[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 April 1857 thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Monthly Record of Current Events * – 2-5
Editor’s Drawer – 6-12
Original Comicalities – 13-14
Fashions for May – 15-16

* The Senate confirmed a treaty with Britain relating to Central America. “The Executive declined to lay before the Senate the treaty negotiated with Mexico by Mr. Forsyth; and the draft of a new treaty has been prepared. It proposes the purchase from Mexico of the territory comprised in the States of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Lower California, including the Gulf of California. The sum proposed to be paid for these new acquisitions is stated at some twelve or fifteen millions of dollars.” Commercial treaties have also been negotiated with Persia, Venezuela, Chili and Siam.

Sixty people died in a train wreck in Canada.

Governor Geary’s farewell address describing the state of affairs in Kansas – upon his arrival and now – is detailed.

The people of Utah are angry about not being allowed into the union and are acting out.

There is also much news of Southern America, Great Britain, the Continent, and the East.

[RepRivFarm]

What a fantastic idea!

Please add me to the class list!

I think I have an apple for you around here somewhere......

[colorado tanker]

It didn’t seem to come out in the story that the Brits are fighting to make China safe and secure for their opium trade.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

[Continued from April 30 (reply #101).]

May 5. . . . Eisfeld’s last concert tonight with Ellie. . . .

Mrs. Cunningham’s trial has commenced before Judge Davies. City Hall is crowded, of course, but the proceedings interest people comparatively little. Nobody supposes that Mrs. Cunningham can possibly be convicted. Very many hold her entirely innocent. . . .

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

[Continued from April 2 (reply #4). ]

Stung by Taney’s words, Curtis unwisely elected to continue the futile quarrel. In a letter dated May 13, he protested the impugnment of his motives, questioned the authority of three justices to impose such a restriction without first consulting their colleagues, and suggested that it was a violation of the rules of the Court to withhold an opinion for so long a time.* He reasserted his own official right to examine an opinion of the Court that, according to reports, had been “materially altered” since its oral delivery.

*The Supreme Court’s Rule 25 (in force since 1834) declared: “All opinions delivered by the court shall, immediately upon the delivery thereof, be delivered over to the clerk to be recorded.”

Don E. Fehrenbacher, The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics" (1978)

Wikipedia page for Associate Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from March 4 (reply #15).

William J. Cooper, Jr., Jefferson Davis, American