I don't post as often as I used to. But these 3 books, which Sue picked for me at the library, are the 3 I read this past month. And they are well worth reading. I chose to read them in the order in which the events occurred, beginning with the one about George Washington. An extraordinary book, considering how many books have been written about the Father of Our Country. It deals with Washington's time between the War and his return to Politics, the years when he was a Plantation owner. The Shay's Rebellion is what made his countrymen call him back into service. This was our first Insurrection and the event which highlighted the weaknesses in our Articles of Confederation. And the 10 months which followed were the time in which our Constitution was created. A fascinating time in our early history, as well as a view of what a real Insurrection looks like.
The next was the book on Charles Sumner, which encompasses the years leading up to, and after the Civil War. It includes an illuminating chapter on the Roberts vs Commonwealth of Boston trial (1846) and it's appeal two years later. Roberts was the first African-American attorney in our country. The case involved his daughter being denied admission to an elementary school 900 feet from her home on what was known as "Nigger Hill". She had to pass 5 whites only schools to get an education.
When Roberts appealed Charles Sumner argued the case for Roberts. He lost, but not before being the first person to use the term "Equality Before the Law." That phrase later became associated with the Emancipation Proclamation. Sumner was a rabid Abolitionist in a town like Boston, which gave much "lip service" to the cause. But in actual practice it was like many other Northern states. You just didn't see the chains.
He later argued for the Defense on the case of a runaway slave named Sims. This had national repercussions in connection to the Fugitive Slave Laws. It also exposed the hypocrisy of the North when Sims was returned to his Masters in a slave state. The Fugitive Slave Laws were an abstract before this trial. But when the citizens in the North saw this miscarriage of Justice acted out in their own Courts, it heightened the Abolitionist cause.
Sumner then became involved in the case of 70 odd slaves who escaped from Washington, D.C. aboad the Pearl in 1850. After quickly being captured, they were found quilty of Violating the same Fugitive Slave Laws as in the Sims case. They were then returned to bondage in Washington, D.C., where slavery was legal. At the time slave trading took place right in the shadow of our Nation's Capitol.
As if this all were not enough he then took on the Trent Affair. The Trent Affair was a major crisis in the opening days of the Civil War. In 1861 the U.S. Navy illegally captured two Confederate diplomats from the RMS Trent, a British vessel. The incident nearly caused war between the Union and the England, as Britain deemed it a violation of it's neutral rights. We lost that case as it was in direct contradiction to our own complaints which caused us to fight the War of 1812. We seized the diplomats, in effect "impressing them", while leaving the documents they carried, which were the actual "contraband" we intended to seize, behind on the vessel. Had Britain declared war on the Union the Civil War would have been lost even as it had just begun.
The Sumner book reads like poetry. Masterfully written and well documented, it was a sheer pleasure.
And the third book was another home run, concerning itself with only one year during the Civil War. We often think of 1863 and Gettysburg as being the turning point of the war for the Union, when in fact it was the Victories in 1864, and the capture of Atlanta which really turned the tide. This book was also a shining example of history in the hands of a skillful author.
And all 3 books had connections to some of today's most pressing issues, as we again battle internally over State's Rights. As such, they are well worth the time to read.
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