05e: Conclusions

1. Napoleon of the Stump
In 1844, the Democrats were split. Three nominees for the Presidential candidate were Martin Van Buren, a former President and an abolitionist; James Buchanan, a moderate; Lewis Cass, a general and expansionist. From Nashville came a dark horse riding up - Mr. James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump. Austere, severe, he held few people dear. His oratory filled his foes with fear. The factions soon agreed: "he's just the man  we need to bring about victory, fulfill our Manifest Destiny, and annex the land the Mexicans command." And when the vote was cast the winner was Mr. James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump. In four short years he met his every goal. He seized the whole southwest from Mexico, made sure the tariffs fell and made the British sell the Oregon Territory. He built an independent treasury. For all of this, he sought no second term. But precious few have mourned the passing of Mr. James K. Polk, our eleventh President: "Young Hickory," "Napoleon of the Stump."

2. North versus South
The Civil War was mostly brought on by slavery, but to be fair, the people of the time would just as likely mention other concerns. The average Confederate soldier (who, by the way, was unlikely to be a slave owner) would say he was fighting not for slavery but for a state's right to make its own laws. A Northern soldier would likely say he was fighting for the Union, and that (unless he was an abolitionist) he didn't care about slaves or slavery one way or the other. The "Copperheads," who wished to make peace with the Confederacy and let it go its own way, were supported even by some Union generals. By 1863, once the rush to enlist was over, many Northerners flat out refused to fight in a war to free black slaves. Meanwhile, black ex-slaves who wanted to fight in the United States Army were driven off until some sort of sanity prevailed. Even when blacks were allowed to fight for their own freedom, they were officered by whites.

3. Some Are More Equal Than Others
The Civil War almost tore the country apart, but in this case it wasn't the bullet that nearly killed America. It was definitely the hole. The Founders' unwillingness to tackle the slave issue left a gaping wound on the nation which even the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in 1865, could not heal. Women only gained the right to vote in 1920. But blacks and women were not the only ones experiencing discrimination. As mentioned in the previous lecture, Mormons were hassled and even persecuted for their beliefs, but at least they were considered human - as opposed to the Chinese and other Orientals, who were brought in by the boatload to work at labor intensive tasks and treated like slaves. Europeans were not exempt, either. The "Know-Nothing" party held Irish Catholic immigrants responsible for nearly all of America's ills. Fortunately they faded into the distance as the nation confronted bigger problems. Unfortunately other such movements would arise after the war, such as the Knights of the Ku Klux Clan.

4. If At First You Don't Secede
Constitutional scholars are still arguing over whether the Confederate states had the right to secede from the Union or not. Obviously, this question was immaterial to Abraham Lincoln, who refused to acknowledge their secession and treated them as rebels instead. It was not a question of slavery for Lincoln, who wrote the following in August, 1862: "If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." His Emancipation Proclamation, of January 1, 1863 took the third course - freeing the slaves in the Confederacy, while saying nothing about slaves in Union-held slave states like Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri. Lincoln's means were often open to question; suspending the writ of habeas corpus made it possible for the US to imprison citizens indefinitely, without even giving a reason. But the end was undoubtedly good: freedom (at least officially) for all Americans, and the Union saved.