پنجشنبه ۲۲ شهریور ۰۳ | ۱۹:۱۳ ۹ بازديد
emarkable Anniversary The
date was July 3, 1826. As the fiftieth
anniversary of the Declaration
of Independence approached, a
great drama was playing itself out
in the homes of two of the men most responsible
for that document. At Monticello in Virginia, Thomas
Jefferson, now age eighty-three, slipped in and out of
consciousness as he lay on his deathbed.
And in Quincy, Massachusetts, John Adams, now age ninety, also
neared the end of his life. Would these two great patriots and former
presidents live to see this fiftieth Independence Day? Americans
everywhere hoped and prayed that they would.
As midnight arrived, Thomas Jefferson stirred in his bed and
whispered to a young relative, “This is the Fourth?” The young man
nodded. Jefferson sighed contentedly. He said no more, and by noon
he was gone.
2
The Big Question
Why did the demand
for slaves increase in
the Southern states?
Thomas JeffersonJohn Adams3
4
At that very moment in Quincy, Massachusetts, the roar of a
cannon signaled the start of the town’s celebration. John Adams
struggled to utter what proved to be his last sentence. His
granddaughter, bending close to the old man, was able to hear
his final whispered words, “Thomas—Jefferson—still—surv—.”
Before the sun had set, he too was gone.
In their lifetimes, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had seen
their beloved United States grow from a struggling group of
new states into a strong, confident nation. During the fifty years
following the Declaration of Independence, the United States
had gained vast new lands and developed into a democracy
that was a model for countries around the world.
In one important way, however, America
had not changed and was not a model
at all. Almost from the beginning, even
during colonial times, slavery had been
part of American life. When the thirteen
colonies became the first thirteen states,
nearly one in every five Americans was an African American.
Nearly all African Americans were enslaved. By far, most of these
slaves lived in the South. But there were slaves in the Northern
states, too. At the time of the American Revolution, for example,
one in every ten New Yorkers was a slave. Slaves in the North
worked mainly as house servants for rich families. Now, fifty years
later, Southerners wanted to see slavery spread to the
new western territories as well.
Vocabulary
slavery, n. a system
in which people are
legally owned by
another and forced to
work without pay
5
For a short time after the Declaration of Independence was
written, there seemed a slim chance that slavery might die out.
That was partly because of the words that lie at the very heart of
the Declaration:
We hold these truths to be self-evident;
that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
So how could people accept slavery and still live up to the
words of the Declaration of Independence? A growing number
of Americans, both Northerners and Southerners, believed that
they could not. As John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, slaves
“have as good a right to freedom as we have.” Some Americans
freed their slaves during the Revolutionary War era. Before long,
all the Northern states took steps to end slavery. The Northwest
Ordinance banned slavery in five new western states. Congress
ended the slave trade in 1808. The Constitution had provided for
the end of the slave trade in 1808. No Southern state went so far
as to free all the slaves, but a few made it easier for slave owners to
free their slaves if they wished to.
The former president, George Washington, owned many slaves at
Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia. He and other slave owners
who believed that slavery was wrong, declared that when they
died, their slaves were to be set free. By the early 1800s, there were
about 150,000 free African Americans. Most of them lived in the
Vocabulary
self-evident, adj.
obvious
unalienable, adj.
unable to be taken
away or denied
6
Southern states. However, for most slaves in
the South, freedom was still out of reach.
But not everyone who believed slavery was
wrong favored equal civil rights for freed
African Americans. This was certainly true
in the five new western states to which the
Northwest Ordinance applied. Ending slavery was one thing. Allowing
African Americans to have the full rights of citizens—like voting,
holding office, serving on juries, living where they wanted to live,
working in whatever jobs they chose—was something else altogether.
While some people, such as Abraham Lincoln, did believe that
the rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence extended
to people of color—free or enslaved – many did not. For many
Like many others living in the South, George Washington owned slaves on his estate at
Mount Vernon.
Vocabulary
civil rights, n. the
rights that all citizens
are supposed to
have according to
the Constitution and
its amendments
7
people, the notion of liberty had more to do with self-government
and the possibility of rising up economically than with the removal
of racial slavery or with equal rights for people of color.
The Cotton Gin
Despite progress, by 1810, almost no slave owners were willing
to free their slaves. What caused the change in attitude? Slaves
had become much more valuable. A new invention called the
cotton gin now made it even more profitable to use slave labor
to grow cotton. Southerners began growing cotton back in the
mid-1700s. Cotton, however, was not an important crop at first.
That’s because the kind of cotton that grows best in the American
South is filled with sticky green seeds. Those seeds had to be
removed before the cotton could be used. At that time, it took a
single person a whole day to clean the seeds from just one pound
of cotton. This increased the cost of Southern cotton a great deal.
So most makers of cotton goods looked to other parts of the
world for their supply of raw cotton.
In 1793, Eli Whitney, a young New Englander who liked to tinker
with machines and solve problems, changed all that. That year,
Whitney visited a Georgia plantation. The owner of the plantation
showed Whitney some freshly picked cotton, complete with green
seeds. She suggested that he
date was July 3, 1826. As the fiftieth
anniversary of the Declaration
of Independence approached, a
great drama was playing itself out
in the homes of two of the men most responsible
for that document. At Monticello in Virginia, Thomas
Jefferson, now age eighty-three, slipped in and out of
consciousness as he lay on his deathbed.
And in Quincy, Massachusetts, John Adams, now age ninety, also
neared the end of his life. Would these two great patriots and former
presidents live to see this fiftieth Independence Day? Americans
everywhere hoped and prayed that they would.
As midnight arrived, Thomas Jefferson stirred in his bed and
whispered to a young relative, “This is the Fourth?” The young man
nodded. Jefferson sighed contentedly. He said no more, and by noon
he was gone.
2
The Big Question
Why did the demand
for slaves increase in
the Southern states?
At that very moment in Quincy, Massachusetts, the roar of a
cannon signaled the start of the town’s celebration. John Adams
struggled to utter what proved to be his last sentence. His
granddaughter, bending close to the old man, was able to hear
his final whispered words, “Thomas—Jefferson—still—surv—.”
Before the sun had set, he too was gone.
In their lifetimes, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had seen
their beloved United States grow from a struggling group of
new states into a strong, confident nation. During the fifty years
following the Declaration of Independence, the United States
had gained vast new lands and developed into a democracy
that was a model for countries around the world.
In one important way, however, America
had not changed and was not a model
at all. Almost from the beginning, even
during colonial times, slavery had been
part of American life. When the thirteen
colonies became the first thirteen states,
nearly one in every five Americans was an African American.
Nearly all African Americans were enslaved. By far, most of these
slaves lived in the South. But there were slaves in the Northern
states, too. At the time of the American Revolution, for example,
one in every ten New Yorkers was a slave. Slaves in the North
worked mainly as house servants for rich families. Now, fifty years
later, Southerners wanted to see slavery spread to the
new western territories as well.
Vocabulary
slavery, n. a system
in which people are
legally owned by
another and forced to
work without pay
For a short time after the Declaration of Independence was
written, there seemed a slim chance that slavery might die out.
That was partly because of the words that lie at the very heart of
the Declaration:
We hold these truths to be self-evident;
that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
So how could people accept slavery and still live up to the
words of the Declaration of Independence? A growing number
of Americans, both Northerners and Southerners, believed that
they could not. As John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, slaves
“have as good a right to freedom as we have.” Some Americans
freed their slaves during the Revolutionary War era. Before long,
all the Northern states took steps to end slavery. The Northwest
Ordinance banned slavery in five new western states. Congress
ended the slave trade in 1808. The Constitution had provided for
the end of the slave trade in 1808. No Southern state went so far
as to free all the slaves, but a few made it easier for slave owners to
free their slaves if they wished to.
The former president, George Washington, owned many slaves at
Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia. He and other slave owners
who believed that slavery was wrong, declared that when they
died, their slaves were to be set free. By the early 1800s, there were
about 150,000 free African Americans. Most of them lived in the
Vocabulary
self-evident, adj.
obvious
unalienable, adj.
unable to be taken
away or denied
Southern states. However, for most slaves in
the South, freedom was still out of reach.
But not everyone who believed slavery was
wrong favored equal civil rights for freed
African Americans. This was certainly true
in the five new western states to which the
Northwest Ordinance applied. Ending slavery was one thing. Allowing
African Americans to have the full rights of citizens—like voting,
holding office, serving on juries, living where they wanted to live,
working in whatever jobs they chose—was something else altogether.
While some people, such as Abraham Lincoln, did believe that
the rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence extended
to people of color—free or enslaved – many did not. For many
Like many others living in the South, George Washington owned slaves on his estate at
Mount Vernon.
Vocabulary
civil rights, n. the
rights that all citizens
are supposed to
have according to
the Constitution and
its amendments
people, the notion of liberty had more to do with self-government
and the possibility of rising up economically than with the removal
of racial slavery or with equal rights for people of color.
The Cotton Gin
Despite progress, by 1810, almost no slave owners were willing
to free their slaves. What caused the change in attitude? Slaves
had become much more valuable. A new invention called the
cotton gin now made it even more profitable to use slave labor
to grow cotton. Southerners began growing cotton back in the
mid-1700s. Cotton, however, was not an important crop at first.
That’s because the kind of cotton that grows best in the American
South is filled with sticky green seeds. Those seeds had to be
removed before the cotton could be used. At that time, it took a
single person a whole day to clean the seeds from just one pound
of cotton. This increased the cost of Southern cotton a great deal.
So most makers of cotton goods looked to other parts of the
world for their supply of raw cotton.
In 1793, Eli Whitney, a young New Englander who liked to tinker
with machines and solve problems, changed all that. That year,
Whitney visited a Georgia plantation. The owner of the plantation
showed Whitney some freshly picked cotton, complete with green
seeds. She suggested that he
dfs3434