Slavery in the United States. 333 was relinquished to the general government, on the payment to the State of ten millions of dollars (See map facing p. 243).* Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 8. The lull was of short duration. Four years later the "Slavery Question" was revived in Congress, by the passage of the "Kansas-Nebraska Bill." This law repealed the "Compromise of 1820," a compact that had been regarded as sacred and made for all time. Then came a fierce and bloody struggle between the North and the South for the mastery in Kansas, a struggle in which John Brown took an important part, and which resulted in a victory to the North, and ultimately in the admission of Kansas as a free State ( 2, p. 253). 9. A decision of the Supreme Court of the United States made public directly after the inauguration of Buchanan added fuel to the flame that was burning at the The Case. time (Note, p. 254). Dred Scott, a negro slave, Dred Scott had been taken by his owner from Missouri, a slave State, to a free State, and thence to the free territory west of the Mississippi. Finally, his master returned with him to Missouri. Believing that, as he had been taken to the territory where, under the "Compromise of 1820," it had been declared that slavery should never have any existence-had been taken there before the repeal of the compromise,―he was thus no longer legally a slave, he brought a suit for his freedom, and obtained a judgment in his favor. A higher court, however, soon reversed the decision, and the case, on appeal, was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States. Again the decision was against Scott. Chief Justice Taney, in behalf of a majority of the court, declared that for more than a century previous to the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, negroes, whether slaves or free, had * The Compromise of 1850, in its first form, was commonly known as the "Omnibus Bill," from its all-embracing rature. As a whole it was defeated after a debate lasting till near the end of the session, but was gradually divided into a number of separate bills and so passed. been regarded as "so far inferior to the white race, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.*" 10. The election of Lincoln to the presidency, as the struggle in Kansas was drawing to a close, was followed by the secession movement on the part of South Carolina Emancipa- and other Southern States, and by the Great Civil tion. War (pp. 258-293). In the midst of the war Lincoln issued his memorable proclamation, declaring the slaves in all the States and districts at war with the national government to be forever free (¶ 30, p. 276). To give perfect validity to this declaration, and to make complete the abolition of slavery in every part of the land, the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution was adopted directly after the close of the war, but not before the death of Lincoln (¶ 3, p. 296). Thus, after an existence of nearly two hundred and fifty years-commencing in 1619, when a Dutch ship landed twenty Africans on the banks of the James, and ending when the issues of the Great Civil War set free nearly four millions of negroes-was slavery declared to have no longer an existence within the United States. * The decision of the Supreme Court startled the people of the North. It declared, in substance, that "Dred Scott was no citizen of Missouri, but a thing;" and that his residence in the free territory west of the Mississippi could avail him nothing, because the "Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional, and could not prevent a slave-owner from settling in any territory with all his property. The Court took occasion to observe that Congress had no more right to prohibit the carrying of slaves into any State or Territory than it had to prohibit the carrying thither of horses or any other property." A little more than a year later a book was published entitled the "Impending Crisis." Its author, Mr. Helper, was a North Carolinian, who had spent some time in the free States, where he had imbibed ideas respecting slavery which he finally put forth in his "Impending Crisis." His book was an appeal to the poor whites of the South urging them a slavery advocate, and never to have 66 never to give another vote for any fellowship in religion or affiliation in society with slave-holders." It was widely circulated, exasperating the South, but influencing the North against slavery. PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. No. PRESIDENTS. RESIDENCE. INAUGURATED. VICE-PRESIDENTS. 1 George Washington.. Virginia.......... April 30, 1789.. John Adams. 2 John Adams......... Massachusetts... March 4, 1797.. Thomas Jefferson. 6 John Q. Adams...... Massachusetts... March 4, 1825.. John C. Calhoun. 7 Andrew Jackson.... Tennessee... John C. Calhoun.t March 4, 1829 Martin Van Buren. 3 Martin Van Buren... New York........ March 4, 1837.. Richard M. Johnson. 13 Millard Fillmore..... New York..... .. July 10, 1850. 14 Franklin Pierce. New Hampshire. March 4, 1853.. William R. King.* ... 15 James Buchanan.... Pennsylvania.... March 4, 1857.. John C. Breckenridge. LEXINGTON. BATTLES OF THE REVOLUTION. (The names of the most important are in heavy-faced type. See preceding page.) Long Island....Map, p. 148, and facing p. 125. Pages 147, 148. PRINCETON...... Ten miles from Trenton. Map, p. 150: p. 152. Brandywine.... See Map, p. 154, and pp. 153, 154. BEMIS HEIGHTS. 1st Stillwater.) Map, p. 156, and p. 159. Saratoga.... .(2d Stillwater.) See Map, p. 156, and p. 159. KETTLE CREEK..On the Savannali river, Georgia. Page 166. Page 166. STONO FERRY... Ten miles from Charleston. Map, p. 143, and p. 164. HOBKIRK'S HILL. Near Camden, S. C. Map facing p. 125, and p. 173. Eutaw Springs.. In South Carolina. Map facing p. 125, and p. 173. Yorktown......Map facing p. 125, and p. 174; also p. 314. |