If anyone still maintains illusions about Donald Trump’s racist proclivities, it should be put to rest by his recent attacks on the Smithsonian Institution which contains exhibits about the role of African slavery in the building of America. This is part and parcel of his plan to rewrite our history along white supremacist lines. One must add like-minded souls who continue to pretend that the American Civil War had absolutely nothing to do with slavery but that 700,000 Americans killed each other over state’s rights or the tariff.
The first enslaved Africans numbering about 20 souls arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in August, 1619. That number swelled to 700,000 by 1790 and to 4,000,000 by 1860 or 14% of the total American population. It goes without saying that the entire nation, North and South was in part built upon their backs, but especially in the South whose economy depended solely on the lash and the chains. The Founding Fathers knew slavery was a contradiction to their lofty ideals but preferred to kick the can down the road with various compromises. By the 1850s, however, slavery was the issue; more divisive at the time than guns, abortion, the Vietnam War or even Trump is in my lifetime. It was obvious to everyone on both sides of the debate that something had to give.
That something was the election in 1860 of “Black Republican” Abraham Lincoln. It was an odd four-way race but Honest Abe prevailed with 40% of the vote. During the campaign, Lincoln and the newly formed Republican Party made clear their abolitionist views, the Republicans then being the party of radical liberalism (that would change in 1968 thanks to Nixon’s Southern Strategy).
Lincoln’s election shocked the South where anguished and angry calls for leaving the “tyranny” of the Union appeared immediately afterwards. The editorials of Southern newspapers reflected that they were seceding solely to preserve their peculiar institution of slavery of which they were most proud. The sampling below was repeated in spirit throughout the region.
“The issue before the country is the extinction of slavery. No man of common sense, who has observed the progress of events, and who is not prepared to surrender the institution, with the safety and independence of the South, can doubt that the time for action has come—now or never…The existence of slavery is at stake. The evils of submission (to the Union) are too terrible for us to risk.” – Charleston Mercury, November 1860.
The various secession conventions echoed the theme of creating a separate nation to preserve enslavement. It was not only considered the lifeblood of the Southern aristocratic economy but also viewed as a positive good; a paternally beneficial system that took care of contented black folk who were happy to serve Ol’ Massa. “The intelligent, Christian slave-holder in the South is the best friend of the Negro,” quoted the Staunton Spectator. This myth, sacrosanct to Southern whites, was blown to smithereens by two events in the late 1850s. The first was the publication of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe which depicted in no uncertain terms the terror and cruelty of bondage. The second was the execution of John Brown after his failed raid on Harpers Ferry to incite a slave rebellion. While the South rejoiced at the death of whom they viewed as a terrorist, the North mourned the death of a martyr, an attitude not lost upon their southerly peers.
The firing on the American flag at Fort Sumter by Confederate forces was the 19th century version of 9/11. The Northern states, long bullied by the South, rose up in righteous fury.
It is true that when the war began, few Johnny Rebs did so to defend slavery. State loyalty was a major factor in their decision and the only reason why Robert E. Lee declined command of the Union Army was to follow his beloved Virginia out of the Union. Likewise, few Billy Yanks signed up for abolition. They wanted to reunite the country. Even Lincoln fudged on the issue, initially promising that the South could maintain slavery if they returned to the fold.
But his attitude changed drastically as the war went on. Nothing better expressed that transformation than Lincoln’s second inaugural address where he suggests that the war was God’s punishment, both North and South, for the crime of slavery.
In the end, Trump’s attempts to whitewash American history will fail because the truth will always win out over ignorance, bigotry and lies.
Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and has written a monthly My Turn column for over two decades. He lives outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa and dog, Cody.