Last Best Hope of Earth

Tag: Political Theory

  • The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858

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    Depiction of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

    Senator Stephen Douglas had come into the political spotlight through his work in the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which had temporarily held the country together but perpetuated the institution of slavery. Douglas, a Democrat, was a force to be reckoned with for keeping a seat in the United States Senate despite the growing strength of the Republican Party throughout the North and in his home state of Illinois. Throughout 1858, a time when the state legislatures elected senators to the United States Senate, Douglas would have to win the support of the people of Illinois, and the Illinois legislature, by debating the issue of slavery, and the future of the country, with the Republican candidate for the Senate, Abraham Lincoln. See David Potter, The Impending Crisis: America Before the Civil War, 1848-1861, 330-31. (more…)

  • A Supreme Court Tragedy: Dred Scott v. Sandford

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    The Taney Supreme Court.

    In 1857, the United States Supreme Court decided one of the most controversial cases in the history of the country. Just days after James Buchanan began his term as president, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the opinion for the Court, ruling that neither slaves nor freedmen could be citizens of the United States. The implications of this decision, and its reasoning, have been analyzed, dissected, and discussed since 1857. While many have concluded it is one of the Supreme Court’s worst decisions, its impact on Antebellum America should not be overlooked.

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  • A Deadlocked and Destructive Congress

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    The United States Capitol in 1848. Unknown Photographer, credit Library of Congress.

    During President James Polk’s administration, Congress grappled with resolving sectional tension arising out of whether slavery would be extended to newly acquired land from Mexico as well as the Oregon territory. Congress did not resolve that sectional tension but exacerbated it in what may have been one of the most deadlocked and destructive Congresses in American history. (more…)

  • The Theories of Slavery

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    Trout Fishing in Sullivan County, New York. By: Henry Inman.

    In the 15 years leading up to the Civil War, a wide variety of theories emerged for how the federal government should deal with slavery expanding, or not expanding, into the territories acquired by the United States.

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  • Tipping the Balance of Sectionalism

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    Fort Snelling in the Upper Mississippi Valley. By: John Caspar Wild.

    By 1848, America had numerous sectional differences, and those sectional differences were beginning to take on a different character.

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  • Constitution Sunday: “Publius,” The Federalist IX [Alexander Hamilton]

    “Publius,” The Federalist IX [Alexander Hamilton]

    Independent Journal (New York), November 21, 1787

    Following are excerpts from Alexander Hamilton’s writings in the Federalist Papers:

    “When Montesquieu recommends a small extent for republics, the standards he had in view were of dimensions, far short of the limits of almost every one of these States. (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: “Publius,” The Federalist VIII [Alexander Hamilton]

    “Publius,” The Federalist VIII [Alexander Hamilton]

    New-York Packet, November 20, 1787

    Following are excerpts from The Federalist VIII, authored by Alexander Hamilton:

    “Assuming it therefore as an established truth that the several States, in case of disunion, or such combinations of them as might happen to be formed out of the wreck of the general confederacy, (more…)

  • The Whigs’ Dissent

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    Representative Alexander Stephens.

    Some Americans may suppose that during wartime, partisanship declines and a sense of unity prevails. During the Mexican-American War, this was not the case. The Whigs were vocal in their disagreement with President James Polk and the Democrats.

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  • Constitution Sunday: “A Landholder” [Oliver Ellsworth] III

    “A Landholder” [Oliver Ellsworth] III

    Connecticut Courant (Hartford), November 19, 1787

    Following are excerpts from Oliver Ellsworth’s article in the Connecticut Courant:

    “A government capable of controling the whole, and bringing its force to a point is one of the prerequisites for national liberty. (more…)

  • Constitution Sunday: “Philanthrop” to the Public

    “Philanthrop” to the Public

    American Mercury (Hartford), November 19, 1787

    Following are excerpts from an article in the American Mercury, located in Hartford, Connecticut:

    “Let us for a moment call to view the most specious reason that can be urged by the advocates for anarchy and confusion, and the opposers to this glorious Constitution, and see what weight a rational man could give (more…)