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Selected and Edited with
Introduction and Commentary by
David M. Kennedy
Stanford University
Thomas A. Bailey
The Wmerican Spirit
United States History
as Seen by Contemporaries
Eleventh Edition
Volume I: To 1877
Houghton Mifflin Company
Boston
New York
Publisher: Charles Hartford
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Cover Image: Emigrants Crossing the Plains, 1866. The Granger Collection.
Copyright © 2006 by Tb e Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Jr. University and
Trinity Partners.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any
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Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2005924531
International Standard Book Number: 0-618-50867-8
3 4 5 6 7 8 9-FFG-10 09 08 07 06
About the Authors
David M. Kennedy is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of
History at Stanford University, where he has taught for more
than three decades. Born and raised in Seattle, he received
his undergraduate education at Stanford and did his graduate
training at Yale in American Studies, combining the fields of
history, economics, and literature. His first book, Birth Control in America: Tbe Career of Margaret Sanger (1970) was
honored with both the Bancroft Prize and the John Gilmary
Shea Prize. His study of World War I, Over Here: The First
World War and American Society (1980) was a Pulitzer Prize
finalist. In 1999 he published Freedom from Fear: Tbe American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945, which won the Pulitzer Prize for
History, as well as the Francis Parkman Prize, the English-Speaking Union's Ambassador's Prize, and the Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal for Literature.
At Stanford he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in American political, diplomatic, intellectual, and social history, and in American literature. He has received several teaching awards, including the Dean's Award for Distinguished
Teaching. He has been a visiting professor at the Univ@rsity of Florence, Italy, and in
1995-1996 served as the Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University. He has also served on the Advisory Board for the PBS television series, The
American Experience, and as a consultant to several documentary films, including
Tbe Great War, Cadillac Desert, and Woodrow Wilson. From 1990 to 1995 he chaired
the Test Development Committee for the Advanced Placement United States History
examination. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and of the American Philosophical Society and serves on the board of the Pulitzer
Prizes. Married and the father of two sons and a daughter, in his leisure time he enjoys hiking, bicycling, river-rafting, sea-kayaking, and fly-fishing.
Thomas A. Bailey (1903-1983) taught history for nearly
forty years at Stanford University, his alma mater. Long regarded as one of the nation's leading historians of American
diplomacy, he was honored by his colleagues in 1968 with
election to the presidencies of both the Organization of
American Historians and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He was the author, editor, or co-editor
of some twenty books, but the work in which he took
most pride was Tbe American Pageant through which, he
liked to say, he had taught American history to several million students.
v
Contents
Preface
1
..
XXtt
New World Beginnings,
33,000 B.C.-A.D. 1769
1
A. The Native Americans
1
1. Visualizing the New World (1506-1510)
1
2. Juan Gines de Sepulveda Belittles the Indians (1547)
3. Bartoleme de Las Casas Defends the Indians (1552)
4. Hernando deSoto Encounters the Indians of the
Southeast (1539-1542)
6
3
4
B. The Spanish in America
9
1. Hernan Cortes Conquers Mexico (1519-1526)
9
2. Aztec Chroniclers Describe the Spanish Conquest of Mexico (1519)
3. Francisco Coronado Explores the American Southwest (1541)
15
4. Don Juan de Onate Conquers New Mexico (1599)
17
C. The Mrican Slave Trade
20
1. Mungo Park Describes Slavers in the African Interior (c. 1790)
2. A Slave Is Taken to Barbados (c. 1750)
21
3. A Young African Boy Is Taken into Slavery (c. 1735)
24
D. New Worlds for the Taking
26
1. John Cabot Voyages for England (1497)
26
2. Richard Hakluyt Calls for an Empire (1582)
27
3. An English Landlord Describes a Troubled England (1623)
4. Hakluyt Sees England's Salvation in America (1584)
29
2
The Planting of English America,
1500-1733
31
A. Precarious Beginnings in Virginia
31
1. The Starving Time (1609)
31
2. Governor William Berkeley Reports (1671)
vi
32
20
28
12
vii
Contents
~·
The Mix of Cultures in English America
34
34
2. A West Indian Planter Reflects on Slavery in Barbados (1673)
3. A Missionary Denounces the Treatment of the Indians in South
Carolina (1708)
37
1. The Great Indian Uprising (1622)
C. Religious Strife in Maryland
38
1. The Intolerant Act of Toleration (1649)
2. Persecutions of the Catholics (1656)
3
38
39
Settling the Northern Colonies,
1619-1700
41
A. The Planting of Plymouth
41
41
1. The Pilgrims Leave Holland (1620)
2. Framing the Mayflower Compact (1620)
43
3. Abandoning Communism at Plymouth (1623)
44
B. Conformity in the nay Colony
45
1. John Cotton Describes New England's "Theocracy"
(1636)
45
2. Anne Hutchinson Is Banished (1637)
47
3. John Winthrop's Concept of Liberty (1645)
48
4. Puritan Mistreatment of Quakers (1660)
49
C. The Rule of Biblical Law
50
1. The Blue Laws of Connecticut (1672)
2. A Defense of Buying Indian Land (1722)
50
51
D. Indian-White Relations in Colonial New England:
Three Views of king Philip's War
52
1. Mary Rowlandson Is Captured by Indians (1675)
52
2. Plymouth Officials Justify the War (1675)
55
3. A Rhode Island Quaker Sympathizes with the Indians
(1675)
57
E. Founding the Middle Colonies
58
1. The Misrule of "Peter the Headstrong" (1650)
2. Early Settlers in Pennsylvania (1682)
60
4
58
American Life in the Seventeenth Century,
1607-1692
62
A. Indentured Servants in the Chesapeake Region
1. A Contract for Indentured Service (1635)
62
2. A Lo9doner Agrees to Provide a Servant (1654)
62
63
35
viii
Contents
3. A Servant Describes His Fate (c. 1680)
64
4. A Servant Girl Pays the Wages of Sin (1656)
5. An Unruly Servant Is Punished (1679)
69
B. Bacon's Rebellion and Its Aftermath
1. The Baconite Grievances (1677)
70
2. The Governor Upholds the Law (1676)
3. Slavery Is Justified (1757)
73
69
70
72
C. Slavery in the Colonial Era
74
1. The Conscience of a Slave Trader (1694)
74
2. The Stano River Rebellion in South Carolina (1739)
75
D. Life Among New England's Puritans
77
1. Cotton Mather on the Education of His Children (1706)
2. A Dutchman Visits Harvard College (1680)
79
3. The Salem Witchcraft Hysteria (1692)
80
5
77
Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution,
1700-1775
83
A. The Colonial Melting Pot
83
1. Benjamin Franklin Analyzes the Population (1751)
83
2. Gottlieb Mittelberger Voyages to Pennsylvania (c. 1750)
85
3. Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur Discovers a
New Man (c. 1770)
88
4. The Growth of the Colonial Population (1740-1780)
89
B. The Great Awakening
90
1. George Whitefield Fascinates Franklin (1739)
90
2. Jonathan Edwards Paints the Horrors of Hell (1741)
92
C. The Colonial Economy
94
1. The West Indian Connection (1766)
94
2. The Pattern of Colonial Commerce (1766)
94
3. A Traveler Views the Mistakes of New England Farmers (1775)
D. The Shoots of Democracy
100
1. The Epochal Zenger Trial (1735)
100
2. Crevecoeur Finds a Perfect Society (c. 1770)
6
102
The Duel for North America,
1608-1763
104
A. The Development of New France
104
1. Father Isaac Jogues Endures Tortures (1642)
104
2. A Swede Depicts the Indian Trade (1749)
107
97
ix
Contents
B. The French and Indian War
109
1. Benjamin Franklin Characterizes General Edward Braddock (1755)
2. A Frenchman Reports Braddock's Defeat (1755)
111
3. Francis Parkman Analyzes the Conflict (1884)
112
C. Pontiac's Rebellion and Its Aftermath
114
1. Sir William Johnson Describes the Indians' Grievances (1763)
2. Pontiac Rallies His Warriors (1763)
116
3. The Proclamation of 1763
117
4. Johnson Sketches a Possible Peace (1764)
120
D. A New Restlessness
122
1. Andrew Burnaby Scoffs at Colonial Unity (1760)
2. A Lawyer Denounces Search Warrants (1761)
7
114
122
123
The Road to Revolution,
1763-1775
126
A. The Burden of Mercantilism
1. Virginia Resents Restrictions (1671)
2. Adam Smith's Balance Sheet (1776)
126
126
127
B. The Tempest over Taxation
129
1. Benjamin Franklin Testifies Against the Stamp Act (1766)
2. Philadelphia Threatens Tea Men (1773)
131
3. Connecticut Decries the Boston Port Act (1774)
132
C. Britain at the Crossroads
133
1. Dean Josiah Tucker Advises a Divorce 0774)
2. Adam Smith Criticizes Empire (1776)
135
133
3. Samuel Johnson Urges the Iron Fist (1775)
4. Two Views of the British Empire (1767, 1775)
D. Loyalists Versus Patriots
140
1. Daniel Leonard Deplores Rebellion (1775)
2. Patrick Henry Demands Boldness (1775)
3. New Yorkers Abuse Tories (1775)
142
136
138
140
141
E. The Clash of Arms
143
1. Conflicting Versions of the Outbreak (1775)
2. Pennsylvania Prepares for War (1775)
3. Why an Old Soldier Fought (1898)
144
144
143
109
129
Contents
X
8
America Secedes from the Empire,
1775-1783
147
A. General Washington in Cornman<}
147
1. Washington Scorns Independence (1775)
147
2. Washington's Deep Discouragements (1775-1776)
3. The Unreliable Militia (1776)
149
B. The Formal Break with Britain
150
1. Thomas Paine Talks Common Sense (1776)
2. Richard Henry Lee's Resolution of Independence
3. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
4. The Abortive Slave Trade Indictment (1776)
148
150
(1776)
(1776)
152
153
153
)
C. Voices of Dissent
156
1. Lord Chatham Assails the War (1777)
2. Tories Fear French Catholics (1779)
156
158
D. A Civil War Within a Civil War
159
1. Pistols on the Pulpit (1775)
159
2. \:~ngeance on the Tories (1779)
160
3. -r:he Hanging of a Loyalist (c. 1778)
161
E. Revolutionary Diplomacy
163
1. John Adams Contemplates a Model Treaty (1776)
163
2. Silas Deane Works to Convince France (1776)
163
3. Segur Recalls the Arrival of Franklin and the Departure
of Lafayette (1824)
164
9
The Confederation and the Constitution,
1776-1790
167
1\. The Shock of Shays's Rebellion
167
1. Dq_niel Gray Explains the Shaysites' Grievances (1786)
2. George Washington Expresses Alarm (1786)
168
3. Thomas Jefferson Favors Rebellioq (1787)
169
B. Clashes in the Philadelphia Convention
170
170
1. The Debate on Representation in Congress (1787)
2. The Argument over Slave Importations (1787)
171
3. Singing for the Constitution (1787)
173
C. First Reactions to the Constitution
175
1. A Philadelphia Editor Is Expectant (1787)
175
2. Alexander Hamilton Scans the Future (1787)
176
3. George Mason Is Critical (1787)
177
4. Jefferson Is Unenthusiastic (1787)
179
167
xi
Contents
D. The Ratification Debate in Massachusetts
180
180
1. A Delegate Fears for the Little People (1788)
180
2. A Storekeeper Blasts Standing Armies (1788)
3. A Farmer Favors the Constitution (1788)
181
E. The Ratification Debate in New York
182
1. An Anti-Federalist Demands Deliberation (1787)
182
2. James Madison Defends the New Constitution (1787)
184
10
Launching the New Ship of State,
1789-1800
188
A.Con{lictinthelnfantRepublic
188
1. The Senate Snubs George Washington (1789)
188
2. Alexander Hamilton Versus Thomas Jefferson on Popular Rule
189
(1780s-1820s)
3. The Clash over States' Rights (1780s-1820s)
191
4. The Spectrum of Disagreement (1780s-1820s)
192
B. State Debts and the National Bank
194
1. Jefferson Duped(?) by Hamilton (1790)
194
2. Hamilton Defends Assumption (1792)
196
3. Jefferson Versus Hamilton on the Bank (1791)
C. Overawing the Whiskey Boys
199
1. Hamilton Upholds Law Enforcement (1794)
2. Jefferson Deplores Undue Force (1794)
198
199
200
D. The Birth of a Neutrality Policy
201
1. The French Revolution: Conflicting Views (1790s)
2. A Jeffersonian Condemns Neutrality (1793)
203
E. The Controversial Jay Treaty
204
1. Virginians Oppose John Jay's Appointment (1794)
2. Hamilton Attacks Jay's Attackers (1795)
205
201
204
F. The Retirement of Washington
206
1. A President Bids Farewell (1796)
206
2. Editor Benjamin Franklin Bache Berates Washington (1797)
3. Editor William Cobbett Blasts Bache (1797)
209
G. The Alien and Sedition Hysteria
210
1. Timothy Pickering Upholds the Repressive Laws (1798)
2. The Virginia Legislature Protests (1798)
211
3. Rhode Island Rebuffs Virginia's Plea (1799)
212
208
210
xii
Contents
11
The Triumphs and Travails of the Jeffersonian
Republic, 1800-1812
215
A. The Three-Fifths Clause Gives Jefferson a Dubious Victory
1. A Federalist Cries Foul (1800)
216
2. The Centinal Declares Adams the Victor (1800)
216
3. The Connecticut Courant Rejects Jefferson as a Man
216
"of the People" (1801)
B. John Marshall and the Supreme Court
217
1. Marshall Sanctions the Bank (1819)
217
2. A Maryland Editor Dissents (1819)
218
3. Marshall Asserts the Supremacy of the Constitution (1803)
C. The Louisiana Purchase
221
1. Napoleon Decides to Dispose of Louisiana (1803)
221
2. Thomas Jefferson Alerts Robert Livingston (1802)
222
3. Jefferson Stretches the Constitution to Buy Louisiana (1803)
4. Representative Roger Griswold Is Unhappy (1803)
225
5. Senator John Breckinridge Supports the Purchase (1803)
6. Lewis and Clark Meet a Grizzly (1805)
227
7. Louisiana Keeps Its Civil Law (1808)
229
D. The Issue of Sailors' Rights
230
1. A Briton (James Stephen) Recommends Firmness (1805)
2. A Briton (Basil Hall) Urges Discretion (1804)
231
219
224
226
230
E. The Resort to Economic Coercion
233
1. A Federalist (Philip Barton Key) Attacks the Embargo (1808)
2. A Jeffersonian (W. B. Giles) Upholds the Embargo (1808)
12
215
233
234
The Second War for Independence and the
Upsurge of Nationalism, 1812-1824
237
A. The Cauldron of War
237
1. Tecumseh Challenges William Henry Harrison (1810)
2. Representative Felix Grundy Demands War (1811)
3. Causes of the War (1812, 1813)
240
4. President James Madison's Fateful ~ar Message (1812)
5. Federalist Congressmen Protest (1812)
244
6. The London Times Cries Vengeance (1814)
245
7. The London Times Bemoans Peace (1814)
246
B. Disloyalty in New England
247
1. A Boston Paper Obstructs the War (1813)
247
2. The Hartford Convention Fulminates (1814)
248
3. John Quincy Adams Reproaches the Hartfordites (1815)
237
238
242
249
xiii
Contents
C. The Missouri Statehood Controversy
250
1. Representative John Taylor Reviles Slavery (1819)
250
2. Representative Charles Pinckney Upholds Slavery (1820)
3. A Connecticut Antislavery Outcry (1820)
254
252
D. Launching the Monroe Doctrine
254
1. Henry Clay Champions the Latin American Revolutions (1818)
2. John Quincy Adams Is Skeptical (1821)
256
3. Thomas Jefferson Turns Pro-British (1823)
257
4. John Quincy Adams Rejects a Joint Declaration (1823)
259
5. James Monroe Warns the European Powers (1823)
260
6. A Baltimore Editor Exults (1823)
261
7. Prince Metternich Is Miffed (1824)
261
13
254
The Rise of a Mass Democracy,
1824-1840
263
A. Background of the New Democracy
1. A Disgusting Spirit of Equality (1807)
2. A Plea for Nonproperty Suffrage (1841)
3. Davy Crockett Advises Politicians (1836)
264
264
265
266
B. The New Spirit of Enterprise inJacksonian America
267
1. Justice Joseph Story Defends the Rights of Contract (1837)
267
2. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney Supports "Creative Destruction" (1837)
C. The Debate on Internal Improvements
1. Jackson Vetoes the Maysville Road Bill (1830)
2. Clay Protests (1830)
272
270
270
274
D. The Nullification Crisis
1. Senator Robert Hayne Advocates Nullification (1830)
274
2. Daniel Webster Pleads for the Union (1830)
275
3. South Carolina Threatens Secession (1832)
276
4. Andrew Jackson Denounces Nullification (1832)
277
5. Jackson Fumes in Private (1832)
279
E. The War on the Bank
280
1. Jackson Vetoes the Bank Recharter (1832)
2. A Boston Journal Attacks Jackson (1832)
3. Cartooning the Banking Crisis (1833, 1837)
280
281
282
F. Transplanting the Tribes
284
1. Jackson Endorses the Indian Removal (1829)
284
2. Theodore Frelinghuysen Champions Justice (1830)
285
G. The Emergence of Mass Political Parties
286
1. James Fenimore Cooper Castigates Parties (1838)
286
2. Alexis de Tocqueville Defends Parties (1830s)
288
269
xiv
Contents
14
Forging the National Economy,
1790-1860
291
A. The Spread of the Factory
291
1. Wage Slavery in New England (1832)
2. The Abuse of Female Workers (1836)
3. The "Utopian" Lowell Looms (1844)
4. "Slavers" for New England Girls (1846)
5. Disaster in a Massachusetts Mill (1860)
291
293
295
296
297
B. The Flocking of the Immigrants
298
1. An English Radical Praises America (1818)
298
2. The Coming of the Irish (1836)
299
3. The Burning of a Convent School (1834)
300
4. A Southerner Defends the Catholics (1854)
301
C. Mounting Labor Unrest
303
1. A One-Sided Labor Contract (c. 1832)
303
2. Agitation for the Ten-Hour Day (1835)
304
3. The Tailor's Strike in New York (1836)
305
4. Chattel Slavery Versus Wage Slavery (1840)
306
5. Regulations at the Lowell Mills (1830s)
307
D. Steamboats and Canals
308
1. The First "Fire Canoe" in the West (1811)
308
2. The Impact of the Erie Canal (1853)
310
3. Steamboats Lose to the Railroads (c. 1857)
311
E. The Coming of the Iron Horse
312
1. A Canal Stockholder's Outburst (1830)
312
2. Railroads Link East and West (1849)
313
15
The Ferment of Reform and Culture,
1790-1860
316
A. Religious Ferment
316
1. A Catholic Views Camp Meetings (c. 1801)
2. Joseph Smith Has a Vision (1820)
318
316
B. Social and Humanitarian Reformers
321
1. William Ellery Channing Preaches Reformism (c. 1831)
2. Dorothea Dix Succors the Insane (1843)
323
3. T. S. Arthur's Ten Nights in a Barroom (1854)
324
4. Dr. William Morton Administers Ether (1846)
326
C. The Changing Role of Women
327
1. The Seneca Falls Manifesto (1848)
327
2. New Yorkers Ridicule Feminists (1856)
331
321
Contents
XV
3. Lucy Stone Protests Traditional Marriage (1855)
331
4. Orestes Brownson Explores the Woman Question (1869)
5. The Beecher Sisters Defend the Home (1869)
334
D. Transcendentalism and Earthly Utopias
336
1. Ralph Waldo Emerson Chides the Reformers (1844)
2. The "Paradise" at Brook Farm (c. 1846)
338
3. Henry David Thoreau Praises Spiritual Wealth (1854)
4. Emersonisms and Thoreauisms
340
333
336
339
E. Three Views of the Indians
342
1. Alexis de Tocqueville Predicts the Indians' Future (1835)
341
2. George Catlin Dreams of a Nation4l Park to Preserve the
Indian Way of Life (1832)
345
3. John James Audubon Is Pessimistic About the Indians' Fate (1843)
16
The South and the Slavery Controversy,
1793-1860
351
A. The Face of Slavery
351
1. A Slave Boy Learns a Lesson (c. 1827)
351
352
2. A Former Slave Exposes Slavery (1850)
3. Human Cattle for Sale (c. 1850)
354
4. Cohabitation in the Cabins (c. 1834)
355
5. From Slavery to Freedom (1835)
356
6. A Slave Woman's Tale (1930s)
358
7. The Sundering of Families (1874)
361
B. The White Southern View of Slavery
362
1. William Harper's Apology (1837)
362
2. The "Blessings" of the Slave (1849)
364
3. Slaves Don't Strike (1846)
366
4. Comparing Slave Labor and Wage Labor (1850)
366
Th~ A~olltionist Crusade
368
1. William Lloyd Garrison Launches Tbe Liberator (1831)
C.
2. Manifesto of the Anti-Slavery Society (1833)
3. Theodore Dwight Weld Pillories Slavery (1839)
4. Slavery and the Family (1840)
372
D. Judgments on the Abolitionists
373
1. Daniel Webster Is Critical (1850)
373
2. Abraham Lincoln Appraises Abolitionism (1854)
3. The Abolitionists Provoke War (1882)
375
368
369
370
374
347
xvi
Contents
E. The Rising White Southern Temper
376
1. Hinton Helper's Banned Book (1857)
376
2. The South Condemns Helperites (1859)
377
3. James Hammond Proclaims Cotton King (1858)
17
378
Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy,
1841-1848
380
A. The Debate over Oregon
380
1. Senator George McDuffie Belittles Oregon (1843)
2. Senator Edward Hannegan Demands 54° 40' (1846)
3. Two Pioneers Describe Oregon (1847)
383
4. A British View of the Oregon Controversy (1846)
380
382
385
B. Provoking War with Mexico
386
1. Charles Sumner Assails the Texas Grab (1847)
386
2. President James Polk Justifies the Texas Coup (1845)
3. The Cabinet Debates War (1846)
389
4. The President Blames Mexico (1846)
390
5. A British View of the Mexican War (1847)
391
C. Opposition to the War
392
1. Massachusetts Voices Condemnation (1847)
392
2. Abolitionists Libel General Zachary Taylor (1848)
394
D. Peace with Mexico
395
1. Polk Submits the Trist Treaty (1848)
395
2. A Whig Journal Accepts the Pact (1848)
396
3. Democrats Hail a Glorious Achievement (1848)
396
4. Mexico Remembers the Despoilers (1935)
398
18
Renewing the Sectional Struggle,
1848-1854
400
A. The Wilmot Proviso Issue
400
1. David Wilmot Appeals for Free Soil (1847)
2. Southerners Threaten Secession (1849)
400
402
B. The Compromise Debates of 1850
403
1. John Calhoun Demands Southern Rights (1850)
2. Daniel Webster Urges Concessions (1850)
405
3. Free-Sailers Denounce Webster (1850)
406
403
387
xvii
Contents
C. Reactions to the Fugitive Slave Law
407
1. Joshua Giddings Rejects Slave-Catching (1850)
2. Robert Rhett Resents a Hoax (1851)
409
3. The South Threatens Retaliation (1855)
410
407
D. The Debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Bill
411
1. Stephen Douglas's Popular-Sovereignty Plea (1854)
411
2. Salmon Chase Upholds Free Soil (1854)
412
3. Northwestern Support for Douglas (1854)
413
4. The South Is Lukewarm (1854)
414
E. America Ventures Abroad in the Age of Slavery
416
1. The Ostend Manifesto (1854)
416
2. Mocking the Manifesto (1854)
417
3. Putnam's Monthly Chastises William Walker (1857)
418
4. Walker Defends Filibustering (1860)
420
5. Daniel Webster Sends Caleb Cushing to China (1843)
421
6. The Narrative of Commodore Perry's Expedition to Japan (1856)
7. Japanese Leaders Debate the Proper Response to Commodore
424
Perry (1853)
19
Drifting Toward Disunion,
1854-1861
427
A. Tlle Impact of Uncle Tom,s Cabin
427
1. Tom Defies Simon Legree (1852)
427
2. The South Scorns Mrs. Stowe (1852)
429
3. Mrs. Stowe Inflames the Southern Imagination (1853)
4. The London Times Demurs (1852)
431
430
B. Bleeding Kansas and "Bully" Brooks
432
1. Charles Sumner Assails the Slavocracy (1856)
432
2. The South Justifies Yankee-Beaters (1856)
434
3. The Delicate Balance (1856)
435
C. The Dred Scott Decision
435
1. The Pro-Southern Court Speaks (1857)
2. A Virginia Newspaper Gloats (1857)
3. The North Breathes Defiance (1857)
435
436
437
D. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
438
1. Stephen Douglas Opposes Black Citizenship (1858)
2. Abraham Lincoln Denies Black Equality (1858)
E. John Brown at Harpers Ferry
440
1. The Richmond Enquirer Is Outraged (1859)
2. Governor]. A. Wise Refuses Clemency (1859)
3. Horace Greeley Hails a Martyr (1859)
442
4. Lincoln Disowns Brown (1860)
443
438
439
440
441
422
xviii
Contents
F. The Presidential Campaign of 1860
444
1. Fire-Eaters Urge Secession (1860)
444
2. The North Resents Threats (1860)
445
20
Girding for War: The North and the South,
1861-1865
447
A. Lincoln and the Secession Crisis
1. A Marylander Rejects Disunion (1861)
2. Fort Sumter Inflames the North (1861)
3. Fort Sumter Inspirits the South (1861)
447
447
448
449
B. Framing a New Government
451
1. Alexander Hamilton Stephens's Cornerstone Speech (1861)
2. The New York Times Dissents (1861)
451
451
C. British Involvement
452
1. The London Times Breathes Easier (1862)
452
2. Britons Hail Democracy's Collapse (1862)
453
3. Southern Resentment Against England (1862)
454
4. A Northerner Lambastes Britain (1863)
455
D. Graft and Shortages North and South
456
1. Shoddy Wool in Yankeeland (1861-1865)
456
2. Chiselers in the South (1862-1863)
457
3. The Pinch of the Blockade (1861-1865)
458
E. Civil Liberties North and South
459
1. Clement Vallandigham Flays Despotism (1863)
2. William Brownlow Scolds the Secessionists (1861)
3. A North Carolinian Is Defiant (1863)
462
459
461
F. Abraham Lincoln Defines the Purposes of the War
1. The War to Preserve the Union (1863)
463
2. The War to End Slavery (1865)
463
21
463
The Furnace of Civil War,
1861-1865
466
A. Northern War Aims
466
1. Congress Voices Its Views (1861)
466
2. Abolitionists View the War (1863)
467
3. Abraham Lincoln Answers Horace Greeley's Prayer (1862)
4. "A Colored Man" Reflects on the War (1863)
472
471
xix
Contents
B. Lincoln and His Generals
474
1. George McClellan Snubs the President (1861)
474
2. McClellan Upbraids His Superior (1862)
475
3. Lincoln Warns General Joseph Hooker (1863)
476
C. The Proclaiming of Emancipation
477
1. Lincoln Expresses Misgivings (1862)
477
2. Jefferson Davis Deplores Emancipation (1863)
3. Border States Are Alarmed (1862)
480
4. Racist Anxieties (1864)
481
5. Lincoln Defends His Decision (1863)
482
479
484
D. The Emancipation Proclamation in England
1. Blackwood's Blasts Servile War (1862)
484
2. English Working Classes Cheer (1863)
484
E. The Uncivil War
486
1. A Report from Antietam (1862)
486
2. The Hell of Andersonville Prison (1864)
487
489
3. General William T. Sherman Dooms Atlanta (1864)
4. Georgia Damns the Yankees (1864)
491
5. General Ulysses S. Grant Displays Generosity (1865)
492
493
6. An Abolitionist Officer Commands Black Troops (1869)
F. Lincoln's Reelection and Assassination
496
496
1. The South Bemoans Lincoln's Election (1864)
2. Davis Deplores Lincoln's Murder (1881)
497
498
3. The British Press Recants (1865)
4. A Kentucky Editor Laments (1865)
499
22
The Ordeal of Reconstruction,
1865-1877
501
A. The Status of the South
501
1. Black Leaders Express Their Views (1865)
2. Carl Schurz Reports Southern Defiance (1865)
3. General Ulysses S. Grant Is Optimistic (1865)
4. The Former Slaves Confront Freedom (1901)
5. Emancipation Violence in Texas (c. 1865)
501
504
506
506
509
B. The Debate on Reconstruction Policy
509
1. Southern Blacks Ask for Help (1865)
509
2. The White South Asks for Unconditional Reintegration
510
into the Union (1866)
3. The Radical Republicans Take a Hard Line (1866)
512
4. President Andrew Johnson Tries to Restrain Congress (1867)
5. The Controversy over the Fifteenth Amendment (1866, 1870)
513
516
XX
Contents
C. Impeaching the President
517
1. Johnson's Cleveland Speech (1866)
517
2. Senator Lyman Trumbull Defends Johnson (1868)
D. "Black Reconstruction"
520
1. Thaddeus Stevens Demands Black Suffrage (1867)
2. Black and White Legislatures (c. 1876)
521
3. W. E. B. Du Bois Justifies Black Legislators (1910)
4. Benjamin Tillman's Antiblack Tirade (1907)
524
519
520
523
E. The Ku Klux Klan's Reign of Terror
526
1. Alfred Richardson Testifies About Reconstruction-Era Georgia (1871)
2. Maria Carter Describes an Encounter with the Klan (1871)
529
3. Henry Lowther Falls Victim to the Klan (1871)
531
F. The Legacy of Reconstruction
1. Editor E. L. Godkin Grieves (1871)
2. Frederick Douglass Complains (1882)
3. Booker T. Washington Reflects (1901)
533
533
535
536
Constitution of the United States
Index
A21
A1
526
Maps
de Soto's Route, 1539-1542
7
New France and the Missionaries
106
Pontiac's Rebellion, 1763
115
Lexington and Concord
145
Exploring the Louisiana Purchase
228
Harrison's Campaign, 1811
240
The Missouri Compromise
251
The Charles River Bridges, 1830
268
The Oregon Question
382
Taylor's March to the Rio Grande , 1846
390
Kansas and Nebraska
415
Seceding States
450
Sherman's March, 1864-1865
490
xxi
Preface
The documents collected in The American Spirit are meant to recapture the spirit of
the American past as expressed by the men and women who lived it. Movers and
shakers who tried to sculpt the contours of history share these pages with the humble folk whose lives were grooved by a course of events they sometimes only dimly
understood, and not infrequently resented. In all cases I have tried to present clear
and pungent documents that combine intrinsic human interest with instructive historical perspectives. Students in American history courses will discover in these
selections the satisfaction of working with primary documents-the raw hu·nan
record from which meaningful historical accounts are assembled.
Taken together, the readings in the pages that follow convey a vivid sense of
the wonder and the woe, the passion and the perplexity, with which Americans
have confronted their lives and their times . The American Spirit seeks especially to
stimulate reflection on the richness, variety, and complexity of American history, and
an appreciation of both the problems and the prejudices of people in the past. Accordingly, it devotes much attention to the clash of opinion and judgment, including
the unpopular or unsuccessful side of controversial issues. It gives special emphasis
to problems of social justice, including the plight of religious, ethnic, and racial minorities; the evolving status of women; the problems of the poor; the responsibilities
of world power; and the ongoing debate about the meaning of democracy itself.
I have revised the eleventh edition of The American Spirit to make it fully compatible with its companion text, the thirteenth edition of The American Pageant.
Every chapter in the Pageant has a corresponding chapter of the same title in the
Spirit. Instructors and students may use the two books together if they choose, but
the chronological organization of the Spirit and its extensive explanatory materials
make it usable with virtually any American history text. It may also be read on its
own. Prologues for each chapter, headnotes for each document, explanatory inserts,
and questions at the end of each headnote and at the end of every chapter will
guide students in learning to appraise the documents thoughtfully and critically.
In many chapters, readers will find visual materials-cartoons, paintings, or
posters, for example-that are treated as documents in their own right, fully equivalent in their evidentiary value and their historical interest to the more traditional
verbal texts. These visual documents are here presented with the same kind of explanatmy and other editorial apparatus that frames the conventional texts. It is my
hope that students will thereby be encouraged to interrogate the past in new
ways-not only by analyzing the written record, but by developing a critical attitude
toward other kinds of historical evidence as well.
Like the thirteenth edition of The American Pageant, this edition of the Spirit
has been substantially revised to emphasize the interaction of social, economic, and
xxii
Preface
xxiii
cultural developments with political history. In addition to recently added documents on Native Americans, the slave trade, indentured servants in the colonial era,
disputes over. governance and authority in the Revoh~tionary era, the environmental
consequences of settlement and industrialization, the westward movement, and
women's history, this edition contains many fresh sources on U.S. diplomatic relations with Latin America and Asia, controversies about immigration, espionage in
the Cold War era, the Reagan, Clinton, and both Bush presidencies, and the moral,
religious, and political dilemmas confronting modern American society. In response
to suggestions from users, I have also undertaken to shorten some documents so
that their essential significance might be more accessible and apparent to readers.
All this effort has beep made in close collaboration with David Holland, who has my
heartfelt thanks.
The result of these revisions, I hope, is an up-to-date and more provocative
Spirit whose documents will enable students to savor the taste and to feel the texture of the American past, while engaging themselves in its frequently emotional
and sometimes explosive controversies.
D.M.K.