[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1855-1860: Seminar and Discussion Forum
Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott, Lincoln-Douglas, Harper’s Ferry, the election of 1860, secession – all the events leading up to the Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts

First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: Sometime in the future.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed. To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.

Link to December 1856 thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Animal Declaration of Independence (First inclusion of 160-year-old fiction) – 1-19
Are We a Happy People? – 20-24
Monthly Record of Current Events * – 25-27
Editor’s Drawer – 28-32
The Miseries of Mistresses – 33-34
Fashions for January – 35-36

* Some of the items included in this month’s current events:

- The official Electoral College votes.

- Congress met December 1 and a dispute arose over a seat for Kansas.

- The President’s Message, later to be known as the State of the Union address, was sent from President Pierce to Congress and read on December 2. In it the President blames the current difficulties in Kansas on northern aggression, which, if continued, could lead to civil war.

- The Secretary of War (Jefferson Davis) “reports the authorized strength of the army to be 17,894, while its actual strength is 15,562. He announces that the Indian War on the Pacific is ended, and the difficulties on the Western plains are settled, with the exception of those with the Cheyennes. He advocates a change in the present system of locating small frontier posts far in advance of population; suggesting that a few posts be selected at favorable points, at which large garrisons should be maintained, and from which strong detachments could be sent out at favorable seasons. He recommends that liberal appropriations be made for harbor and coast fortifications, for armaments and ammunition; and urges that the pay of officers should be increased.”

- “The number of Indians within the United States is estimated at 300,000. The policy of colonizing the tribes upon separate reservations has been attended with satisfactory results, giving promise of a steady amelioration in their moral and physical condition. The average annual expenditures for Indian purposes, during the last six years, has been $2,626,932.”

- Governor Adams of South Carolina (together with a “number of leading presses of the South”) is calling for the revival of the African slave trade.

- Storms on the Great Lakes have caused the loss of 49 vessels and more than 200 lives.

- The French steamer Le Lyonnais sank November 2 with the loss of all but 16 passengers and crew. There had been 98 crew and 38 passengers, including the aunt and uncle of George Templeton Strong. As of today it is not known if they are among the survivors.

- France and England are quarreling.

[freedumb2003]

Wow, when they wrote parody they wrote it LONG back then.

[SES1066]

Query - were the ‘X’s in the original?

[Karliner]

Should be required reading for college students to educate on the foibles of the UN, NWO and climate change believers, a pox on all masticating heretic humans! Fake News! AND I used, caps, a running sentence AND a couple exclamation points to prove it. Only on page 23, fun read thanks.

[BuffaloJack]

read later

[AlaskaErik]

Coincidently, 1857 was the last time a Democrat president saw his Democrat successor sworn into office.

[murron]

I’ll read this later.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

1/5 reply: Continued from December 31, 1856 (reply #70)

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[x]

Are We A Happy People? pages 207-211.

I guess so.

Cholera, Bleeding Kansas, and the Panic of 1857.

And the Civil War was just around the corner -- a big four year party.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from November 4, 1856 (reply #24).

Nicole Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era

[Jim W N]

Hi Homer,

I know you’re in the middle of this Civil War historical account but we are now witnessing what could be history in the making in the possible beginnings of restoring our Free Constitutional Republic which, if it is successful, would be an historical movement indeed - victory in a political and cultural civil war that was won without military engagement.

Would you (or do you know someone who would) consider running a daily or weekly thread that chronicles an unbiased account summary of Trump’s daily acts as President from Day One (Monday Jan 23, 2017)? Maybe something that would, for example, in Week Two summarize Trump’s acts in Week One. This would be useful among other things in evaluating what acts of Trump were and weren’t helpful in the effort to restore our Free Constitutional Republic.

This might even be a unique account of sorts, bypasssing the Lying leftist Media, and giving a true, honest, and unbiased account summary (maybe with links if one wanted to drill down) of Trump’s official acts as President, good or bad.

We can take this offline in FRmail if you want but I wanted others who are on this thread to see this request in case any of them might also want to take on this task.

Thanks Homer.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Happy 37th birthday to George Templeton Strong, born on this date in 1820. He will be 197 years old in 2017.