Stauffer Reading Analysis

Shannon Jahrling

Stauffer Reading HW

1. Stauffer answers our EQ using citing back to many events that occurred ultimately making the Civil War inevitable. One even he refers back too was the Dred Scott Decision. He talks about how Frederick Douglass was thrilled about the Dred Scott decision because he felt it radicalized republicans and made them realize that slavery was like a “noxious weed that would spread everywhere if not stomped out immediately.” Now that the people would ignore the Supreme Court because the Supreme Court ignored “natural law,” people were going to ignore the rules and begin following their emotions in order to do what they felt was right, ultimately leading to the war. Stauffer also includes events such as Harper’s Ferry and the response to the Fugitive Slave Law in the Compromise of 1850 to answer our EQ

2. Stauffer compares Lincoln and Douglass throughout this book showing how they both reject the status quo when liberty is at stake. Both of them transformed America, coming from similar beginnings (Lincoln being dirt poor and not formally educated and Douglass an ex-slave). The Civil War was a very delicate political time for Lincoln, a time where no one would expect him to let a black man cross his boundaries. Lincoln recognized Douglas as a key figure to destroy the confederacy and preserve the union. Through this invitation Douglass realizes that Lincoln used smart sense of public opinion to free the slaves, which was his ultimate goal.

3. I agree with Stauffer’s theory. He emphasizes through his entire piece that the war was inevitable because of the moral conflict that arose through the war. He uses the Dred Scott decision as an example of how the public got all stirred up because of conflicting ethical views on slavery. He also uses the “New Guard” in his piece when he discusses following a ‘higher law than the constitution.”