Slavery and Sectional Strife in the Early American Republic, 1776-1821

by Gary J. Kornblith

Overview

Slavery and Sectional Strife in the Early American Republic, 1776–1821 focuses on slavery as a moral and political issue that threatened the unity and stability of the United States from the nation's inception. In tracing the story of slavery in America's history from 1776 through the Missouri Compromise, Gary J. Kornblith highlights a number of important themes: the general acceptance of slavery in colonial America, the reevaluation of human bondage during the American Revolution, how decisions made by the Founding Fathers shaped the future of slavery in the new United States, and whether the Civil War was the inevitable result of those decisions. Students are encouraged to reach their own conclusions through reading key primary documents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742550957
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/16/2009
Series:	American Controversies
Pages:	180
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Gary J. Kornblith is professor of history at Oberlin College. He is the editor of The Industrial Revolution in America and co-editor of Teaching American History.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Section I Slavery and Sectional Strife in the Early American Republic, 1776-1821: A Critical Narrative

The Rise of Slavery in Colonial British America 3

Imperial Crisis, Independence, and the Reevaluation of Slavery 11

Revolutionary Outcomes: Early Abolition and Its Limitations 24

Slavery, Sectionalism, and the Federal Constitution 31

A More Perfect Union? The Problems of Slavery and Sectionalism in the Redesigned Republic 37

An Empire for Liberty? The Louisiana Purchase and Withdrawal from the Atlantic Slave Trade 45

The War of 1812 and Era of Good Feelings 49

The Missouri Crisis 54

Notes 61

Section II Primary Documents

Controversy over Slavery on the Eve of Revolution 75

Document 1 Philadelphia physician Benjamin Rush Attacks Slaveholding (1773) 75

Document 2 West Indian Planter Richard Nisbet Defends Slaveholding (1773) 79

Document 3 Massachusetts Slaves Petition for Freedom (1774) 82

The Spirit of 1776 83

Document 4 The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) 83

Document 5 The Declaration of Independence (1776) 84

Document 6 Congress Debates Whether to Count Blacks as People (1776) 88

Document 7 South Carolina Patriot Henry Laurens Denounces Slavery (1776) 91

The Challenge to Slavery at the State Level 93

Document 8 The Vermont Declaration of Rights (1777) 93

Document 9 Pennsylvania's Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery (1780) 94

Document 10 "A Lover of true Justice" Advises Caution in New Jersey (1781) 96

Document 11 Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia (1785, 1788) 99

The Spirit of 1787 104

Document 12 The Northwest Ordinance (1787) 104

Document 13 Debates over Slavery at the Constitutional Convention (1787) 105

Document 14 Provisions of the Federal Constitution Pertaining to Slavery (1787) 112

The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Federalism 113

Document 15 The Pennsylvania Abolition Society Petitions the Federal Congress (1790) 113

Document 16 South Carolina Representative William L. Smith Defends Slavery (1790) 115

Document 17 St. George Tucker's Plan for Gradual Emancipation in Virginia (1796) 119

Federal Action against the Atlantic Slave Trade 123

Document 18 Senators Debate Whether to Restrict the Importation of Slaves into the Louisiana Territory (1804) 123

Document 19 Congress Prepares to Prohibit American Participation in the Atlantic Slave Trade (1806) 127

Document 20 African American Orator Peter Williams, Jr., Celebrates the Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade (1808) 130

Proposals for the Colonization of Free Blacks 134

Document 21 The Kentucky Abolition Society Asks Congress to Allocate Territory for Emancipated Slaves (1815) 134

Document 22 Founding of the American Colonization Society (1816) 135

Document 23 Free Blacks of Philadelphia Oppose Colonization (1817) 137

The Missouri Crisis 138

Document 24 Debate over the Tallmadge Amendment in the House of Representatives (1819) 138

Document 25 Resolutions of a Public Meeting in Trenton, New Jersey (1819) 144

Document 26 Remarks by Representative Charles Pinckney of South Carolina on the Missouri Crisis (1820) 146

Document 27 Representative Charles Kinsey of New Jersey Makes the Case for Compromise (1820) 149

Document 28 John Quincy Adams's Reservations about the Missouri Compromise (1820) 152

Document 29 Thomas Jefferson's Prophetic Response to the Missouri Compromise (1820) 154

Index 157

About the Author 165

Editorial Reviews

Informed by decades of scholarship and teaching, Gary Kornblith presents a sorely needed collection of documents on the politics of slavery and antislavery in the era of the American Revolution and the Early Republic. Opening with an introduction that will stand for years as the best short analysis of the subject, Kornblith's judiciously assembled documents will enliven both teaching and research on one of our nation's most perplexing historical problems.

John L. Brooke

Kornblith's concise narrative is a perfect introduction to a set of documents that will allow my students the opportunity to debate the issue of slavery as a cancer that ate away at the fiber of the American nation. A much needed undergraduate text.

Gary A. DiNallo

Gary Kornblith's wonderful new book provides an invaluable survey of the documents and debates that shaped antislavery discussion in the early republic. Teachers will love Kornblith's wide selection of primary sources while even academic specialists will learn from his wise and judicious introductions. A terrific addition to the scholarly resources now available on slavery and politics in early national society.

Richard S. Newman

Because Gary Kornblith's new book combines a short, informed narrative with unusually well chosen documents, it comprises an excellent choice for undergraduate assignments on the crucial first phase of the U.S. slavery controversy.

William W. Freehling

Because Gary Kornblith's new book combines a short, informed narrative with unusually well chosen documents, it comprises an excellent choice for undergraduate assignments on the crucial first phase of the U.S. slavery controversy.--William W. Freehling, author of The Road to Disunion

Gary Kornblith's wonderful new book provides an invaluable survey of the documents and debates that shaped antislavery discussion in the early republic. Teachers will love Kornblith's wide selection of primary sources while even academic specialists will learn from his wise and judicious introductions. A terrific addition to the scholarly resources now available on slavery and politics in early national society.--Richard S. Newman, author of Freedom's Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers

Kornblith's concise narrative is a perfect introduction to a set of documents that will allow my students the opportunity to debate the issue of slavery as a cancer that ate away at the fiber of the American nation. A much needed undergraduate text.--Gary A. DiNallo, Southern Connecticut State University

From the Publisher