A President’s Point Of View
It is a president’s duty to think about the people of their country so the people are happy and feel that they are equal. For presidents James Madison and James Monroe, they chose the subject of slavery. Both of them had an immense amount of wealth and owned slaves themselves. When Madison died, he still owned about 100 slaves on his estate. Monroe had a good amount of slaves too, but the two of them didn’t treat them horribly as most white owners did at the time. Madison wrote a letter to Robert Evans, an advocate for freeing the slaves. In his letter, Madison wrote his views on slavery. He stated his agreements with Evans and even wanted to move the slaves once they were free, especially those who wanted to go back to the home they were taken from. In the contents of his letter,
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Madison wrote, “a general emancipation of slaves ought to be 1. gradual. 2. equitable [and] satisfactory to the individuals immediately concerned. 3. consistent with the existing & durable prejudices of the nation.” President James Monroe had similar ideas, such as resettling freed slaves back to parts of Africa and the Caribbean. Monroe, while still owning slaves, had demanded that his slaves would be treated to the basic necessities for their lives. According to one article, “ [For] certain slaves [in a] degree of self-determination in work assignments, [Monroe] sought medical treatment for slaves who were ill, and demanded that his slaves have access to the basics of food, clothing, and shelter.” (James Monroe’s Highland) Amongst Madison and Monroe, there were two other famous presidents who had something to say: Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Much like Madison and Monroe, Andrew Jackson was a slaveholder.
The man did want his slaves to be treated well. Jackson made sure to tell his overseer, “that he was to treat them with great humanity, feed and clothe them well, and work them in moderation.” However, Andrew Jackson wouldn’t hesitate to have a slave be whipped for running away or being imprudent. Moreorless, once when an overseer ended up killing a slave, Jackson immediately went to court to have the man tried for murder. Unlike the three other presidents, John Quincy Adams had never owned a slave in his life. He was an advocate against slavery, and one of his well known actions was writing a letter to other advocates of against slavery. Adams wasn’t a big abolitionist, unless it was done gradually, and he believed not doing so would start “producing greater violations of Justice and Humanity, than the continuance of the practice” of slavery itself. (John Adams) This gave people the wrong idea, they knew that Adam was trying to make sure that slavery wasn’t an everyday thing, but Adam wasn’t very convincing in his letter. However, he was still a good man, and managed follow through his
beliefs.
After reading the exchange between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on the question of central importance to American constitutionalism—whether any Constitution, including the United States Constitution, needs to be positively reauthorized or not by every succeeding generation for it to remain legitimate, I believe that what Jefferson demands in his letter as in all too much else, is ignorance, even rage against the past. His principle on expiring the constitution and laws every 19 years would only result in weak government that offers no social continuity and stability.
In his book, An Imperfect God, Henry Wiencek argues in favor of Washington being the first true president to set the precedent for the emancipation of African-American slaves. Wiencek delves into the evil paradox of how a nation conceived on the principles of liberty and dedicated to the statement that all men are created equal was in a state that still preserved slavery for over seven decades following the construction of the nation. Washington’s grandeur estate at Mount Vernon at its peak had the upkeep of over 300 slaves 126 of which were owned by Washington. First, it must be understood that Washington was raised on slavery receiving ownership of 10 slaves at the age of 11 years old and that Washington was a man of his time. However, it must also be understood that Washington’s business with slavery was in the context of a constrained social and political environment. Weincek maintains that this does not exonerate the fact that Washington maintained slavery however; it does help to quantify the moral shortcoming by which Washington carried until his last year of life.
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison had faith in the ethics of the people to establish a republican government.
Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.
Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery was the belief that the expansion of it to Free states and new territories should be ceased and that it eventually be abolished completely throughout the country. He believed simply that slavery was morally wrong, along with socially and politically wrong in the eyes of a Republican. Lincoln felt that this was a very important issue during the time period because there was starting to be much controversy between the Republicans and the Democrats regarding this issue. There was also a separation between the north and the south in the union, the north harboring the Free states and the south harboring the slave states. Lincoln refers many times to the Constitution and its relations to slavery. He was convinced that when our founding fathers wrote the Constitution their intentions were to be quite vague surrounding the topic of slavery and African-Americans, for the reason that he believes was because the fathers intended for slavery to come to an end in the distant future, in which Lincoln refers to the "ultimate extinction" of slavery. He also states that the men who wrote the constitution were wiser men, but obviously did not have the experience or technological advances that the men of his day did, hence the reasons of the measures taken by our founding fathers.
John Adams was the last Federalist president which led to the next 16 years of Thomas Jefferson as president for two terms and James Madison as president for two terms. Jefferson and Madison were members of the Republican Party, which had principles and philosophies that were very different than the views of the Federalists. Jefferson and Madison each abandoned the Republican philosophies for Federalism. Jefferson and Madison took on Federalist views while being President of the United States. However, Jefferson and Madison each picked somewhere to stand their ground and keep some of their Republican views.
Reading Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address, one wouldn’t think he would be the president to end slavery.Speaking on outlawing slavery, he says,“I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” At the time, Lincoln wasn’t worried about slavery,
Lincoln declared that “all persons held as slaves” in areas in rebellion “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Not only liberate slaves in the border slave states, but the President has purposely made the proclamation in all places in the South where the slaves were existed. While the Emancipation Proclamation was an important turning point in the war. It transformed the fight to preserve the nation into a battle for human freedom. According the history book “A People and a Nation”, the Emancipation Proclamation was legally an ambiguous document, but as a moral and political document it had great meaning. It was a delicate balancing act because it defined the war as a war against slavery, not the war from northern and southern people, and at the same time, it protected Lincoln’s position with conservatives, and there was no turning
In a speech that Lincoln gave prior to his presidency, we can see how ambiguous his stance on slavery truly was. This speech, known as the ‘House Divided’ speech, was given on the 16th of June, 1858, and outlined his beliefs regarding secession, but did not solidify the abolition of slavery as his main goal. Lincoln states that the nation “could not endure, permanently half slave and half free,” and that the slavery will either cease to exist, or will encompass all states lawfully (Lincoln). At this point in his life, Lincoln’s primary concern is clearly with the preservation of the nation.
The delegates chosen to represent their states on May 25, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention could never have imagined the lasting impact they would have on the nation for over 200 years. These men from diverse upbringings and unique educational backgrounds came together to forge a nation. From the chaos and change of the old world, they were able to bring forth a new nation founded on liberty. It is hard to overrate the amount of foresight and knowledge needed by the Framers of the Constitution in constructing a document that would guide a new nation through times of peace and upheaval.
He then continues by declaring that all slaves from the Southern States which he mentions in the text are from now on free, ordering that the navy and army along with the Government of the United States ensure that it is carried out. He then addresses the former slaves to abstain from violence, unless it´s needed for self-defence and he asks them to work faithfully in return for wages, he also makes known that any man of a suitable age and condition will be more than welcome to enlist in the Union Army. He then finishes the text invoking both “the considerate judgment of mankind” and “the gracious favour of Almighty God” as would be expected following the conventions of the time, however it did not apply to nearly the 500,000 slaves in Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland or Delaware which were Union states. The President knew that only congress could remove slavery permanently, but he had the satisfaction of seeing it come true before his early death, becoming the first American President to be assassinated on April the 14th 1865. On January the 31st of 1865 slavery was abolished completely when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed by the House of Representatives. Another two Amendments were passed to ensure no more discrimination against former slaves the first one was the 14th Amendment, it gave citizenship to people born or naturalized in the United States and
In fact twelve of the forty three presidents were slave owners. George Washington owned many slaves in his time people asked around on how he has treated his slaves.“it was the sense of all his [Washington's] neighbors that he treated [his slaves] with more severity than any other man." Conversely, a foreign visitor traveling in America once recorded that George Washington dealt with his slaves "far more humanely than do his fellow citizens of Virginia”. So even the first president owned slaves and treated them as humans thought with
James Madison was born March 16, 1751, in Port Conway, Virginia, while his mother was visiting her parents. He was the son of James and Nelly Conway Madison. After a few weeks, she traveled back to Montpelier Estate, in Orange County, with her newborn. This became his lifelong home. He was the oldest of 10 children and a descendent of the planter aristocracy. His early education was gained from his mother, many tutors, and at a private school. He was a very bright boy and did well in his studies although he was frail and sickly in his youth.
At the age of eleven James Madison was the oldest of his siblings and he began to peak an interest in intellectual earnestness. At age eleven Madison began schooling with a Donald Robertson. Robertson’s school was located in King and Queens County, Virginia. Robertson received his education from the University of Edinburgh. Robertson ran an extremely rigorous school of cla...
"We are told by his biographers, and apologists, that he hated slavery with a passion. But since he participated fully in the plantation slavery system, buying and selling slaves on occasion, and because he could not bring himself to free his own slaves, who often numbered upward of 200-250 on his plantations, one has to either question the verity of this passion or speculate that it was merely the abstract idea of slavery that he hated." (Smedley 189) Thomas Jefferson was always aware of the fact that slavery would soon one day be abolished but he made no efforts during his lifetime to accelerate the process. Jefferson was a wealthy plantation owner and politician that would speak out about slavery on a regular basis but would still employ slaves for his own use.