Yes, at this point, our readings may seem to be repetitive, but perhaps that's the point. This chapter, from Hummel's Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men highlights the degree to which westward expansion (particularly the annexation of Mexico) reshaped the political parties in the United States.
This begs the question--is it all about money and politics? Is slavery--an institution that we undeniably regard as a social one today--only considered with regard to its economic and political ramifications?
Use examples from the text--they always make your discussion hold more water.
After the reading, I believe that all points lead to money and politics. It is what guided America then and now. Many people thought that , “Clay’s American system wielded political power to benefit special interests.” Even President Jackson stated, “‘ The rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.” With the fear that British influence would “induce Texas to abolish the institution, whereupon runaway slaves would have a new haven and British mills would have a new source of cotton other than the slaveholding South,” repelled President Jackson into a firm supporter of annexation. Jackson thought that all the slaves would then run to Texas which would be protected by Britain and leave the South without their slaves in order to produce to work to benefit the economy. Slavery, unfortunately, was also used as a political move. In the British West Indies, the release of slaves had led to an economic disaster for them. A way for Britain to get back on top was for them to destroy others economies and the way to do that was to abolish slavery, the South's main source of income was due to the slaves. When land from Mexico was seized, President Polk thought that, “[it] [was] a dangerous abstraction, because the territories seized.. were not [good] for plantation anyway.”
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the politicians and lawmaker- even the civilians of this time- really cared much about the institution of slavery. Why I say the politicians and lawmakers do not is as stated: money and politics. It was something that I would say not many people supported but was still an issue because those who did tended to me wealthy and influential. The reason I say the civilians didn't care is similar to the reason not many people care now about the government shutdown- it just doesn't affect them. I think for this time period and even with some horrible things we do today cannot just be stopped "because they're bad". We need more reasons, logic, and data to change something even if, in the back of our minds, we know we really don't.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this reading, I feel that it is mainly all about the politics and money. Think about it people treated slaves with disrespect and just used them to produce more agricultural goods. In this reading I think Jackson felt that the slaves would move to Texas to hope to get there freedom since it would be owned by Great Britain. Slavery though made the economy strong. For example, in other parts of the world release of slaves lead to an economic failure. The only way for Britain to lead economically was to destroy other countries economies. Even though this is a bad thing on England's part it did shape our world today.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "The Slave Power Seeks Foreign Conquest," I believe it is about the money and politics, even today that's all it is about. Without money and politics our world would not function as a society. I believe money and politics coincide together with slavery. Slavery was used for production and money but in return caused a lot of political disruption between the north and south. "Will you sanction the abominable outrage; involve yourselves in the deep criminality, and perhaps the horrors of war, for the establishment of slavery in the land of freedom…." This quote was about the domination of Texas over the mexicans but turned into a political fight on whether it was going to be a slaveholding state or not.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that the article is about money and politics. Even today all campaigns for office are based on how much money you can fundraise to be able to expose yourself to the public. Slavery was an important topic in politics because it generated all of the Souths MONEY. Also if we gained more territory we would be able to trade more with foreign countries causing a wealthier income for the whole country. Even today politics is all about the money, hence the reason why the government is now shut down.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the past few passages, including this one, I believe that the whole conflict of sectionalism, slavery, and the forming of different political parties were all about money and politics. Those who were advocates for slavery as well as those who were anti-slavery were all just men who were hungry for power.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that the article is mainly about about money and politics. Fundraising is the biggest benefit you can have for a political campaign. So many campaigns die out because of the lack of money raised. Money can lead to how much attention you raise to yourself because of how much advertising you can pay for. The souths economy was based off slavery. They were very profitable because they worked in the fields and got a lot more done than the slave owners could with out them. Slavery made all out the souths money pretty much.
ReplyDeleteFirst I want to apologize for my tardiness with today's blog post. After reading " The Slave Power Seeks Conquest" my opinion would be that I totally agree with the statement that issue of slavery was solely base on money and politics. Which region or nation could get the upper hand due to the continuation of slavery, or if it was abolished. President Jackson was afraid of the annexation of Texas not because he thought slaves would runaway to be free in a general sense, he was afraid that they would runaway and start making the British the new place to get cotton instead of the South. If that happened, that would mean the British would gain money and the South would lose money.... And definitely can not happen.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "The Slave Power Seeks Foreign Conquest" I believe that politics and power seemed to be on the minds of these politicians. Back then and in today's world, money equals to power and power is politics this is to why there are so many corrupt leaders all over. These two factors lead up to slavery because slavery was a source of income especially in the south because of the hard core labor. If slaves brought money, there was power for some people which drove them into politics so they could rule and make even more money. It is like a cycle that never ends. Money equals to power, power equals to politics, politics equals money.
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