A Blog Exploring American History and Politics
Senate
Constitution Sunday: Luther Martin, “The Genuine Information,” IX
Luther Martin: “The Genuine Information,” IX Maryland Gazette (Baltimore), January 29, 1788 Impeachment of a president has become a feature within the Constitution that is colored by its uses throughout history: the impeachments of Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump and the near-impeachment of Richard Nixon. While none of the impeachment proceedings resulted in […]
MoreConstitution Sunday: “Brutus” IV
“Brutus” IV New York Journal, November 29, 1787 At the heart of a healthy democracy is the power for people or their representatives to create, modify, or repeal the laws for those laws inevitably govern nearly all aspects of life. The New York Journal published an article that dissected fair representation in the proposed Constitution: “The […]
MoreConstitution Sunday: “Cato” V
“Cato” V New York Journal, November 22, 1787 Following are excerpts from an anonymous article published in the New York Journal: “To the Citizens of the State of New-York. In my last number I endeavored to prove that the language of the article relative to the establishment of the executive of this new government was vague and inexplicit, that […]
MoreThe North’s Attempt at Salvation
The Deep South’s animating of a Second American Revolution, by seceding from the Union and laying the foundation for an operational Confederate government, forced the North to either suppress the South’s uprising or craft a resolution. The likelihood of war would deter any widespread northern suppression, leaving the question: What compromise could the North propose that appeased […]
MoreThe Secession of the Deep South
In the wake of the disconcerting result of the Election of 1860, the nature of southern secessionism suggested the imminent secession of at least some southern states from the Union. The timing and execution of states actually seceding from the Union was unclear, but the Deep South was prepared to act first.
MoreThe Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
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 […]
MoreBleeding Kansas
After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, William Seward proclaimed to the Senate that “[w]e will engage in competition for the virgin soil of Kansas, and God give the victory to the side which is stronger in numbers as it is in right.” Congressional Globe, 33 Cong., 1 sess., appendix, 769. Rather than settling the issue […]
MoreHalting Manifest Destiny
During 1854, while the Kansas-Nebraska Act was making its way through Congress and to President Franklin Pierce’s desk, there were significant developments throughout the country that would have lessen the manifest destiny fever that had captured the nation’s attention up to that point. One of the hallmarks of American progress was nearing its end.
MoreConstitution Sunday: Answers to Mason’s “Objections”: “Marcus” [James Iredell] I
Answers to Mason’s “Objections”: “Marcus” [James Iredell] I Norfolk and Portsmouth Journal (Virginia), February 20, 1788 Following are excerpts from James Iredell’s responses to George Mason’s “Objections” to the Constitution: “IIId. [George Mason’s] Objection. ‘The Senate have the power of altering all money bills, and of originating appropriations of money, and the salaries of the officers […]
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