Lead 205 MT1

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams (1776)

letter blending updates on domestic life with anti-slavery rhetoric, “Remember the ladies” → protofeminism, shows separation between Virginia and New England,

Commentaries by William Blackstone (1765-1769)

early definition of who should be able to vote = people who have enough means to remain independent/”disinterested” aka white landowning men

Note of Rufus King on the Federal Convention of 1787

Madison’s commentary (pro disinterested-voting) and Franklins response (anti-disinterested voting, pro anyone who fought voting) at the constitutional convention, exposes grift between founders on who democracy should include

Federalist Paper 10 by Madison (1787)

warns against the danger of factionalism (though factions are inevitable), supports allowing white landowning to vote,

Two Anti-Federalists Attack the Constitution by Patrick Henry and Amos Singletary (1788)

fear of establishing a new tyrannical monarchy, against concentrated govt. power

Constitutional Convention of 1822, Comments of John Ross

anti Black-enfranchisement, argues right to voter is not guaranteed in the state of nature, direct tie between enfranchisement of poor whites and disenfranchisement of Black people

Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens (Threatened with Disenfranchisement to the People of Pennsylvania) by Robert Purvis et. al. (1837)

written to protest the word “white” being added to voter qualifications, democracy not defined by top half but bottom half of rights-having people, advocates for citizenship and public education rights for Black people, uses language of founding documents

Declaration of Sentiments from the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1848)

written off of the Declaration of Independence, argues for the rights of women through listing grievances of women’s rights

Democracy in America by Tocqueville (1830-1840s)

democracy and egalitarianism derives from governmental structure, representative government that people meaningfully govern, government is kinda mediocre, but democracy is good

Platform of the American Party (1855)

anti-immigrant anti-capitalist formative document of counterparty to

Speech on the Oregon Bill by John C. Calhoun (1848)

explicitly arguing that Congress lacked the constitutional power to prohibit slavery in US territories. It advanced the radical pro-slavery doctrine that slavery was a "positive good" and threatened secession

The South’s Lack of a Spirit of Progress by Fredrick Law Olmsted (1861)

P1: land is underdeveloped, no cotton, poor people in shabby huts P2: poor southerare lazy, immoral, and unmotivated/uncultured. P3 if you fell asleep in north, progress would be made, not the case in south. OVERALL: anti expansion of slavery westward bc spirit of unrefinement and laziness will spread with it

Ruling Against Dred Scott by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (1857)

Are Black people citizens — NO, bc at time of constitutional adoption Black citizens didn’t exist (uses European history to justify). could have stopped there, didn’t, instead also said that there is a constitutional provision for slavery under the constitution, therefore containment policy is non-constitutional (overthrowing MO compromise)

A New Birth of Freedom by Abraham Lincoln (1863)

Gettysburg Address, rouses Union spirit in face of draft riots

Why Should a Colored Man Enlist? by Fredrick Douglass (April 1863)

outlines 9 arguments for why Black men should join the Union army (REVIEW THESE!!)

A Mother Calls on the Government to Protect Black Soldiers by Hannah Johnson (1863)

direct tone, advocates for taking confederate soliders as manual labor POW

South Carolina Democrats Protest Against the New State Constitution (1868)

argues that Black people aren’t qualified to vote and that enfranchising Black people will disenfranchise white people, appeals to white supremacist attitudes

An African American Leader Instructs New Black Voters, published in a Black New Orleans newspaper (1867)

uses comparison between slavery and ships, urges Black voters to not be tricked into voting for oppressors, is indicative of the development of political and social Black identity

Society Turned Bottom Side Up by James Pike (1873)

published in a Republican newspaper, argues that even though Black people shouldn’t be enslaved they also shouldn’t be allowed to govern due to concerns of Black people representing white people, worried about Plunkitt-like figures coming to power, supportive of meritocracy (= racial hierarchy in south)

People’s Party Platform (1892)

represents resurgence of free labor ideology (tied to anti-European sentiment), fear of silencing power of capitalism, supports revolt of producing class, hated robber barons, lawyers, and saloon keepers

Lochner v. New York by SCOTUS majority by Rufus Peckham dissent by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1905)

given realities of bakeries, cant work more than 60 hr/week, 10 hr/day, scouts says that 14th amendment protects contract rights meaning you can work/ask to work as much as you want, although police powers could sometimes restrict, don’t apply here bc bakers can make their own decisions. dissent says that SCOTUS cant impose economic theory on rights of states to legislate, especially if laws aren’t explicitly against the constitution (like this law)

“Liberty of the Individual versus Liberty of the Community” by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1912)

focuses on liberty of the individual vs liberty of the community, emblem of progressive movement, argues for cooperation of capital and labor for the health and happiness of the whole people, uses conservation as an example (exploiting natural resoruces = bad), sees regulation not as a infrignement on individual liberties but as a security for them via collective rights, liberty of the community

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall by William L. Riordon (1905)

representation of Gilded Age corrupt politicians, very distinctive style, good for dem in that he’s actually engaging with people but bad for dem in that he’s not actually doing anything to help them, just doing it to line his own pocket

Letter from Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the 1889 NWSA Convention

in rather angry tone, argues for womens rights and says that small gains that have been achieved are not deserving of praise, compares male ruling elite to highway robbers

Resolutions of the NAWSA Convention of 1893

list of platform proponents for womens rights org, includes arguments surrounding illiteracy, the rights of working women, limited sufferage in School Board elections as a starting ground for larger franchise, advocacy for statute-based enfranchisement of women, and protest against taxation without representation. large focus on ALL WOMEN being people that should support women’s sufferage

Fitness of Women to Become Citizens from the Standpoint of Moral Development, Reverend Anna Garlin Spencer (1898)

argues that the time has come when the state has entered into the feminine sphere (through welfare/social service) and therefore women need to enter into the state

Working Woman’s Need for the Ballot by Florence Kelley (1898)

argues for poor womens interest in enfranchisement, as working women haven’t gained the same rights access as working men, with specific focus on garment trades and sweaters

Statement to NAWSA Convention of 1900 by Susan B. Anthony

speaks to male audience pointing out double standard of women’s suffrage fight, connects prohibition and suffrage, points out that if men were to lead an equivalent movement, they would be respected but women must “submit”

Woodrow Wilson’s Address at the NAWSA Convention of 1916

Addressing suffragists, talks about how quickly and widespread the women’s suffrage movement gained steam, inevitability of advancement of rights, also general shift in American governanve from legal questions of governance to societal ones, talks about the importance of democratic participation and women share in that “duty”, generally supporting women’s suffrage

Anna Howard Shaw at the 1917 NAWSA Convention

talks about how women’s role in the war effort makes it so their governmental participation is more important, also points out that women can demand things in return for their sacrifices, including equal sacrifices by the people demanding things of them (grain trolleys, smoking, etc.)

Carlos Montezuma on Indian Service in World War 1 and the Ongoing Struggle for Freedom and Citizenship (1919)

uses rhetoric of having fought in WW1 to support more citizenship/rights, freedom from “Indian Bureau”

Public Opinion by Walter Lippman (1922)

??????? FILL IN AFTER TUESDAY CLASS

The Ocala Demands (1890)

produced by the Farmers’ Alliance, an early stage of the Populist movement, advocating reforms to help indebted farmers against banks, railroads, and monopolies

Mississippi Black Codes (1865)

documents rules making cultural and political equality of races more difficult in South, including vagrant laws (hired-out criminals), made out of fear of political coalition between poor whites and newly freed Black people

Franklin Roosevelt, “Acceptance Speech for Renomination for the Presidency” (1936)

AI GEN: attacks “economic royalists” and concentrated wealth, argues New Deal protects democracy from organized money and selfish elites, populist rhetoric, “bold, persistent experimentation”

“Franklin McCain remembers the first sit in” (1960)

first-person account of Greensboro sit-ins, emphasizes ordinary college students taking direct action despite fear and harassment, strong focus on dignity/self-respect and disciplined nonviolence, lunch counter as symbol of larger racial system, representative of shift toward student-led grassroots civil rights activism and direct-action protest

Ella Baker, “Bigger Than a Hamburger” (1960)

'argues sit-ins are about much more than desegregating lunch counters → broader fight for human dignity and democratic participation “first class citizenship”, strongly grassroots and anti-hierarchical

Bob Moses, “Memo to the SNCC Executive Committee” (1963?)

“attack political structure of Mississippi,” focused on Mississippi voter registration and local organizing, argues movement should empower local Black communities rather than depend on outside leadership, quiet organizational tone rather than dramatic rhetoric, emphasizes participatory democracy and bottom-up organizing, foundational to Freedom Summer civil rights strategy

Stokely Carmichael, “Black Power” (1967) (Stokely Carmichael Explains Black Power)

defines Black Power as political/economic/cultural self-determination rather than dependence on white liberals or integration alone, argues that integration reinforces white supremacy

Young Americans for Freedom, “The Sharon Statement” (1960)

foundational statement of modern conservatism, combines anti-communism + free market economics + limited government + traditional morality, emphasis on individual liberty and constitutionalism, intellectual precursor to Reagan-era conservatism “that the…”

Students for a Democratic Society, “The Port Huron Statement” (1962)

we were supposed to have the best lives, now we have this shit. key phrase = “participatory democracy,” attacks Cold War conformity, bureaucracy, racism, and political apathy, idealistic/student-oriented tone, argues democracy should involve meaningful participation rather than passive citizenship, foundational manifesto of the New Left and antiwar/student activism

Lyndon Johnson, “Remarks at the University of Michigan” (1964)

defines “Great Society” as more than material prosperity, can be found in cities, countryside, classrooms, need everyone’s help to make Great Society

“Demands Made by East Side High School Students Listed” (1968)

newspaper article responding to/listing demands of student protest document from Mexican students demanding minority teachers, culturally relevant curriculum, bilingual/bicultural education, and respect for minority communities, associated with Chicano activism/ethnic pride movements, could be tied to black freedom struggle, young peoples political involvement, and rise of grassroots democracy

Patrick Buchanan, “Dividing the Democrats” (1971)

strategy memo advocating splitting Democratic coalition by attracting white working-class and ethnic voters through cultural/social issues, tied to “silent majority” politics and backlash against 1960s liberalism, important document in Republican realignment and rise of culture-war electoral strategy

Patrick Buchanan’s Speech on the Culture War/ “Address to the Republican National Convention” (1992)

famous “culture war” speech, very pro-religion, frames politics as moral/cultural conflict over religion, feminism, sexuality, and national identity, highly combative rhetoric against liberal elites and social change, major example of rise of social conservatism and partisan polarization, pro-Bush, anti-Clinton

Newt Gingrich, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control” (1996)

memo advising Republicans to use emotionally charged language to define Democrats negatively and shape public perception, emphasizes disciplined partisan messaging/media strategy, indicative of rise of modern hyper-partisan political communication and branding politics

Betty Friedan, Problem that Has No Name (from The Feminine Mystique), 1963

representative of the start of second wave feminism, identifies women’s dissatisfaction with gender roles, stresses that they are not alone in their discontentment, feminist isolation

NOW Statement of Purpose (1966)

Argues for the full equality of the sexes, We Reject/We Believe, classic statements/arguments of second-wave feminism

Welfare is a Women’s Issue, Johnnie Tillmon, 1972

Compares American welfare system to a bad husband, stressed disproportionate reliance on welfare by women (tied to unemployment), welfare system shouldn’t have categories, just aid for poor people who need it

Equal Rights Amendment, 1972

Still not passed, Amendment codifying equal rights on the basis of sex

Phyllis Schlafly on the Positive Woman, 1977

Anti-feminist, contrasts postitive (traditional) and negative (feminist) woman, bit dramatic, highlights differences of men and women, argues that gender roles are best for everyone, engages with stereotype of the “angry feminist”

Gordon Wood — Radicalism of the American Revolution

The American Revolution radically transformed society by destroying hierarchy and monarchy and creating a more democratic, individualistic society based on equality among white men, post-Revolution: Deference declined, aristocracy weakened, political participation expanded, and capitalism/individualism grew.

Eric Foner — A Short History of Reconstruction

Reconstruction was a major effort to build interracial democracy after slavery, but it failed because of violent white resistance and declining northern support. Reconstruction fundamentally redefined citizenship and civil rights through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Eric Foner — The Second Founding

Reconstruction was a Second Founding because the Reconstruction Amendments transformed the Constitution into one centered on equality and national citizenship.

Stephanie McCurry — Confederate Reckoning

The Civil War exposed contradictions within the Confederacy, especially its dependence on slavery and exclusionary citizenship. The Confederacy was ultimately undermined by enslaved people and poor white women, who resisted Confederate authority and destabilized the war effort (bread riots, defecting/joining Union).

Achen & Bartels — Democracy for Realists

Voters are not consistently rational or policy-driven; political behavior is shaped mostly by social identities and group loyalties, challenge democratic theory by arguing that democracy works less through informed citizens and more through partisan coalitions and group competition.

Michael McGerr — Decline of Popular Politics

Mass participatory party politics declined in the Progressive Era as reformers promoted bureaucratic and professional governance, 19th century popular politics wee replaced by more expert-driven, less participatory politics centered on administration and reform.

Lizabeth Cohen — Making a New Deal

Industrial workers developed class consciousness during the Depression through labor organizing and consumer identity, New Deal Coalition was created via industrial unionism, shared economic hardship, and mass consumer culture.