Wednesday 26 January 2011

Theodore PARKER (1810–1860)

Parker defied slavery and, in Boston, led the movement to combat and violate the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, a controversial part of the Compromise of 1850. This required the return of escaped slaves to their owners by citizens of all states - free as well as slave - in assisting in the recovery of fugitive slaves. Parker worked with many fugitive slaves, some of whom were among his congregation. As in the case of William & Ellen Craft, he hid them in his home and, although he was indicted, he was never convicted. Theodore Parker called the law " a hateful statute of kidnappers", and saw to it that violation of the law was open and organized. Parker and his followers not only refused to assist with the recovery of fugitive slaves, but also helped to hide those whom southerners came to reclaim. They smuggled away Ellen & William Craft when a Georgian jailer came to Boston to arrest them. Due to Parker's effort, from the law's passage in 1850 to the onset of the American Civil War in 1861, the Fugitive Slave Law was successfully enforced only twice in Boston. And on both occasions, Bostonians combatted the actions with mass protests.

During the undeclared war in Kansas (see Bleeding Kansas and Origins of the American Civil War) prior to the actual outbreak of the American Civil War, Parker supplied money for weapons for free state militias. As a member of the Secret Six, he supported the abolitionist John Brown, whom many considered a terrorist, and wrote a public letter, "John Brown's Expedition Reviewed," defending John Brown's actions after his arrest, defending the right of slaves to kill their masters.


Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://whitemulticulturalists.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.

Saturday 15 January 2011

John Quincy ADAMS (1767–1848)

In 1841, Adams had the case of a lifetime, representing the defendants in United States v. The Amistad Africans in the Supreme Court of the United States. He successfully argued that the Africans, who had seized control of a Spanish ship on which they were being transported illegally as slaves, should not be extradited or deported to Cuba (a Spanish colony where slavery was legal) but should be considered free. Under President Martin Van Buren, the government argued the Africans should be deported for having mutinied and killed officers on the ship. Adams won their freedom, with the chance to stay in the United States or return to Africa. Adams made the argument because the U.S. had prohibited the international slave trade, although it allowed internal slavery. He never billed for his services in the Amistad case. The speech was directed not only at the justices of this Supreme Court hearing the case, but also to the broad national audience he instructed in the evils of slavery.


Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://supremacists.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.

Sunday 9 January 2011

Samuel Austin WORCESTER (1798–1859)

The westward push of "white" settlers in the US in the 1820s began to dramatically affect the Cherokee: A plan was formulated to fight the encroachment by using the courts.

Worcester and eleven other missionaries published a resolution protesting a law the Georgia state legislature passed prohibiting "white" men from living on Native American land without a license. (Obeying the law would be tantamount to surrendering the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation.) Governor George Rockingham Gilmer ordered the militia to arrest Worcester and those others who signed the resolution. All were convicted and sentenced to four years hard labor. Most accepted pardons, but Worcester and Elizur Butler declined their pardons specifically so the Cherokees could have another chance before the US Supreme Court.


Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://whitemulticulturalists.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.

Friday 7 January 2011

Henry David THOREAU (1817–1862)

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Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://whitemulticulturalists.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.

Thursday 6 January 2011

Nathaniel TURNER (1800 – 1831)

Turner realized that revolutionary violence would serve to awaken the attitudes of Whites to the reality of slavery's inherent brutality.

Gabriel (1776–1800)

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Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://whitemulticulturalists.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved. Frank TALKER is also the author of Sweaty Socks: A Treatise on the Inevitability of Toe Jam in Hot Weather (East Cheam Press: Groper Books, 1997) and is University of Bullshit Professor Emeritus of Madeupology.