Preston Brooks, a cowardly scoundrel, committed one of the most evil crimes that had ever occurred in the Senate since before that time period. Brooks beat Sumner with his cane on the floor of the Senate, unjustifiably, in response to parts of Sumner's speech that he found disturbing. One of the topics Sumner discussed was slavery. He told the audience of the torture slaves went through, such as “compel(ling) fellowmen to unpaid toll, separate(ing) husband and wife, and sell(ing) little children at the auctions...” This accurate description of slavery life showed how great of an evil slavery really was, and why it should have been abolished. The cowardly scoundrel, known as Brooks by name, had no real reason to cane Sumner. In fact, he could
have expressed the same emotions verbally. Furthermore, Brooks violated Sumner's right to freedom of speech, which says that a person is allowed to express what he/she wishes. Because Brooks caned Sumner, which resulted in permanent brain damage, and in addition violated Sumner's personal right to freedom of speech, he deserved to be punished for his actions. The very fact that this offense was committed on the floor of the Senate is astonishing. The Senate is where people discuss and solve issues, not a place for physical misconduct! It shows how far Brooks was willing to go, even to the extent of attacking a representative in the Senate building itself! A Bostonian newspaper, Bee, describes the incident as “an outrage so gross and villainous... never before committed in the walls of the Capitol.” The newspaper also notes that “fiendish bystanders” contributed to the overall tense climate of the incident by preventing people from interfering with Brooks. If these bystanders were not in the way, perhaps people willing enough could stop Brooks's attacks. Brooks's actions showed his lack of self-control and uncivilized behavior, because he chose to resort to physical actions rather than first attempting something more reasonable. For these reasons, Preston's caning of Charles Sumner was completely unjustified.
Brown had his mind made up to travel on the pathway to Harpers Ferry right when he was born and believed he is the only one that has to lead this battle. His parents were passionate Calvinists who taught their children to view life as an endless fight contrary to evil. The battle of John Brown was on a more personal level where he remembered a memory when he was five years old and his mother whipped him for stealing a vast amount of brass pins. In addition, the battle was somewhat on a political point as well because Brown and his family considered that the sincere had to be spectators against the bad people in America. They assumed that the biggest evil during their time has to be none other than the establishment of slavery. Therefore, the father of John Brown replaced their family residence in northeast Ohio into a stop on the Underground Railroad and made his son into a dedicated abolitionist. Brown’s developing participation in the movement in the 1830s and ’40s made him set his commitment as well as the rising nationwide fight over slavery’s position in a country supposedly devoted to equal opportunity. During this era, abolition...
...of the soldiers who killed five citizens. John Adams yelled “Bad behavior” of Attucks. he continued “Whose very looks was enough to terrify any person” Twenty years earlier before all this happened William Brown placed an advertisement describing Crispus. William Warren was already looking for him and because he was a runaway slave they killed him.
Gwendolyn Brooks' "First fight. Then Fiddle." initially seems to argue for the necessity of brutal war in order to create a space for the pursuit of beautiful art. The poem is more complex, however, because it also implies both that war cannot protect art and that art should not justify war. Yet if Brooks seems, paradoxically, to argue against art within a work of art, she does so in order create an artwork that by its very recognition of art's costs would justify itself.
What This Cruel War Was Over evaluates the American Civil War through the eyes of both northern and southern soldiers. By examining the conflict through this lens, Chandra Manning delivers a narrative with intricacies that explore an in-depth perspective to a greater degree than other authors have in the past. Revealing how men thought about slavery and the Civil War frames her book, and the examples she utilizes to fulfill her goal in arguing her thesis conveys an original body of work. Additionally, several of the concepts established in the author’s book are also discussed through various methods in other books.
The philosophical tone created through the lofty diction demonstrates that the principles of the Constitution are in actuality unconstitutional in regards to society’s attitudes toward the forced labor system. Cary emphasizes that the inhumane treatment of slaves goes against the moral values of the nation as it takes away the necessities that all are inclined to. Consequently, this led to the mass movement of abolitionists, demanding that they “… [make] our voice heard at home” (Cary 1-2) in a place where
Charles Sumner, leader of the Radical Republican group and compelling chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, was one of the more educated politicians of his epoch who sought to abolish slavery. A Harvard Law School graduate, Sumner was the embodiment of formal rhetoric, evinced by his eloquent addresses and ardent opinions on pressing issues of his time (American Experience).
After the Turner revolt, the topic of slavery took over American politics (3,91). Congressman David Wilmot suggested that legislation prohibit slavery in new territories that were conquered from the victory in a war with Mexico (3,91). Wilmot acted in hopes of stopping slavery’s expansion westward but his movement did not pass with the Senate and was therefore disregarded (3,91). The South’s population was slowly becoming overshadowed by the North’s, leaving little room to stop anti-slavery legislation (3,91). When California was admitted as a free state in 1850, the US was left with no slave state to balance this addition and some southerners desired a separation of slave states from the union (3,92). Congressmen and senators started to fear their political opponents tremendously; tension was slowly building up (3,92). The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state but also passed a law making it painless for slave-owners to recover their escaped slaves from free states (3,92). Congress then passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed inhabitants to decide whether Kansas would be a free state or a slave state (3,92). In hopes of victory, the opposing sides invaded the territory which was after nick-named “Bleeding Kansas” by the easterners (3,92). This unsettled region would be the perfect setting to launch a crusade against slavery (3, 92). This scheme was exactly what John Brown had in mind (3,92).
“Are there any two words in all of the English language more closely twinned than courage and cowardice?” (Brooks). In the novel March by Geraldine Brooks, March ponders this question and contemplates several of the choices he has made during his fight for African American’s equality. After experiencing the cruelty of slavery and the hardships of war, March begins struggling to get a grasp of his morals and to fully cope with his guilt. Due to his life being constantly involved with slavery and the civil war, March is surrounded by violence. These scenes of violence, March’s actions during these cruel occasions, and the outcome of his choices are instrumental pieces to the theme of this novel.
The fictionalized portrait he penned in “The Heroic Slave” is similar to the personal experience related in his autobiographical work. Both works illustrate the cruel and inhumane treatment of slaves by their masters. Physical abuse, in the form of beatings and inadequate nourishment, is a common prevalence as was mental abuse, in the forms of derogatory language and the separation of family units. The pursuit of freedom from slavery is a shared theme of these two compositions. Douglass felt his pursuit was best served by an education. Madison used his innate intelligence, bravery and perseverance to secure his freedom. Slavery’s direct conflict with fundamental Christian values is illustrated in several places in each work. Abuse of any kind is oppositional to the Christian values of kindness and charity and the subjects of these works endured many instances of abuse. Douglass’s own eloquence is apparent in “The Heroic Slave” in his word choice. Phrases such as “made merchandise of my body” (B: 1263) and “children of a common Creator” (B: 1272) masterfully articulates the inhumane act of owning other humans. The passage describing how a snake would not “stop to take my blows” (B: 1256) illustrates the further degradation of humanity when mandatory compliance is coupled with the cruelty of physical abuse
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
As the United States grew, the institution of slavery became a way of life in the southern states, while northern states began to abolish it. While the majority of free blacks lived in poverty, some were able to establish successful businesses that helped the Black community. Racial discrimination often meant that Blacks were not welcome or would be mistreated in White businesses and other establishments. A comparison of the narratives of Douglass and Jacobs demonstrates the full range of demands and situations that slaves experienced, and the mistreatment that they experienced as well. Jacobs experienced the ongoing sexual harassment from James Norcom, just like numerous slave women experienced sexual abuse or harassment during the slave era. Another issue that faced blacks was the incompetence of the white slave owners and people. In ...
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
Throughout the narrative, Douglas gives numerous examples of the dehumanizing violence towards slaves by their masters and overseers. This violence is explicitly described in Douglass’ depiction of Master Colonel Lloyd and his overseer, Austin Gore.
By the 1830s, a small but outspoken abolitionist movement arose, led by New Englanders and free blacks, including William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Lucretia Mott. Many people North and South considered slavery an undesirable institution, but by the 1840s the militant abolitionists went much further and declared that owning a slave was a terrible sin, and that the institution should be immediately abolished. Southerners bitterly resented this moralistic attack, and also the stereotypical presentation of slave owners as heartless Simon Legrees in the overwhelmingly popular (in the North) book and play by Harriet Beecher Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852). Historians continue to debate whether slave owners actually felt either guilt or shame (Berringer 359-60[1]). But there is no doubt the southerners were angered by the abolitionist attacks. Starting in the 1830s there was a widespread and growing ideological defense of the "peculiar institution" everywhere in the South.
In Harper lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird and The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till