LAD #20: Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation states two things very clearly. First it says that  any black people currently bound by the institution of slavery in the Southern states are to be forever free in the Northern Union and that they are to be fully respected and deemed as such by military personnel. Second, it lists the states where the Proclamation applies. Despite the fact that some areas in Louisiana and Virginia, such as Nawlins, did not have to follow the contents of the legislation the list of states composed of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. All those states had to free all there slaves, which would crush their economy, and those slaves would be forever free and to be treated equally. Lincoln claimed the slaves once indebted to the institution of slavery are now fully freed and have rights to be fully maintained in the North. 

LAD #19: President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Speech is short, and at its opening he declares that there is little new news to present to the nation, and that the progress of the war was as well known to the general public as it was to himself. He says how the nation was divided and therefore the war had to happen. He believes the cause of the war was also that all of the slaves were mostly in the south. But although some people wanted this war, neither side expected it to be as bad and long as it was. The North thought it would be a quick easy victory but they were wrong. He then talks about God's role in the war and how people would pray for help but he could not answer either side because they all had the same beliefs of him and it was over the issue of slavery. He sums it up by saying that the God and him want to care for the nation and let it achieve unity and peace within it.

LAD #18: Dred Scott Supreme Court Case

In the appealed case of Dred Scott vs. Sanford, the Supreme Court decision brought forth by eighty-year old Chief Justice Roger B. Taney agreed with the side of Sanford. He agreed that Scott, who was a slave, should not be allowed rights because he was not a citizen due to the fact that his parents emigrated to the United States. Taney, looking at the Constitution, made this decision on the fact that it made no clear separation between slaves and other forms of property and people. Scott was considered propety and Sanford owned him and had right over him making this case an easy decision. He was not a citizen he was property and property can not sue. Taney then concluded that the compromise was unconstitutional and this would lead to further tensions and problems as slaves would begin to demand their rights even more.

LAD #17: Sojourner Truth Speech

Sojourner Truth delivered her speech to the Ohio Women's Convention in Akron to address the two primary issues of racist and sexist prejudices which currently plagued the nation. She expressed discontent at the value of the rights given to women at this time. She said how women could work just as hard and efficient as men and that the labels men give them are degrading and inaccurate. She has been through so much in her life, battling slavery, the grief of losing her children, working as hard as she ever could so why is she not treated as any white woman would be treated like or respected as much as any man. In closing, she states that man was created by God and a woman, so women should be more respected than they are.

LAD #16: Frederick Douglass' "5th of July" Speech

"What to a slave is the 4th of July?" was the over arching question centering Frederick Douglass' "5th of July" speech. He asks what the true meaning of independence is for an African American slave. He questions independence for some people because some people are bound to slavery their whole life. While some rejoice on this special day in American history he mourns and looks at the fact that the black man did not receive the same treatment as the white man. In conclusion, Douglass claims that despite the actions taken on behalf of this nation for independence, their has also been numerous atrocities against slaves which have occurred within its borders that have not seen anywhere else throughout the world.

LAD #15: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

He starts off his speech with the famous "fourscore and seven years ago" while recognizing and giving respect to the Americans who died fighting for our nations freedom. Finally our nation had gained independence but now there is a whole new set of problems dragging it down including civil war, tariff disputes, the obvious slavery issue, and the rise of sectionalism. And now with the South seceding from the North more issues than ever were at hand. Lincoln tells his audience that they must continue fighting so that the soldiers do not die in vain and that the people's freedoms and democracy are preserved. He closes with "shall have a new birth of freedom" saying that after all this is over our nation will come out even stronger and more patriotic. 

LAD #14

Tim Foster

Mr. DeCarlo

APUSH

18 November 2012

Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Lincoln starts off addressing slavery and the tensions between the North and the South. He does not pick a side in the argument and states that his main goal is preserving the union. He said he will not interfere with the slavery in the South and says the constitution doesn't say a slave can leave one state then be free in the next state he enters. He warns the people that dividing the nation over the topic of slavery and tries to reassure the American people that their neighbors are friends not enemies. He puts more and more emphasis on the value of National unity and Lincoln ends his short speech by saying that the men who died for this country shall not have died in vain. That they died for the United States and for freedom.