the reprinted material is sent to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, CH- 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of the copyright owner if the purpose relates to profit-making ventures.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom's Journal
    Article Freedom’s Journal: The First Step Towards a Collective Black Consciousness Emma Stave Introduction Freedom’s Journal was the first periodical published by free slaves during the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States of America; a statement which in itself points to a subject worthy of notice, especially considering the knowledge most of us possess about the extremely complicated nature of race relations in the United States. Yet, as noted by several scholars including Jacqueline Bacon and Gordon Fraser, who have themselves studied the Freedom’s Journal, this historically significant periodical has practically been completely overlooked in academia as well as in mainstream culture. In researching the periodical, it has become clear to scholars that the periodical has been a forerunner of many of the more generally acknowledged newspapers such as the New York Times, and that it has been pivotal in establishing journalistic conventions, elements of which persists to this day. Some scholars have intensely tried to account for the more historical aspects of Freedom´s Journal, whereas others have emphasized certain aspects of the literature – fiction as well as non-fiction - featured in the periodical. Others still have singled out a particular aspect to focus on such as the method of distribution. In this article, I will attempt to bridge the knowledge presented by various scholars on different aspects of Freedom’s Journal with information that can be obtained by examining the periodical’s contents, by asking the
    [Show full text]
  • Common Patterns in an Uncommon Place: the Civil Rights Movement And
    Common Patterns in an Uncommon Place: The Civil Rights Movement and Persistence of Racial Inequality in Waterloo, Iowa An Honors Project for the Program of Africana Studies By Theresa E. Shirey Bowdoin College, 2014 ©2014 Theresa E. Shirey Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my parents and grandparents for instilling in me a sense of curiosity, community, and equality. Your stories have inspired the one that follows. I also want to thank the individuals whose voices embed reality within this work: Chuck and Gale Quirk, Mary and Dave Dutton, Willie Mae Wright, Bev Smith, Lou Porter, Bob and Judy Brown, Rudy Jones, and Barb Western. Thank you to my advisor, Patrick Rael, for constantly providing feedback and contextualizing my work within that of others, and my committee members, Tess Chakkalakal, Olufemi Vaughan, and Judith Casselberry for reading my work with a critical eye. Thank you to Jennifer Snow, whose diligent support made the illustrative maps of the third chapter possible. A massive thank you to Brian Purnell, without whom I would have never pursued the subject of Africana studies in the first place. Thank you for teaching me to follow my interests, write to my audience, and be true to the story I am telling. Finally, I would like to thank my coaches, friends, and teammates for providing comic relief and perspective throughout the process. Without all of you, none of the following would have been possible. ii Table of Contents Chapter Page Introduction 1 1. A History of the People and Programs of Waterloo’s Civil Rights Period: 9 1950 to 1970 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Roads Lead to San Francisco: Black Californian Networks of Community and the Struggle for Equality, 1849-1877
    All Roads Lead to San Francisco: Black Californian Networks of Community and the Struggle for Equality, 1849-1877 By Eunsun Celeste Han B. A., Seoul National University, 2009 M. A., Brown University, 2010 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at Brown University PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND MAY 2015 © Copyright 2015 by Eunsun Celeste Han This dissertation by Eunsun Celeste Han is accepted in its present form by the Department of History as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Michael Vorenberg, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council Date Françoise Hamlin, Reader Date Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date Peter M. Weber, Dean of the Graduate School iii CURRICULUM VITAE Date of Birth: April 11, 1986, Junjoo, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea EDUCATION Ph.D., History, May, 2015 Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island M.A., History, May, 2010 Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island B.A., Western History, Feb., 2009 summa cum laude, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea QUALIFYING FIELDS Nineteenth-Century U. S. History African American History Colonial Latin American History PUBLICATIONS Eunsun Celeste Han, “Making a Black Pacific: Black Californians and Transpacific Community Networks in the Mid-Nineteenth Century,” under review at The Journal of African American History (2015). HONORS AND FELLOWSHIPS W. M. Keck Foundation Fellow at the Huntington, July-August, 2013 The Huntington Library, San Marino, California William G. McLoughlin Travel Fund, October, 2012 Brown University Department of History fund for research and conference travels William G.
    [Show full text]
  • Plistoriosll 3R,E*V-Ie"W"
    PlistoriosLl 3R,e*v-ie"W" The State Historical Society of Missouri COLUMBIA, MISSOURI COVER DESCRIPTION: The front-cover illustration is a reproduc­ tion of George Caleb Bingham's portrait of John Woods Harris. Moving in 1817 from Madison County, Kentucky, to Thrall's Prairie in western Boone County, Missouri, Harris became a prominent merchant and agriculturalist. Harris experimented in agriculture and continually enlarged, improved and developed his farm. In 1873 the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association awarded Harris's farm the title of "Model Farm of Missouri." Harris also engaged in the mercantile business in Columbia, Rocheport and Middle Grove. He won election as Boone Coun­ ty's representative to the Missouri legislature in 1860 and 1864. Harris also served on the University of Missouri's board of curators. George Caleb Bingham, a friend of Harris, completed this portrait in 1837. Mrs. William Jackson Hendrick, a daughter of Harris, presented the portrait to the State Historical Society in 1923. The Harris portrait, along with fourteen other portraits, one landscape, two genre paintings, four engravings, two litho­ graphs and numerous sketches presently are being displayed in the Society's Art Gallery. This exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of Bingham's death. The State Historical Society Art Gallery is open to the public 8:00 A.M.-4:30 P.M., Monday-Friday, excepting legal holi­ days. MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW Published Quarterly by THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI COLUMBIA, MISSOURI RICHARD S. BROWNLEE EDITOR MARY K. DAINS ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAMES W. GOODRICH ASSOCIATE EDITOR Copyright © 1979 by the State Historical Society of Missouri Hitt and Lowry Streets, Columbia, Missouri 65201 The MISSOURI HISTORICAL REVIEW (ISSN 0026-6582) is owned by the State Historical Society of Missouri and is pub­ lished quarterly at 201 South Eighth, Columbia, Missouri 65201.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Characteristic Sentiments from the Writings of William Lloyd Garrison
    I WORDS OF GARRISON S. 6. and £. L. ELBERT fXt^nxUh Int IU4A SMITH I)LBlR!IL _i88_ _ ^S^« ^ KA3?HARINE E, COMAH THE WORDS OF GARRISON THE WORDS OF GARRISON A CENTENNIAL SELECTION (i 805-1 905) OF CHARACTERISTIC SENTIMENTS FROM THE WRITINGS OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH LIST OF PORTRAITS, BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 1905 COPYRIGHT 1905 BY WENDELL PHILLIPS GARRISON AND FRANCIS JACKSON GARRISON Published October iqo^ ^ Tour remarks were full of virtue and consolation^ perfect in explanation^ and furnished a rule to live by and to die by. JVe feel fully persuaded that the day cannot be far distant when you will be acknowledged — by the very lips of those who now denounce^ revile^ and persecute you as the vilest and basest of men^ the uprooter of all order country* the destroyer of our s peace^ prosperity^ and hap- piness — to be its firm reliance^ its deliverer^ the very pillar of its future grandeur* Testimonies of the People of Color He cried to every passing Hour to stay^ Lend him strong hands and break the Tyrant^s rods: The heedless Hours went by^ but far away The slumbering Tears woke like avenging gods, Wendell Phillips Stafford ; In a small chamber^ friendless and unseen^ Toiled his types one poor^ unlearned young man The place was dark^ unfurnitured and mean^ Yet there the freedom of a race began. Help came hut slowly surely^ no man yet 'y Put lever to the heavy world with less; What need of help? — He knew how types were set^ He had a dauntless spirit and a press, James Russell Lowell Wherever wrong shall right deny^ Or suffering spirits urge their plea^ Be thine a voice to smite the lie^ A hand to set the captives free! John Greenleaf Whittier « t TO ALL WHO HATE CRUELTY OPPRESSION AND WAR AND BELIEVE IN THE EQUAL RIGHTS AND PERFECTIBILITY OF MANKIND PREFACE The following compilation is derived mainly from the four-volume Life of William Lloyd Garrison written by his children (The Cen- tury Co., New York, 1885, 1889), and now bearing the imprint of Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
    [Show full text]
  • A. the International Bill of Human Rights
    A. THE INTERNATIONAL BILL OF HUMAN RIGHTS 1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948 PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be pro- tected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the great- est importance for the full realization
    [Show full text]
  • Articles Early Efforts to Suppress Protest
    ARTICLES EARLY EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS PROTEST: UNWANTED ABOLITIONIST SPEECH KATHERINE HESSLER* Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of "the proper chan- nels," a way of breaking through passages blocked by tradition and prejudice. It is disruptive and troublesome, but it is a necessary disruption, a healthy troublesomeness.' I. INTRODUCTION Abolitionists were among the earliest citizens in the history of this country to protest government policy. They worked on behalf of slaves who were without legal standing to speak for themselves and brought attention to the evils of the government's support of slavery and the slave trade. The abolitionists spoke 2 strongly against these evils and tried to persuade others to work to end slavery. The state and federal governments went to great lengths to restrict the mes- sage of the abolitionists.3 Abolitionist speech, political speech which would re- ceive First Amendment protection today, was first restricted and later prohibited by the Southern states. Similar attempts to quiet abolitionists were made by the * Assistant Professor at Capital University Law School. I would like to thank Profes- sors Mark Strasser and Don Hughes for their patience and unflagging assistance as well as my research assistant, Monica Drvota. HOWARD ZINN, DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE, CROSS-EXAMINING AMERICAN IDEOL- oGY 123 (1990). 2 See WILLIAM LEE MILLER, ARGUING AaoUr SLAVERY 508 (1996). The abolitionists' speech was considered dangerous to the preservation of the Union. The Constitution rep- resented a compromise between the interests of the slaveowners and those who wished to end slavery.
    [Show full text]