Paul Cooney
AP American
Mr. Decarlo
20 November 2006

LAD 16- Emancipation Proclamation

During the Civil War, Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation that stated all slaves in the rebellious states of the Confederacy were to be freed. It was not an actual law passed by congress, rather a Presidential order empowered by his position as commander and chief of the army and the navy. Only slaves that were on Union-controlled land were free, while all others still in the South remained captive to their owners. During peacetime Lincoln would not have had the power to free the slaves, but the war game him the power. The Proclamation also allowed free blacks to join the United States military, and gave the north an added advantage over the south towards the end of the war.

Paul Cooney
AP American
Mr. DeCarlo
20 November 2006

LAD 15- Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

On March 4, 1865, at the start of his second term as President of the United States, Lincoln addressed the nation for a second time. The victory over the secessionists in the Civil War was within sight and slavery was coming to an end, Lincoln spoke not of success over the south, but rather of loss and remore he had for the fallen men. He reminded people how wrong they had been for allowing such a terrrible war to occur, where brothers fought and killed eachother. He reminded the nation that everyone should take care of eachother, as fellow Americans. (“To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan") Lincoln also makes referance to the beginnings of Reconstruction, in which the people will “bind up the nations wounds.”

Paul Cooney
AP American
Mr. DeCarlo
19 November 2006

LAD 14- The Dred Scott Decision

In 1857, the United States Supreme Court ruled that all people of African decent, regardless of their role in society (slave or free) could become U.S citizens. The ruling also stated that Congress had no right or authority to prohibit slavery in any U.S territory. Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the decision of the court. This began with the case of Dred Scott, a slave who had resided in both a free state and a free territory, and argued that under the Illinois’s constitution he was eligible to be freed. In April 1846, he sued for his freedom stating his case. The decision went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was ruled that the provisions of the Missouri Compromise were beyond Congress’s powers to enact. Because Congress’s actions were unconstitutional, under the Fifth Amendment, Scott was to remain a slave.

Paul Cooney
AP American
Mr. DeCarlo
15 November 2006


LAD 13- Gettysburg Address

Delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Battle of Gettysburg, this was probably Lincoln’s most famous speech. The ceremony at Gettysburg served him as an opportunity to not only to dedicate the grounds of the cemetery, but also to consecrate the living in the struggle to ensure that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." He assured the people gathered at the ceremony that none of the soldiers died in vain. Lincoln uses the word “nation” repeatedly; moving away from the term “union” was used to describe the north pre-civil war.

Paul Cooney
AP American
Mr. DeCarlo
15 November 2006

LAD 12- First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

Delivered March 4, 1861, Lincoln addressed the nation, but really addressed the South. The entire speech was directed to the situation in the South, primarily regarding slavery, the hot topic of the time. He stated that the Federal government would support the Fugitive Slave Law to the greatest extent possible, a law which required citizens to return a run-away slave, and not to house or aid that slave. Lincoln then vowed to "preserve, protect, and defend the United States Constitution," which would be fully enforced in every state of the union. He also said that unless necessary, he would not invade the South unless his Presidential obligation required him to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the federal government. Again, to re-assure the South, Lincoln said that he was in full support of Corwin amendment which protected slavery in states where it already existed. To close the slavery issue, he said that nowhere in the Constitution did it specifically say what was to be done regarding slavery in the territories, and finally that the post service would continue.

Paul Cooney
Mr. DeCarlo
AP American
7 November 2006

LAD #11- John C. Calhoun's speech

Just days before he died, Calhoun’s words were delivered to the Senate by one of the Senators, as Calhoun was too weak to deliver the speech. In it he addresses the question, “How can the Union be preserved?” The United States was quickly becoming divided, and to discover why Calhoun asked yet another question: “What is it that has endangered the Union?” The answer was slavery, as well as the warring political parties in the South. As much as everyone wanted to keep quiet the issues dividing the nation, they were impossible to avoid. Yet another issue was the growing size of the North, as the section of the country that had the majority of States and the majority of the population would completely dominate the government. The equilibrium in government would soon be destroyed, as the North would blow the South out of the water in terms of representation in the government.
Calhoun also addressed the rising tariff, which he said would seem to favor only the North. “Agitation” will kill the Union, not the South’s succession, he says. Basically he says that the Union can be preserved, but only if the larger party steps up and does what it needs to do.

Paul Cooney
Mr. DeCarlo
AP American
8 November 2006


LAD #10- Polk’s war message

On May 11, 1846 President James K. Polk addressed the Senate and House of Representatives regarding the situation in Mexico. The President said that he had sent John Slidell of Louisiana on a peaceful mission to purchase California and New Mexico. When it was discovered in Mexico that Slidell was there to purchase additional territory for the United States and not to compensate them for the loss of Texas, the peaceful trip turned hostile. Mr. Slidell was rejected, sent home with a slap in the face. During this time, Polk began to build up forces in Del Norte in case war did in fact break out. It was because the troops were there that war did break out, because on April 14 Mexican forces killed around 16 American soldiers in the Del Norte area. Polk regarded this as an invasion of U.S soil, on which the blood of America’s soldiers had been spilled all over land claims in Texas. Polk requested that war be declared immediately, and that the hostilities be “terminated” quickly.

Paul Cooney
Mr. DeCarlo
AP American
7 November 2006

LAD 9- Declaration of Sentiments

Following the form of the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments in July 19, 1848, stated that all men and women are created equal and should enjoy the same rights. The principle author Elizabeth Cady Stanton put forth bold ideas regarding women’s rights and roles in society. Some of the major injustices brought to light by the Declaration were: women prohibited to the elective franchise, they were forced to obey laws in which they had no say in, all wages earned by women were collected by the husband and regarded as his money/property, and all women were forbidden to receive an education. The women and the few men at the convention then resolved that women be treated as equals to their male counterparts. The document was a source of much controversy, even during a time in which women’s rights were advocated for. Many thought that it may have been too big of a step too soon. One important member at the convention was Frederick Douglass who helped pass some of the resolutions named in the Declaration of Sentiments.