African-Americans - Our Lost Founding Archives

A house divided: the American Civil War Begins

On this day in 1861, the Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina.

One or the other

Prior to that, on June 16, 1858, then U.S. Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln uttered these famous words:

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
It will become all one thing or all the other.”

In 1860, the majority of the slave states were threatening secession. Then, when Lincoln was elected President, South Carolina immediately initiated secession proceedings.

Prior to Lincoln’s inauguration, March 4, 1861, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas had seceded from the Union.

Finally, four years after the attack on Fort Sumter, the Union defeated the Confederacy with the staggering total of 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead.

The concept of “a house divided against itself” is widely known as a statement from Jesus in reference to casting out evil. Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded it in their gospels. That Abraham Lincoln saw fit to use it regarding slavery makes it that much more powerful.

Abraham Lincoln’s clearly appreciated the Bible, and his about “this great book” inspired one of our first t-shirts:

April 12, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Hiram Rhodes Revels: From Congregants to Congress

On this date in 1870 Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the U.S. Senate, becoming the first African American to sit in Congress.

His father was a Baptist preacher, and in 1845, Revels became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

“The logical sequence”

Here is a powerful portion of the first speech Hiram Rhodes Revels gave to the Senate on March 16, 1870:

“Mr. President, I maintain that the past record of my race is a true index of the feelings which today animate them. They bear toward their former masters no revengeful thoughts, no hatreds, no animosities. They aim not to elevate themselves by sacrificing one single interest of their white fellow-citizens. They ask but the rights which are theirs by God’s universal law, and which are the natural outgrowth, the logical sequence of the condition in which the legislative enactment of this nation have placed them. They appeal to you and to me to see that they receive that protection which alone will enable them to pursue their daily avocations with success and enjoy the liberties of citizenship on the same footing with their white neighbors and friends.”

February 25, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Abraham Lincoln, African-Americans, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Rev. Dr. Henry Highland Garnet addresses the House

On this day in 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s 56th birthday, Rev. Dr. Henry Highland Garnet was the first African American to address the U.S. House of Representatives.

Garnet, a former slave himself, was a pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. His sermon commemorated the victories of the Union army and the deliverance of the country from slavery.

Notably, President Lincoln arranged for the special Sunday service.

“From foundation to dome”

Here’s an excerpt from Garnet’s historic address:

“The other day, when the light of Liberty streamed through this marble pile, and the hearts of the noble band of patriotic statesmen leaped for joy, and this our national capital shook from foundation to dome with the shouts of a ransomed people, then methinks the spirits of Washington, Jefferson, the Jays, the Adamses, and Franklin, and Lafayette, and Giddings, and Lovejoy, and those of all the mighty, and glorious dead, remembered by history, because they were faithful to truth, justice, and liberty, were hovering over the august assembly. Though unseen by mortal eyes, doubtless they joined the angelic choir, and said, Amen.”

…

“Then before us a path of prosperity will open, and upon us will descend the mercies and favors of God. Then shall the people of other countries, who are standing tiptoe on the shores of every ocean, earnestly looking to see the end of this amazing conflict, behold a Republic that is sufficiently strong to outlive the ruin and desolations of civil war, having the magnanimity to do justice to the poorest and weakest of her citizens. Thus shall we give to the world the form of a model Republic, founded on the principles of justice and humanity and Christianity, in which the burdens of war and the blessings of peace are equally borne and enjoyed by all.”

Henry Higland Garnet

February 12, 2021/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, Civil War, Founding Documents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Seward and Stewards: Happy Alaska Day!

On this day in 1867, Russia formally transfers possession of Alaska to the United States.

The name Alaska come from the Aleut word alyeska, which means “great land.”
The name is appropriate given that Alaska is nearly twice the size of Texas, along with its abundance of natural resources.

Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million. That is less than two cents an acre, and about $119 million today.

Public opinion regarded the purchase as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox.”
That was until the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s, anyway.

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because in 1861 President Abraham Lincoln appointed Seward Secretary of State. He also survived an assassination attempt as part of a plot to ‘decapitate’ the government the day Lincoln was assassinated.

Seward on Slavery

In the 1850s, the Seward family home was a safehouse on the Underground Railroad. He also signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Neither of these come as any surprise in light of these quotes from Seward:

“I deem it established, then, that the Constitution does not recognize property in man, but leaves that question, as between the states, to the law of nature and of nations. … When God had created the earth, with its wonderful adaptations, He gave dominion over it to man, absolute human dominion. The title of that dominion, thus bestowed, would have been incomplete, if the lord of all terrestrial things could himself have been the property of his fellow-man.”

“We hold no arbitrary authority over anything, whether acquired lawfully or seized by usurpation. The Congress regulates our stewardship; the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to liberty.

But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part, no inconsiderable part, of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the universe. We are his stewards, and must so discharge our trust as to secure in the highest attainable degree their happiness.”

“[O]ur statesmen say that ‘slavery has always existed, and, for aught they know or can do, it always must exist. God permitted it, and he alone can indicate the way to remove it.’ As if the Supreme Creator, after giving us the instructions of his providence and revelation for the illumination of our minds and consciences, did not leave us in all human transactions, with due invocations of his Holy Spirit, to seek out his will and execute it for ourselves.”

October 18, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, Black Americans, Civil Rights Movement, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

James Meredith: On a Mission From God

On this day in 1962, James Meredith, having twice been denied admission to the University of Mississippi is escorted onto Ole Miss campus by U.S. Marshals, forcing integration, and causing a race riot in which two men were killed.

It took more than 3,000 federal soldiers to stop the violence.

Meredith is a nine-year Air Force veteran of African American, British Canadian, Scottish Irish, and Choctaw heritage.

He was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s January 20, 1961 inaugural address (yes, the “ask not” speech):
“For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

So, Meredith sent a letter to Ole Miss the following day requesting an application in order to exercise his constitutional right to apply to the all-white school.

Then, in a letter to Thurgood Marshall, he lays out his motives:
“I am making this move in what I consider the interest of and for the benefit of: (1) my country, (2) my race, (3) my family, and (4) myself. I am familiar with the probable difficulties involved in such a move as I am undertaking and I am fully prepared to pursue it all the way to a degree from the University of Mississippi.”

Also, decidedly understated, he added that he was “familiar with the probable difficulties involved in such a move as I am undertaking and I am fully prepared to pursue it all the way to a degree from the University of Mississippi.”

“Divine Responsibility”

After all, as he said:
“Nobody handpicked me… I believed, and believe now, that I have a Divine Responsibility to break white supremacy in Mississippi, and getting in Ole Miss was only the start.”

In the prologue to his memoir Mission from God, he wrote:
“I have no fear because I am an American citizen, heir to a sacred covenant of citizenship bestowed on me by George Washington and the Founding Fathers and Mothers of the nation. … And I am on a mission from God.”

Finally, powerfully, James Meredith is quoted as saying:
“My answer to the racial problem in America is to not deal with it at all. The founding fathers dealt with it when they made the Constitution.”

September 30, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, American Revolution, Black Americans, Founding Fathers, George Washington, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Poetical, prodigious Phillis Wheatley : Her excellence, His Excellency

On this day in, 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley is published in London, England. The twenty-year-old prodigy’s collection was the first volume of poetry by an African-American to be published.

Angelic Train

First, one of those published poems was “On Being Brought From Africa to America.”

‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Savior too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

What follows is a letter and poem Phillis Wheatley wrote to “His Excellency General Washington” in 1775:

“SIR,

I Have taken the freedom to address your Excellency in the enclosed poem, and entreat
your acceptance, though I am not insensible of its inaccuracies. Your being appointed
by the Grand Continental Congress to be Generalissimo of the armies of North America,
together with the fame of your virtues, excite sensations not easy to suppress. Your
generosity, therefore, I presume, will pardon the attempt. Wishing your Excellency all
possible success in the great cause you are so generously engaged in, I am,

Your Excellency’s Most obedient humble servant,

PHILLIS WHEATLEY

PROVIDENCE, Oct. 26, 1775.
His Excellency General WASHINGTON

Celestial choir! enthron’d in realms of light,
Columbia’s scenes of glorious toils I write.
While freedom’s cause her anxious breast alarms,
She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.
See mother earth her offspring’s fate bemoan,
And nations gaze at scenes before unknown!
See the bright beams of heaven’s revolving light
Involved in sorrows and the veil of night!

The goddess comes, she moves divinely fair,
Olive and laurel bind Her golden hair:
Wherever shines this native of the skies
Unnumber’d charms and recent graces rise.

Muse! bow propitious while my pen relates
How pour her armies through a thousand gates:
As when Eolus heaven’s fair face deforms,
Enwrapp’d in tempest and a night of storms;
Astonish’d ocean feels the wild uproar,
The refluent surges beat the sounding shore;
Or think as leaves in Autumn’s golden reign,
Such, and so many, moves the warrior’s train.
In bright array they seek the work of war,
Where high unfurl’d the ensign waves in air.
Shall I to Washington their praise recite?
Enough thou know’st them in the fields of fight.
Thee, first in peace and honors,—we demand
The grace and glory of thy martial band.
Fam’d for thy valour, for thy virtues more,
Hear every tongue thy guardian aid implore!

One century scarce perform’d its destined round,
When Gallic powers Columbia’s fury found;
And so may you, whoever dares disgrace
The land of freedom’s heaven-defended race!
Fix’d are the eyes of nations on the scales,
For in their hopes Columbia’s arm prevails.
Anon Britannia droops the pensive head,
While round increase the rising hills of dead.
Ah! cruel blindness to Columbia’s state!
Lament thy thirst of boundless power too late.

Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,
Thy ev’ry action let the goddess guide.
A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine.”

* * * *

Give the World

General Washington replied with this letter on February 28th 1776, reciprocating her “obedient humble servant” closing:

“Mrs Phillis,
Your favour of the 26th of October did not reach my hands ’till the middle of December. Time enough, you will say, to have given an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of important occurrences, continually interposing to distract the mind and withdraw the attention, I hope will apologize for the delay, and plead my excuse for the seeming, but not real, neglect.

I thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of me, in the elegant Lines you enclosed; and however undeserving I may be of such encomium and panegyrick, the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents. In honour of which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have published the Poem, had I not been apprehensive, that, while I only meant to give the World this new instance of your genius, I might have incurred the imputation of Vanity. This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it place in the public Prints.

If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near Head Quarters, I shall be happy to see a person so favourd by the Muses, and to whom nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. I am, with great Respect, Your obedt humble servant,

G. Washington”

Finally, below is a photo of the Phillis Wheatley statue at the Boston Women’s Memorial, which also includes statues of Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone.

September 1, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, Civil War, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

14th Amendment: Equal Protection and Responsibility

On this day in 1868, the 14th Amendment is officially adopted into the U.S. Constitution.

Equal Protection

The first of the two most significant provisions of the 14th amendment was to grant citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States” (i.e. former slaves). The second was that no “state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Congressman John A. Bingham of Ohio was the principal framer of the 14th Amendment. As the primary author of Section 1 of the Amendment, Bingham gave a speech to the House on February 28th, 1866, introducing an initial draft to the House and explaining the purpose of enforcing the Bill of Rights on the states.

So, here are a few portions of that speech:

“As slaves were not protected by the Constitution, there might be some color of excuse for the slave States in their disregard for the requirement of the bill of rights as to slaves and refusing them protection in life or property; though, in my judgment, there could be no possible apology for reducing men made like themselves, in the image of God, to a level with the brutes of the field, and condemning them to toil without reward, to live without knowledge, and die without hope.”

Also, regarding President Andrew Johnson:
“I trust in God that for his own sake, for the sake of his country, and of the friends who gave him his high position, he will retrace his steps; but whether he does or does not, I trust that the American people will not strike the word “forward” from their vocabulary, but will go right on to the consummation of the great work which Providence has committed to their hands; that is, the enforcement of their Constitution in every State, in every Territory, and upon every sea, wherever our flag floats, whoever may oppose at home or abroad.”

Finally:
“[Our] Constitution provides that no man, no matter what his color, no matter beneath what sky he may have been born, no matter in what disastrous conflict or by what tyrannical hand his liberty may have been cloven down, no matter how poor, no matter how friendless, no matter how ignorant, shall be deprived of life or liberty or property without due process of law—law in its highest sense, that law which is the perfection of human reason, and which is impartial, equal, exact justice; that justice which requires that every man shall have his right; that justice which is the highest duty of nations as it is the imperishable attribute of the God of nations.”

Equal Responsibility

Then, on May 23rd, 1866, Senator Jacob Howard of Michigan introduced a nearly final draft of the amendment to the Senate. Here’s an excerpt from his speech:

“Is it not time, Mr. President, that we extend to the black man, I had almost called it the poor privilege of the equal protection of the law? Ought not the time to be now passed when one measure of justice is to be meted out to a member of one caste while another and a different measure is meted out to the member of another caste, both castes being alike citizens of the United States, both bound to obey the same laws, to sustain the burdens of the same Government, and both equally responsible to justice and to God for the deeds done in the body?”

July 28, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, American Icons, Civil War, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Clara Barton : “Angel of the Battlefield” and the American Red Cross

On this day in 1881, Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross at age 60. She went on to lead the organization for the next 23 years.

During the American Civil War, Clara earned the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield” for the comfort and care she provided for sick and wounded soldiers. She read to them, wrote letters for them, listened to them, and, perhaps most importantly, she prayed with them. Then, in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln commissioned her to search for lost prisoners of war.

Also during the war, Barton brought supplies and support to the all-black Massachusetts 54th Regiment, which had been recruited by Frederick Douglass. Shortly after the war, the two met and built a supportive friendship. Douglass subsequently became a signatory of the original Articles of Incorporation for the American Red Cross.

The need and the strength

The following quote from Clara Barton captures the spirit of our lost founding, from the Declaration, the prayer proclamations, and the perception of Providence:

“You must never so much as think whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need and how to meet it. Then God gives the strength and the thing that seemed impossible is done.”

May 21, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, American Revolution, Founding Documents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Our national Constitution and your personal constitution

On this day in 1770, protesting colonists and occupying British soldiers clash in what we know as the Boston Massacre. This event is widely seen as the start of the American Revolution. It is also why we learn the name of African-American sailor Crispus Attucks, likely the first man to fall.

The British soldiers go on trial, though John Adams (born near Boston) and Josiah Quincy, Jr. (born in Boston) agree to defend them, demonstrating support for the colonial justice system. Then, upon conclusion of the trial in December 1770, the jury found just two of the eight British soldiers guilty of manslaughter.

In fact, the Algeron Sidney quote Adams used in closing his defense speech at the trial seems foundational to the Adams quote in second half of this post:
“The law, (says he,) no passion can disturb. Tis void of desire and fear, lust and anger. ‘Tis mens sine affectu; written reason; retaining some measure of the divine perfection.”

By Design

On March 4, 1789 government under the U.S. Constitution begins with the first session of Congress, held, at that time, in New York City.

Almost emblematic of the purpose Our Lost Founding, there is a connection here, despite the number of years between these events, but due to the consecutive dates:

John Adams, one of the aforementioned defense lawyers, Founding Father, the second president, etc., said this of Our Constitution in October of 1789 :

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” (emphasis added)

So, the answer to the question in the title of this post is, frankly, quite a bit. Furthermore, that might explain a lot of the problems we experience in Our country today. Finally, it underscores the critical importance of rediscovering our lost founding.

March 5, 2020/1 Comment/by Our Lost Founding

African-Americans, Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

John Quincy Adams, Amistad, and “Unalienable Rights”

On this day in 1840, former President John Quincy Adams begins to argue the Amistad case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here is a portion of that argument:
“I know of no law, but one which I am not at liberty to argue before this Court, no law, statute or constitution, no code, no treaty, applicable to the proceedings of the Executive or the Judiciary, except that law, (pointing to the copy of the Declaration of Independence, hanging against one of the pillars of the court-room) that law, two copies of which are ever before the eyes of your Honors. I know of no other law that reaches the case of my clients, but the law of Nature and of Nature’s God on which our fathers placed our own national existence. The circumstances are so peculiar, that no code or treaty has provided for such a case. That law, in its application to my clients, I trust will be the law on which the case will be decided by this Court.”

“We will pray…”

This is an excerpt from a “thank you” letter to Mr. Adams from the Amistad rebels:
“We love you very much & we will pray for you when we rise up in the morning & when we lie down at night. We hope the Lord will love you very much & take you up to heaven when you die. We pray for all the good people who make us free. Wicked people want to make us slaves but the great God who has made all things raise up friends for Mendi people he give us Mr. Adams that he may make me free & all Mendi people free.”

February 24, 2020/1 Comment/by Our Lost Founding

Martin Luther King Jr I Have a Dream Speech

African-Americans, Civil Rights Movement

Martin Luther King : “I have a dream…”

On this day in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers what became known as his “I Have a Dream” speech. From the Lincoln Memorial steps, he spoke to approximately 250,000 people at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Magnificent Words

Here are several excerpts from his speech:

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
…

“Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

…

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”

…

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.”

…

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

…

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims’ pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.”

So, let us all continue to work to make America great.

August 28, 2019/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding