King Cotton and the Rise of the Republican Party with Dr. Kate Masur

After discussing the slave labor of the American south in the previous episode, Dr. Kate Masur and I continue our conversation about how our racial topography was shaped during the antebellum period. This time, however, we will pivot to take a look at the northern states and the many different views on slavery of that time. Also in our discussion today, we take a look at the rise of the Republican party and their initial platform that may come as a surprise to some listeners.

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Again, our guest today is Dr. Kate Masur. Kate is a history professor at Northwestern University. Most of her research investigates how Americans, north and south, grappled with the end of slavery and associated questions of racial equality. Her most recent book is Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction, which will be published in March of 2021.

By picking up where we left off in the previous episode, we begin in the northern states. How did slavery impact their industrialization? How did radical abolitionism gain traction and how did the new Republican party develop to ultimately abolish slavery on grounds of morality and hope?

Questions for Clergy and Other Group Leaders

In episode 2, Dr. Masur spoke about Methodist and Presbyterian ministers who moved from the Southwest Territory to the Northwest Territory because slavery was abolished in the latter. What is abolitionism, where, when, and how did it arise?
Where did the Republican Party come from and what were its most important principles?
What did the Democratic Party stand for at the time? How did it evolve during the antebellum period?
What were Lincoln’s views on slavery and racial equality?

Show Notes

[2:25] - We’ve talked a lot about the south but in today’s episode, Dr. Uffman and Dr. Kate Masur start the discussion about the north.
[3:08] - In the north, Kate explains that there was increasing industrialization that relied on the production of cotton developed in the south. They were also creating products to sell to slave owners.
[4:47] - Dr. Masur illustrates the implication of northerners in their interconnection with the slavery based southern economy.
[6:14] - Many northerners felt that because they weren’t doing the enslaving that their “hands weren’t dirty,” even though their economy was benefitting from the slave labor in the south.
[7:20] - These people were not living in a moral vacuum. It took work to justify this system.
[8:17] - Kate explains how the language used in the Declaration of Independence did not explicitly say “all white men are created equal,” which gave abolitionists a helpful base for their argument that slavery is wrong.
[9:13] - Kate shares an example of a radical abolitionism through the story of David Walker, a free black man involved in activist black networks and working to open the first black newspaper.
[10:03] - Instances like that of David Walker’s case. helped spur abolitionists on the track of using Christianity as a way to make their point that all people, no matter the race, are all human.
[11:18] - In addition to working towards abolishing slavery, abolitionists were also rebelling against the idea of colonization. Many white people were of the opinion that black people should be sent to create a black colony in Africa and that we couldn’t live in a multi-racial country.
[12:40] - William Lloyd Garrison published the newspaper The Liberator that got wide circulation. He and other abolitionists created networks of people that developed into a strong community.
[13:40] - Dr. Masur shares a key point from her upcoming book: the states in the southern mid-west, such as Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, were right across the river from slavery. The front lines of the struggle against slavery were the places around the Ohio river.
[15:19] - The theories about slavery that are associated with the Republican Party really began in these midwestern states along the Ohio river.
[16:08] - Speaking in his role as a public theologian, Craig points out why Pennsylvania as a Quaker state did not embrace slavery.
[17:51] - From a non-theologian point of view, Kate shares the historical aspect of the same Quaker communities moving away from slavery.
[20:03] - Kate explains the two-party system prior to the rise of the Republican party. Eventually as a result of many events, the Whig party fell apart in the 1850s, and the Democrats split into two regional parties.
[21:46] - By the time of the Kansas and Nebraska Act, Kate explains that most northern Democrats had just “had it.”
[22:17] - The drive for slave labor and the cotton industry put so much pressure on US politics and created even more of a divide.
[23:29] - A lot of the issues we see today were structural problems back then as well.
[24:12] - Many people saw the rising tension and inevitable conflict over slavery as more land was acquired in the United States.
[25:00] - At this point, the Republicans were a coalition of former Whigs who were already opposed to slavery and radical abolitionists. Although diverse, they all agreed that slavery could not continue.
[26:03] - The initial platform and campaign for the Republican party was to not halt slavery in states where it was already happening, but to not allow it to grow and expand.
[27:01] - The Republican party valued a strict interpretation of the Constitution and did not feel that it was within their Constitutional power to abolish slavery in the Southern states.
[28:09] - Kate clears up a common misconception of the Republican party of the 1800s versus the Republican party of today.
[29:42] - Abraham Lincoln was in the middle, ideologically, of the Republican party of the time. Dr. Masur explains and gives several examples.
[31:35] - Although it was difficult for Lincoln to imagine a future where all races could live in peace and harmony, he did believe in civil rights for African Americans.
[33:09] - Dr. Uffman mentions and shares a relatable scenario in current times to the arc of discernment that Lincoln had throughout his life and political career.
[35:15] - At this time, it was difficult for northern Democrats to have their own identity and the Democratic Party broke apart to run two candidates for the presidency.
[37:34] - The people who stood up to slavery and the slave owners of the United States took a huge risk.
[39:01] - For Lincoln and many others, it was better to take the risk in participating and forming this new party and draw their supporters from only one portion of the country because it was morally wrong to continue to support slavery.
[40:23] - In the next episode, we will pick up where we left off today, again with guest Dr. Kate Masur.

Links and Resources

Connect with Dr. Craig Uffman:

More from Dr. Kate Masur: