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A war against slavery

29 janvier 2020, 09:16

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"They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, as an article of property and bought and sold as such and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect" ( Quote from the decision of Chief Justice Robert  B.  Taney for Supreme Court, 1857, in the case Dred Scott v Sanford ).

In the 1860's, and even before, America was politically and morally disunited. There were pro and anti-slavery states. They all claimed they derived their settled ideas from the most sacred of American bible: The Constitution.But in the north a new belief was prevailing, thanks to Senator William  Seward : There is a higher law than the Constitution.

Before the war the slavery question had occupied almost all quarters of American life and thinking.

John Brown(a white) and Nat Turner ( a negro slave) had led revolts against it.

"Underground Railroad" a what we call today a NGO  was put on foot to help fugitive slaves. Anti-slavery societies multiplied tenfold in the north.

In journalism, William Garrison fulminated publicly "as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice" in his newspaper "The Liberator".

In literature, nearly 300,000 volumes ( an enormous figure) of  Harriet Beecher Stowe's book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" were sold.

The Missouri Compromise, The Fugitive Slave Law kept politicians alert. and the most famous intervention on the problem was that of John C CALHOUN, of South Carolin,in 1850. He expatiated on all kinds of injustice affecting the South because of predominant North. Though he advocated for a balance equilibrium between the two to counter the 'absolute control of the North" and proposed measures to save the Union, he adroitly invoked secession as the only solution.

And later the high aristocratic spirit of the southern states did the rest, with South Carolina at the helm, just as in the war of independence. For slavery constituted a powerful interest which they wanted to preserve, the more so with the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, which boosted cotton production and the nerd of more slave workers.

During the 1860 electoral campaign the South grotesquely ridiculed Lincoln, the abolitionist candidate.It was malignant. To wit: Lincoln was a fanatic,  an idiot, an ape, etc. A Punch cartoon pictured Lincoln as a baboon in a tree. Albert Volck, a confederate caricaturist showed Lincoln as Satan.

But Lincoln was elected despite the devilish propaganda.

After Lincoln"s first inaugural address, banners in Alabama flared <<Resistance to Lincoln is obedience to God>. In "The Mercury" of Charleston it was written <It is our wisest policy to accept it as a declaration of war>. And Henry Villard wrote "Again and again I  felt disgust and humiliation that such a person should have been called upon to direct the destinies of a great nation". The Enquirer of Richmond: < The question "Where shall Virginia go ?" is answered by Mr Lincoln "She must go to war".

It was obvious that the South persisted to believe that slavery  was right and remained deaf to the supplications, the call for patriotism, of Christian values and to all arguments exposed by Lincoln during his address.

It was more a question of pride than of principles. The South contemned his appeal to confer over the issue.

In fact four important themes meandered or were interwoven in the 1861 presidential address.

  1. The  perpetuity of the Union as the most wonderful model of democracy.( THE LAST BEST HOPE ON EARTH, Lincoln would say later)
  2. The oneness of the American people
  3. Slavery
  4. A peace offering full of compassion.

There were also much more than expository arguments for a political solution. Terms like "We are not enemies", "bonds of affection", "the mystic chords", "the better angels of our nature" should have  the future secessionists. Lincoln was appealing to their emotions to avoid war.  But in vain.

And when on the 12th of April the South attacked Fort Sumpter, a federal property, because an independent nation cannot tolerate the presence of an alien force on its territory, the American Civil War began.

In "A documentary history of the United States "the author wrote(page 148) :"Lincoln chose disunion and war" . He implicitly made Lincoln eat the words of his address and hold him responsible for the war.

It is hard to agree with him according to these facts:

On 8.4.1861, Mr.Robert S.Chew, a clerk of the war department( Washington)was to read to Governor Pickens of Charleston a presidential notification which contained among other specifications(a)An attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumpter with provisions only.(There the soldiers were short of food).(b) If that attempt be not resisted no effort to throw in men, arms or ammunition will be made.

The confederate President, Mr. Jefferson Davis called his advisers to consider Lincoln's letter. Mr. Robert Toombs, secretary of state said The firing of that fort will inaugurate the war. I feel incompetent to advise you.' His plea was ignored. and Beauregard was ordered to attack the fort despite a letter from Major Anderson, commander of the fort which read: "To avoid useless effusion of blood, I will, if provided with proper and necessary means of transportation evacuate the fort by noon on the 15th instant"

Very soon after, James Chesnut, aide de camp of the Brigadier General, commander of the confederate forces, informed Mr. Anderson that the southern forces will attack the fort in one hour's time. (Ref: Carl Sandburg's Lincoln The war years

Now here are some quotes from Lincoln's inaugural speech:

(a) In your hands my dissatisfied countrymen and not in mine is the momentous issue of a civil war.The Govt will not assail you.You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.
(b)You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Union, while Ishall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.
(c)Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity and a firm reliance on HIM who has nrver forsaken this favoured  land are still competent to adjust the best way all our present difficulty.
(d) I hold that in contemplation of universal law and the constitution, the Union of these states is perpetual.
(e)And in his second inaugural address( 4.3.1865) quote :" Both sides deprecated war ( the South was seeking to dissolve the Union by negotiation). One of them would MAKE war rather than let the nation survive , and the other would ACCEPT war rather than let it perish."

Which side accepted war to let the Unoin survive?

How can the author of such declarations ''CHOSE DISUNION AND WAR"?

The war lasted four years. It cost a lot in terms of lives,money, destruction, plunder,hatred and rapes etc.

After two years it was still going on with no sign of victory on either side. The number of Americans falling on the battle fields was increasing.

Lincoln might have thought that these men would have died in vain if the South won and the cause of the war remained. And the pressure for abolition was mounting.

So on 22nd September 1862 he issued a proclamation informing Americans that slavery would be abolished by executive decision after 100 days.

Perhaps in his mind that announcement would either boost the Union soldiers or discourage the Southern army and put an end to the war.And there was at that time no indication that either side was willing to swing back.

Anyway, in doing that Lincoln was honoring the dead.

Consequently, on 1st January 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation was released and made public.Slavery was officially and eternally abolished in the United States of America.

The procedure was constitutional and intelligently contrived.In the 1862 one,it was stipulated or implied that "people who hold slaves by 1863 will be in rebellion against the United States" So the E.P. was also a war measure which the Commander-in chief of the army and the naval forces -in that case the President is empowered to take in time of war or rebellion.

Thus about 4 million of "those beings of inferior order" were given the right to live as men, to be free. Though done during war time, the proclamation retained its moral and humanistic aspects. Further, the military and the naval authorities shall maintain the freedom of the said persons, if need be.Thousands of freed slaves enlisted in the Union armies to fight for "this act of justice".

Weeks before the end of the war Lincoln, who knew that the Union  was on the verge of victory(He himself had met the Confederate Peace Commission aboard the River Queen at Hampton Roads in a fruitless meeting and secondly Robert Lee had on 6th February requested a conference with General Grant  but had been refused) had met Generals Sherman and Grant aboard the steamer to discuss the terms of surrender. He had instructed his officers <<to let them go easy and disband smoothly>>. Them were  the confederate soldiers. Lincoln wanted them back at work on their farms, to start a new life.Reconciliation was the key objective and would bring peace.

Lincoln was re-elected. In his 2nd inaugural address, he showed great compassion for the South.His speech was one of charity and hope. He passionately referred to God and to the Bible.He explained by citing verses that ''SLAVERY IS AN OFFENCE WHICH GOD NOW WILLS TO REMOVE THROUGH THIS WAR. THE ALMIGHTY HAS HIS OWN PURPOSES".

He dug deep in the religious heritage of the people to bring home his intent.These references to the Bible relieved conscious-stricken Americans and distressed minds and washed out the dire consequences of the conflict. The South felt redeemed for its offence. Both sides were to share victory and defeat and "with malice towards none" to rebuild and strengthen the nation.

There were no recrimination. No crow of triumph. No revenge.No punitive or coercive measures( Though General  Lee was a prisoner on parole he was never brought to trial).

Such is the magnanimity of great men chosen by History to run the affairs of a country after the darkest hours of its existence.

Five weeks after Lincoln's inaugural address, on 9th April1865, General Grant came to meet Robert Lee , then Commander in chief of the confederate army( he was made so just two days before Lincoln's installation as President) who was waiting for him at Appomatox to officially surrender. The terms were lenient. Soldiers could retain their arms, their horses,saddles etc, and went home free.

The greatest American tragedy had ended.

But sadly, Lincoln could not preside over the task of preparing a road map for reconstruction, to "bind up the nation's wounds" and "to bring a lasting peace  among ourselves and all nations".

Five days later he was assassinated.

The world needs a Lincoln at the White House.

Faits et chiffres

  • A un moment donné en 2016, 40,3 millions de personnes étaient victimes de l’esclavage moderne, dont 24,9 du travail forcé et 15,4 millions du mariage forcé.
  • Cela signifie qu’il y a 5,4 victimes d’esclavage moderne sur mille personnes dans le monde.
  • 1 victime sur 4 d’esclavage moderne est un enfant.
  • Sur les 24,9 millions de personnes réduites au travail forcé, 16 millions sont exploitées dans le secteur privé, comme le travail domestique, la construction ou l’agriculture; 4,8 millions sont victimes d’exploitation sexuelle, et 4 millions sont astreintes à des travaux forcés imposés par les autorités publiques.
  • Les femmes et les filles sont disproportionnellement touchées par le travail forcé; elles représentent 99% des victimes dans l’industrie du sexe, et 58% dans d’autres secteurs.

 

Source : Organisation internationale du travail, Les estimations mondiales de l’esclavage moderne: travail forcé et mariage forcé, septembre 2017