Yesterday, November 26th, we talked about the Dred Scott case. Dred Scott was a slave who sued his master for false imprisonment and battery. Many slaves in similar situations had done so and won their freedom, but Scott had bad timing. He presented his case at a time where arguments over slavery were strong and aggressive. Roger B. Toney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, said that slaves were property and could not be taken from their owners. He also said that every state was a slave state, and there was no such thing as popular sovereignty.
Today, November 27th, we learned about the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were running for Senator of Illinois , divided by the main issue of slavery. Stephen Douglas supported slavery and popular sovereignty, while Lincoln opposed it. It was interesting to see that Lincoln was rather racist; he said "there is a physical difference between white and black races which I believe will for ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."
I have been falling a little behind in my goal, especially because of the vacation.
Cairn: n. a heap of stones set up as a landmark, monument, tombstone, etc
Disbosom: v. to reveal, confess
No comments:
Post a Comment