State V. Mann

    In the 1820s, tension spread throughout the American government. This tension was due to the constant debate over the abolition of slavery in the United States. The majority of the northern states felt that slavery was morally wrong, but they also felt that there was not a need for it. The southern states, however,  relied on slavery not just for free labor and economic purposes, but for more say in government. 

    The Three Fifths Compromise of 1787 stated that slaves counted as three fifths of a person. The South was very rural and the majority population was African Americans. During this time, the population of a state determined the number of seats your state could have in the government. Higher population equaled more say. The Southern states felt that keeping slavery alive was a way to have more power within the government. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 tried to address these sectional tensions by making Missouri a state that allowed slavery and making Maine a free state. It also banned slavery in the remaining lands of the Louisiana purchase. In turn, the south was doing everything within their power to keep slavery alive. Many states, including North and South Carolina, began to pass laws against the entry of free African Americans into their states. This would result in fines or even jail time. Other states such as Louisiana and Florida, passed laws stating that black people could not testify against white people. Missouri and Georgia made it illegal for African Americans to learn to read, write, or assembly.

     By limiting the rights of the enslaved, the southern states were attempting to dehumanize African Americans. They believed that this would make their slaves be viewed less as people and more as their property. It was argued that slaves were bought and sold, had little to no rights, and therefore were not considered human beings. During this time, property laws were viewed on a higher pedestal than criminal laws. It was argued that because slaves were property to their masters, their enslavement and fowl treatment were not crimes. 

    This leads us to the case of State v. Man which occurred in 1829, in the slave state of North Carolina. A slave named Lydia was rented out to John Mann. Lydia tried to escape after being whipped as punishment. As she was running away, Mann shot her and seriously wounded her. North Carolina authorities deemed Mann’s actions as assault and battery. This was taken to criminal trial and was later sent to the supreme court. The overall debate was over whether slaves are considered people or property.

Town Hall Meeting (Nat Turner)

 Hello, my name is Nat Turner. I was born a slave on October 2nd, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. I was born property of a small plantation owner in a very rural part of Virginia. My mother was an African Native, who passed on her true hatred of slavery on to me because she had known better. I was taught to read at a young age by my master’s son and was immediately sent to religious training. This was how slaveholders justified slavery. They preached that they were saving our souls by baptizing us into their faith. 

Learning about religion and God began to light a fire in me. I started to feel that I was called upon by Heavenly Father to lead His children out of bondage and towards freedom. I couldn't understand how the Christian slave owners, who swore by their religious beliefs, could be so negligent to the true message of The Bible. What God would want his children to be owned.  A spirit had called to me and said “seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you”. This is why I believed He sent me, this was why I led the most well known insurrection of this time. 

I had waited for a sign. I attempted to leave and begin but later returned to bondage and awaited His guidance. After I was sold to Joseph Travis in Jerusalem, Virginia, I knew my time for strike was approaching. My plan was to get armory and weapons from the county seat and start a march through Jerusalem. That night myself and 7 men murder Joseph Travis and his family in their sleep along with 60 white people. We collected 75 other enslaved men to join our march but we were stopped by an armed militia of 3,000 white men.

 I was able to show everyone how miserable the slaves were as well as put an end to that myth that us slaves are “contented to their lot or too servile to mount an armed revolt”. I was caught after six weeks of hiding and later hung on November 11, 1831 along with 16 of my followers. Before I was hanged, I had confessed to my actions and said, “I am here loaded with chains, and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me”. For many years after, black churches all over the country discussed my rebellion. When they refer to Jerusalem they reference not only the Bible, but to the time now known as “Nat’s fray, or Nat’s War”. “The place where the rebel slave met his death”. 

Supreme Court Reflection

 

    Before watching the Supreme Court video, I did not know enough about the court to speak intelligently. While watching the video I was made aware of the way the Supreme court works on a day to day basis. One thing that surprised me was how long the judges stay in their position. Part of me thinks that this is beneficial to our nation as they have a lot of experience under their belts. Another part of me thinks that if there is a justice that is biased, they are able to stay in their position for as long as they wish. I think that one of the most important take aways of this video was that it went over the way the Supreme court really works. I thought it was very interesting when the chief justice talked about how he enforces a rule where no one can speak twice until everyone has spoken once. I think that this is great way to keep the conversations structured and organized. This video really helped me understand the way the Supreme court functions and how important it is to protect our rights. The Supreme Court is important because it can keep the other branches of government in check by deeming their actions constitutional or not.

Bible Team Challenge: Lucy and Grace Ann

    In the creation of the constitution, one of the biggest and most recurring debates was whether or not to abolish slavery. Slavery was very common in the South and provided the plantation owners free/cheap labor and a lot of money. The northern states however, felt that slavery was unconstitutional and denied innocent people of basic human rights. The strongest points of discussion in this matter were those about religion. The Bible was used to create arguments both in favor of and against slavery.      

   It was argued that the Bible was in support of slavery because slaveholders were interpreting passages in the New Testament and the beginning of the Old Testament as pro slavery. Many slave owners would consider themselves to be better Christians because of the texts from the King James Bible and the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians. After the slave trade, The Pope made it legal in America for Christians to be slaveowners. At first it was justified because the slaves were not Christians; they were not even considered people. Therefore, the church declared that it was ok because Christians did not own and enslave other Christians. Later on, slaveholders began to baptize their slaves and converted them all to Christianity. They had said that they were saving the souls of the enslaved and therefore owning slaves was justified by the bible.

    

    Some of the early religious antislavery arguments were due to the many slave insurrections. A well known example of this is Nat Turner's rebellion. Nat Turner was an enslaved man in the early 1800s. He along with many other slaves held an insurrection that ended with over 50 white citizens being killed. He had confessed that he had heard the voice of God telling him and his followers to take a stand. Early abolitionists used this to back up their arguments as it was proof that those in bondage were in fact unhappy and being denied basic human rights. They thought that this was the opposite of Christianity.  The Quakers were the first to speak out against slavery, other than the slaves themselves. The Quakers were a very strict group of Protestants. They said that it was like dealing with stolen merchandise. They later became an  antislavery religious sect. 

   

    After the slave trade, America became divided between the abolitionist in the church and the slaveholders in the church. Although they were first allowed to own slaves when they first came to America, in 1741, the Pope announced that no one would be able to own anymore slaves and therefore ended it in the church. While southern slaveholders were still justifying slavery through the Bible, the abolitionists were given the upper hand in this argument.