The Abolition Crusade and Its Consequences: Four Periods of American History

The Abolition Crusade and Its Consequences: Four Periods of American History

The Constitution of the United States attempts to define and limit the power of our Federal Government. Lord Brougham somewhere said that such an instrument was not worth the parchment it was written on; people would pay no regard to self-imposed limitations on their own will. When our fathers by that written Constitution established a government that was partly national and partly federal, and that had no precedent, they knew it was an experiment. To-day that government has been in existence one hundred and twenty-three years, and we proudly claim that the experiment of 1789 has been the success of the ages. Happy should we be if we could boast that, during all this period, the Constitution had never been violated in any respect! The first palpable infringement of its provisions occurred in the enactment of[4] the alien and sedition laws of 1798. The people at the polls indignantly condemned these enactments, and for years thereafter the government proceeded peacefully; the people were prosperous, and the Union and the Constitution grew in favor. Later, there grew up a rancorous sectional controversy about slavery that lasted many years; that quarrel was followed by a bloody sectional war; after that war came the reconstruction of the Southern States. During each of these three trying eras it did sometimes seem as if that old piece of "parchment," derided by Lord Brougham, had been utterly forgotten. Nevertheless, and despite all these trying experiences, we have in the meantime advanced to the very front rank of nations, and our people have long since turned, not only to the Union, but, we are happy to think, to the Constitution as well, with more devotion than ever. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 39720
Author: Herbert, Hilary A. (Hilary Abner)
Release Date: May 17, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English