Posted on 11/21/2015 11:35:55 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Before when free-soil men invoked the right of revolution in defense of their political rights, proslavery men condemned them for defying the legitimate government. But proslavery men feared the loss of their right to own slaves as much as free soilers feared the loss of the right to exclude slavery.
At Hickory Point, [Kansas] a squabble over land claims ignited these political quarrels. A settler named Franklin M. Coleman had been squatting on land abandoned by some Hoosiers, who subsequently sold the claim to Jacob Branson, another Hoosier. In late 1854, when Branson informed Coleman of his legal claim and attempted to move into Coleman’s house, Coleman held him off with a gun. A group of arbitrators later awarded part of the claim to Branson, but the boundaries between his land and Coleman’s were not determined. Branson invited in other men, including a young Ohioan named Charles W. Dow. Branson belonged to the free-state militia, a connection he used to intimidate Coleman, although Branson later testified that there had been no problems between Dow and Coleman – until the day of Dow’s murder.
On the morning of November 21, 1855, Dow went to the blacksmith shop at Hickory Point to have a wagon skein and lynchpin mended. While there he argued with one of Coleman’s friends, but left unharmed. As he walked away, he passed Coleman on the road. Coleman snapped a cap at him. When Dow turned around, he received a charge of buckshot in the chest and died immediately. His body lay in the road until Branson recovered it four hours later. Coleman claimed that Dow had threateningly raised the wagon skein (a two-foot piece of iron) as they argued over their claim dispute, forcing him to act in self-defense. Fearing that he could not get fair treatment at the free-state settlement of Hickory Point, Coleman and his family fled to Missouri.
Nicole Etcheson, “Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Eraâ€
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Go. Washington
Please put me on the Civil War era ping list.
I’m in. Thanks again!
Thanks for taking on this work; please add me to The Ping List.
Allan Nevins wrote an 8-volume history of the era which I am working through. The detail is sometimes overwhelming but does put flesh on the bones of time.
Ordeal of the Union (1947–1971)
1. Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847–1852;
2. A House Dividing, 1852–1857;
3. Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857–1859;
4. Prologue to Civil War, 1859–1861;
5. The Improvised War, 1861–1862;
6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862–1863;
7. The Organized War, 1863–1864;
8. The Organized War to Victory, 1864–1865
I am half way through volume 6, and in no hurry, apparently.
Please put me on the 1855-65 Civil War Ping List.
Thank you Homer and Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks for the Thanksgiving post. Lincoln had a way of striking the right touch and putting on a brave face, even after the catastrophe of Chickamauga. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
I will get you on the new list now.
Oratory is a lost art. Sure, some were windbags like Everett. But it was a form of entertainment. People used to go to the Courthouse just to watch the attorneys argue their cases. Today, I’ve done my best work in mostly empty courtrooms.
Television changed all of that. There are psychological studies that show we were once equally adept at assimilating information in the auditory and visual areas. Now, the preponderance of learning is done visually.
IMO, one of the best things people can do for themselves, their families, and their country is to get rid of the television.
Thanks Homer! Great to be back in class again!
I’ll admit that I’m torn about whether it is fair to call Everett a windbag. Part of me says “yeah, he was” and part of me says it’s not really fair.
Even Lincoln, whose pithiness at Gettysburg tends to make Everett look like a windbag by comparison, seemed to hold Everett and his oratory in very high regard. The rest of the country seems to have tended to share that high opinion of the man as well.
Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving, my friend.
During the recent anniversary of the Address I read somewhere that, afterwards, Everett sent Lincoln a gracious note saying that Lincoln said more in his short speech than he (Everett) did in a couple hours. Made me think well of Everett.
For freeper consideration, I highly recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Hour-Peril-Secret-Lincoln/dp/1250042666
I just realized what a vocabulary building activity this thread will be.
Skein - A tapered metal shroud that encloses the end of a wooden axle and serves as the surface that the wheel hub rolls on.Here is what the skein may have looked like:(click image to read article)
Thanks for the ping!
Fascinating...
Thought this might be useful to the thread, from the Kansas Historical Society:
Kansas Territory - Timeline
1854 - 1861
May 26, 1854
Kansas-Nebraska Act passes Congress effective with president’s signature, May 30.
July 6, 1854
Republican Party born, Jackson, Michigan.
July 28, 1854
First organized band of New Englanders arrives in Kansas and soon founds the city of Lawrence.
October 7, 1854
First territorial governor, Andrew Reeder, arrives at Fort Leavenworth.
November 29, 1854
Governor Reeder calls the first election in Kansas Territory; vote to elect delegate to Congress—John W. Whitfield, proslavery.
March 30, 1855
Election for members of territorial legislature.
July 1, 1855
So-called “Bogus Legislature” meets at Pawnee.
August 14, 1855
First convention of free-staters gather in Lawrence and call for election of delegates to free-state constitutional convention.
August 16, 1855
Territorial Governor Reeder replaced by Wilson Shannon.
September 5, 1855
Free-staters meeting in Big Springs to form Free-State Party.
October 23, 1855
Free-state delegates assemble in Topeka to draft “Topeka Constitution” prohibiting slavery in Kansas Territory; Charles Robinson “elected” governor.
November 21, 1855
Free-stater Charles Dow killed by proslavery supporter Franklin Coleman; “Wakarusa War.”
May 10, 1856
Free-state “Governor” Robinson arrested in Lexington, Missouri.
May 21, 1856
Sack of Lawrence by Sheriff Sam Jones and proslavery forces.
May 22, 1856
Senator Chas. Sumner (R. Mass.) beaten on U.S. Senate floor after “Crime Against Kansas” speech.
May 24, 1856
John Brown’s Pottawatomie massacre in Franklin County.
June 2, 1856
Battle of Black Jack, near Baldwin, Douglas County; June 4 - 5, Battle of Franklin, near Lawrence.
August 16, 1856
Battle of Fort Titus, near Lecompton, Douglas County; August 30, Battle at Osawatomie, Miami County.
September 13, 1856
Battle of Hickory Point, north of Oskaloosa, Jefferson County.
November 4, 1856
Presidential election, James Buchannan (D. Pa.) defeated John C. Fremont (R. Calif.).
January 12, 1857
Legislature meets in Lecompton; Democratic Party formed in Kansas.
March 6, 1857
Dred Scott decision handed down by U.S. Supreme Court.
August 24, 1857
Panic of 1857 precipitated by failure of New York financial institutions.
September 7, 1857
Lecompton Constitutional Convention opens.
October 5 - 6, 1857
Free-state victory in the election for territorial legislature.
December 7, 1857
Special session of legislature calls for popular vote on Lecompton Constitution; On December 21, with free-staters refusing to participate in election, Constitution is approved.
January 4, 1858
Lecompton Constitution rejected in second vote in which free-staters participate.
May 18, 1858
Leavenworth Constitution approved by Kansas voters; rejected by U.S. Congress.
May 19, 1858
Marais des Cygnes Massacre, Linn County.
August 2, 1858
Final vote on Lecompton Constitution: 1,926 for to 11,812 against.
August 21, 1858
Lincoln-Douglas debates begin, Ottawa, Illinois; series of seven debates, end October 15.
October 4, 1859
Wyandotte Constitution ratified by Kansas voters.
December 1, 1859
Abraham Lincoln visits Kansas.
December 2, 1859
John Brown hanged for treason at Charlestown, Virginia.
February 12, 1860
Kansas admission bill introduced in U.S. House of Representatives.
November 6, 1860
Lincoln wins plurality in four-way presidential contest.
January 29, 1861
President James Buchanan signed Kansas admission bill.
https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/kansas-territory-timeline-more/14726
Anyone who can talk for more than an hour is, by definition, a windbag. There is no concept deserving of a speech that be requires more than 30 minutes.
I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving as well, and one of the many things I am thankful for today is that Homer is “putting the band back together.”
That list sort of looks like our table of contents for the next few years.
Please add me...
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