這是歷史筆記……The American Pageant 第十六和第十七章。

Chapter 16: The South and the Slavery Controversy

"Cotton Is King!"             The Planter "Aristocracy"                 Slaves of the Slave System                     The White Majority       Free Blacks: Slaves Without Masters           Plantation Slavery                         Life Under the Lash                   The Burdens of Bondage             Early Abolitionism     Radical Abolitionism             The South Lashes Back           The Abolitionist Impact in the North

-The Cotton Kingdom gradually developed into a huge agricultural factory, and the quick profits drew planters to the bottomlands of the Gulf states. -Northern shippers were able to earn much money from the trade of cotton. -After the 1840s, cotton had accounted for half the value of all American exports. -Southern leaders were fully awards that the Britain was dependent on them for cotton.   -In some respects, before the Civil War, was not so much a democracy as an oligarchy. -The planter aristocrats enjoyed most of the profits, and the gap between the rich and the poor gradually widened. It also hampered public education, because the wealthy sent their children to public schools. -The plantation lives shaped the lives of women. -The mistress of a great plantation would have to direct an army of slaves and servants. -None of the slaveholding women believed in abolition.   -The economic structure became a monopoly, with the small farmers becoming poorer and the plantation owners becoming richer and more powerful. -The plantation system was also financially unstable, as the temptation for over land speculation made people spend more than them could afford. -Also, the King Cotton led to a dangerous one-crop dependence, which would destroy the south. -Also, the southern planters hated how the northerners could make fortunes at their expense. -Since the south rejected most of the immigrants, the immigrants were forced to the north, bringing them a larger work force.   - The poorer whites, even though they didn't own many slaves, ironically became the stoutest defenders of slavery, because owning slaves was their ticket to a higher social standing. -They also believed in social superiority.   -The only free blacks in the southern states were the ones emancipated in a wave of idealism, and the mulattoes, children of white planters and their black mistresses. There were also a few who were able to buy their way to freedom. -The free blacks in the South were treated badly, and the same way in the North. -In fact, anti-Black feelings were stronger in the North compared to the south. Frederick Douglass was beaten and mobbed several times.   -There were nearly 4 million black people in the South by 1860. -Legal importation was no longer allowed, but many slave traders still risked their lives to smuggle the "black ivory". -However, a huge bulk of the population came from natural reproduction rather than the slaves smuggled into the country. -Most planters regarded slaves as an investment. The slaves became so valuable that the plantation owners rather had the wage-paying Irishmen do the dangerous work, such as replacing a roof tile or blasting tunnels and draining swamps. -The more profits from cotton, the more slaves being brought into the south. -Women slaves were promised their freedom if they could have 10 children. -Slave auctions were the most revolting of all. -Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe put it at the heart of the plot.   -Most of the white southerners romanticized about the happy lives of their slaves, while reality varied, depending on the plantation, the owner, and the region. -Some of the slaves were treated brutally, forced to work in the fields from dawn to dusk. Overseers whipped them mercilessly. -However, most slaves were able to escape beatings, as the plantation owners regarded them as priceless objects. -Along the lower Mississippi River, a stable African American culture developed, and most slaves were able to grow up in two-parent households. -They also kept religion alive, and combined their own with Christianity.   -Slaves were denied an education, and states passed laws to enforce that. -Slaves tried to work at the slowest pace possible, thus creating the myth of laziness. -The slaves also craved for freedom, and became runaways and tried to start rebellions. -The whites in turn became more brutal, and also became more paranoid that the slaves would start another insurrection.   -Abolitionist feelings first stirred during the Revolution, mainly among the Quakers. -Early Abolitionists focused on sending Blacks back to Africa.   -Abolitionists soon began to advocate for the immediate emancipation of slaves. -Frederick Douglass was a great leader among the abolitionists, giving stunning speeches. He was practically flexible. -William Lloyd Garrison was very stubborn, and demanded that the North break away completely from the South. He focused on morals. -Douglass focused on the political aspects of freeing slaves.   -Antislavery societies also grew in numbers in the South. -During the nullification crisis of 1832, proslavery whites became even more fearful of losing their slaves, and thus formed their own societies against freeing slaves. -The controversy over free people endangered free speech, and Congress passed the Gag Resolution.   -Abolitionists were for a long time unpopular. -Extreme abolitionism provoked mob outbursts, which made the abolitionists look like martyrs. -By the 1850s, abolitionists had been able to etch the opinion deeply into northern minds.

Chapter 17: Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy

The Accession of "Tyler Too"                   John Tyler: A President Without a Party                 A War of Words with Britain               Manipulating the Maine Maps             The Lone Star of Texas Shines Alone                 The Belated Texas Nuptials               Oregon Fever Populates Oregon     A Mandate (?) for Manifest Destiny                         Polk the Purposeful                 Misunder-standings with Mexico       American Blood on American (?) Soil     The Mastering of Mexico         Fighting Mexico for Peace                 Profit and Loss in Mexico

-President Harrison was bewildered by the uproar of a horde of hard-ciderites coming to Washington clamoring for the spoils of office. -The leaders of the Whig party regarded Harrison as only an impressive figurehead. Daniel Webster (secretary of state) and Henry Clay (Speaker of the House) would be the true people at the helm. -However, their plan failed, as Harrison passed away after only four weeks in the White House. -John Tyler became the president. -His enemies charged Tyler of being a Democrat in Whig clothing. -He also went against the Whigs on almost every issue.   -The Whigs had a strongly nationalistic program. -First was financial reform, and the Whig Congress wanted to pass a law to end the independent treasury, which Tyler signed.. Then they wanted to create a fiscal bank, creating a new BUS. -Tyler was well known for being hostile to the idea of a central bank system, so he vetoed the second bill. -The Whigs instead tried to pass a fiscal corporation, which Tyler found equally offensive. -Then Tyler vetoed the tariff bill, because it called for making money by selling public lands in the west.   -Hatred of Britain originated from the two Anglo-American wars. Also, all the pro-British Federalists had died out and been replaced by Jacksonian Democrats. -British travelers wrote acidly about the rudeness of American culture. -As travel books launched sneering attacks on the Yankees, the Americans replied in an equal fashion. -When Canadians started a doomed-to-fail resurrection, the Americans hurried to support them by sending them military supplies and offering military service. The government tried futilely to keep neutrality.   -The British wanted to build a road westward from Halifax to Quebec. However, the route also went into disputed territory claimed by Maine. -The crisis deepened in 1842, and the British sent to America a nonprofessional diplomat. -The people agreed on a compromise. Britain got less land, but won the route. -In this treaty, the US was given land that was later found to contain the priceless Mesabi iron ore of Minnesota.   -Eight years since 1836, Mexico refused to recognize Texas as independent, and vowed to reconquer it in the future. -Texas, after two assaults from Mexico, was forced to begin negotiations with France and Britain. -In 1839 and 1840, Texans concluded treaties with France, Holland and Belgium. -Britain was interested in the prospects of having an independent Texas. It would help keep the U.S. in check and prevent the U.S. from trespassing into British territory. Also, the puppet Texas could be used to turn against America.   -Texas became a leading issue in the presidential campaign of 1844. The foes of expansion assailed annexation. -Tyler shepherded Texas into the fold. Many of the Whigs feared that adding Texas into the Union would upset the balance and add more support towards slavery. -In 1845, Texas was formally invited to become the twenty-eighth star. -Mexico angrily charged that the Americans had taken away Texas from them, but that was hardly true.   -Britain and the U.S. were the only countries left to fight over Oregon. -Both had explored and somewhat occupied the land. -However, when "Oregon fever" took place, the number of Americans in the area multiplied.   -In 1844, Henry Clay was chosen by the Whigs as the presidential candidate. The Democrats, after much deadlock and hassle, finally decided and nominated James K. Polk, America's first "surprise" presidential candidate. -Polk was Speaker of the House of Reps. for 4 years, and governor of Tennessee for two terms. -Known as "Young Hickory". -Polk was able to defeat Clay, 170 to 105 in the Electoral College and 1,338,464 to 1,300,097 in the popular vote. -Clay lost by 5,000 votes in New York (If he won in New York, he could've won the election). -The tiny antislavery Liberty party absorbed 16,000 votes. -Three days before leaving the White House, Tyler signed the joint resolution to annex Texas, because land-hungry Democrats had said that the election voiced the voters' opinions and gave them a mandate to annex Texas.   -Polk wanted to lower tariffs, and his secretary of Treasury devised a bill that would lower the Tariff of 1842 from 32 percent to 25 percent. -The Walker Tariff of 1846 was an excellent revenue producer, despite predictions that said otherwise. -Polk then wanted to restore the independent treasury. Pro-bank Whigs protested, but the bill still passed. -Third and fourth on Polk's list was the acquisition of California and the settlement of the Oregon dispute. -Finally, Britain and America agreed on the 49 degree.   -Polk was eager to but California from Mexico, but tensions were high in the relationship between the two countries. -The main reason was Texas. -Polk became increasingly worried about not getting California, especially when rumors about Britain ready to buy or seize California began to circulate.   -Polk declared war on Mexico for 1. unpaid claims and 2. Slidell's rejection. -Polk provoked the war in order to get California, while the Mexicans were also eager to fight in order to try and recapture Texas. -Both sides were fired by moral indignation and were eager to fight.   -Polk wanted California, and not war. Thus, he decided that once he got the prize, he would stop fighting. -American operations were completely successful, and easily captured California. -Now, many people called to crush Mexico City.   -Polk wanted to end the fighting as soon as they got California. -Nicolas P. Trist at first didn't successfully negotiate a treaty, so Polk told him to come back. However, Trist wrote a sixty-five page letter explaining why he wasn't going back. -Trist used this time to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. -The treaty confirmed that Americans had control over Texas, and gave Oregon and California to the U.S. The U.S. in turn would pay 15 million. -While Trist did prove himself annoying, this treaty was sent just in time to prevent the Whigs from throwing away the fruits of war. -A swelling group of expansionists, was clamoring into Mexico.   -America's size was, this time, increased by one third, greater than the Louisiana Purchase. -The Mexican War was the schoolroom of the Civil War, as most of the Generals of the Mexican War also ended up fighting in the Civil War. -This war was also an ugly turning point between US and Latin American relations. -The war also rearoused the slavery issue. -The opening shots of the Mexican War were the opening shots of the Civil War. -Polk gave the country great physical heritage but bad moral ones.