The Antebellum period of American history was one of the most important periods of world history. No one can fully understand the American Civil War without understanding the Antebellum period. That era of time lasted from 1789 with George Washington, who was elected as America's first President, until the start of the American Civil War in 1861. During the beginning, the American nation was birthed during the middle of the American Revolutionary War filled with the contradiction of claiming to support freedom, but its foundation was built on the great two crimes of slavery against African human beings and the genocide of Native Americans. By 1789, the United States Electoral College chose George Washington as the first President of the United States of America. The national capital moved from New York City to Philadelphia in 1790 and then to Washington, D.C. in 1800. George Washington promoted a strong national government. His government followed the leadership of Federalist Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, he assumed the debts of the states, and he created the Bank of the United States. Hamilton made a system of tariffs and other taxes to pay off the debt and provide a financial infrastructure. Alexander Hamilton was a creator of the Federalist Party, the Anti-Federalists feared a too powerful central government. So, Congress adopted the United States Bill of Rights in 1791 to guarantee individual liberties like freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of religion, and the right to petition the government for grievances. February 1791 was when Major Andrew Ellicott hired Benjamin Banneker, an African American draftsman, to assist in a survey of the boundaries of the 100-square-mile (260 km2) federal district that would later become the District of Columbia.
As America grew, the institution of slavery was more entrenched in the southern states. Pennsylvania was the first state in 1780 to pass an act for the gradual abolition of slavery. After the Haitian Revolution (when black people defeated French imperialists in 1804), slave owners fled to America. This alarmed Southern white racists who wanted more slavery. Thomas Jefferson was a racist who opposed the Haitian Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution inspired freedom movements globally.
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison formed an opposition Republican Party (or Democratic-Republican Party). Hamilton and Washington presented the country in 1794 with the Jay Treaty that reestablished good relations with Britain. The Jeffersonians vehemently protested the Jay Treaty, and the voters aligned behind one party or the other, thus setting up the First Party System. The treaty passed, but politics became intensely heated. Serious challenges to the new federal government included the Northwest Indian War, the ongoing Cherokee–American wars, and the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion, in which Western settlers protested against a federal tax on liquor. Washington refused to serve more than two terms – setting a precedent. John Adams, a Federalist, defeated Jefferson in the 1796 election. War loomed with France and the Federalists used the opportunity to try to silence the Republicans with the Alien and Sedition Acts, build up a large army with Hamilton at the head, and prepare for a French invasion. The Federalists were right to have a strong federal government, but they were wrong to promote the Alien and Sedition Acts being against human civil liberties. However, the Federalists became divided after Adams sent a successful peace mission to France that ended the Quasi-War of 1798. During the first two decades after the Revolutionary War, there were dramatic changes in the status of slavery among the states and an increase in the number of freed black Americans. Inspired by revolutionary ideals of equality and influenced by their lesser economic reliance on slavery, northern states abolished slavery gradually.
States of the Upper South made manumission easier, resulting in an increase in the proportion of free black people in the Upper South (as a percentage of the total non-white population) from less than one percent in 1792 to more than 10 percent by 1810. By that date, a total of 13.5 percent of all black people in the United States were free. In 1807, with four million slaves already in the United States, Congress severed U.S. involvement with the Atlantic slave trade. Then, the cotton gin came which caused the South to promote slavery even more for racist reasons and financial gain. The cotton gin increased the production of short-staple cotton. Cotton grew heavily in the South. The Industrial Revolution in Europe and New England wanted a high demand for cotton too for cheap clothing. This caused a larger demand for slave labor to develop new cotton plantations. Slavery increased by 20 percent in only 20 years. Then, Northern states focused more on manufacturing and commerce, while the South's economy was mostly dependent on agriculture. There were racial tensions being massive back then and today. There was the Upper South having tobacco crops too and enslaved people going to the Deep South. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 allowed any black person in America to be claimed as a runaway unless a white person testified on the person's behalf. Many free black people were kidnapped and sold into slavery without rescue. By 1819, there were 11 free and 11 slave states. This caused tensions. Freed black people were about 232,000 by the 1820s. Black Americans slaves were tortured, raped, families split apart, and heavily mistreated constantly.
African Americans (who were free) in the early 19th century worked in homes and jobs in the cities. Many were stevedores, construction workers and grave diggers. Many black women were teachers, nurses, midwives, basketmakers, etc. Some African Americans moved West. Racial discrimination was rampant, and black Americans competed for jobs with Irish and German immigrants. Many black people joined the abolitionist movement, churches, and other political organizations to fight slavery like the American Society of Free Persons of Colour (founded in 1830), the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Methodist churches, Baptist Chres, etc. The black church was an important community organization back then to show African Americans spirituality, fight discrimination, and celebrate African heritage. Preachers like Bishop Richard Allen wanted freedom for black people. After the Great Awakening, many black people joined the Baptist Church like First Baptist Church and Gillfield Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia. Free black people lived in Richmond, Virginia, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, etc. where they formed businesses and had land. Many black people formed schools like Richard Allen (he formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church or the AME in 1816) and Absalom Jones. There were black slave revolts against tyranny like the Denmark Vesey plan of 1822 and Nat Turner's Rebellion of 1831 (in Southampton County. Many of my distant cousins are related to Nat Turner. We all heard stories about Nat Turner when I was very young).
One of the most important religious movements in America was the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement that affected virtually all of society during the early 19th century and led to rapid church growth. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800, and, after 1820 membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations, whose preachers led the movement. It was past its peak by the 1840s. It enrolled millions of new members in existing evangelical denominations and led to the formation of new denominations. The Second Great Awakening stimulated the establishment of many reform movements, including abolitionism and temperance.
Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams massively in the 1800 election. Jefferson caused the Louisiana Purchase to exist in 1803 to double the size of America that gave U.S. settlers vast areas west of the Mississippi River. This didn't take into consideration the lands of Native Americans spanning thousands of years. Jefferson supported expeditions to explore and map the new domain, most notably the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson believed deeply in republicanism and argued it should be based on the independent yeoman farmer and planter; he distrusted cities, factories and banks. He also distrusted the federal government and judges and tried to weaken the judiciary. Although the Constitution specified a Supreme Court, its functions were vague until John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the United States (1801–1835), defined them, especially the power to overturn acts of Congress or states that violated the Constitution, first enunciated in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison. The War of 1812 existed because the British violated American ships' neutral rights to harm France. The Redcoats forced 10,000 American sailors to join the Royal Navy to fight Napoleon. The British supported Native Americans attacking American settlers in the American Midwest with the goal of creating a pro-British Native American barrier state to block American expansion westward. The British wanted to annex part of all of British North America which has been debated. Despite strong opposition from the Northeast, especially from Federalists who did not want to disrupt trade with Britain, Congress declared war on the United Kingdom on June 18, 1812. Both sides tried to invade the other and were repulsed. The American militia proved ineffective because the soldiers were reluctant to leave home, and efforts to invade Canada repeatedly failed. The British blockade ruined American commerce, bankrupted the Treasury, and further angered New Englanders, who smuggled supplies to Britain. The Americans under General William Henry Harrison finally gained naval control of Lake Erie and defeated the Native Americans under Tecumseh in Canada, while Andrew Jackson ended the Native Americans' powerbase in the Southeast. The Native Americans trying to have an expansion into the Midwest was permanently ended. The British invaded and occupied much of Maine.
In 1814, the British raided and burned Washington but were repelled at Baltimore, where "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written to celebrate the American success. In upstate New York, a major British invasion of New York State was turned back at the Battle of Plattsburgh. In early 1815, Andrew Jackson decisively defeated a major British invasion at the Battle of New Orleans, and the Americans finally claimed victory on February 18, as news came almost simultaneously of Jackson's victory of New Orleans and the peace treaty that left the prewar boundaries in place. This "Second War of Independence" helped lead to an emerging American identity that cemented national pride over state pride. The War of 1812 also dispelled America's negative perception of a standing army as opposed to ill-equipped and poorly-trained militias. America had national euphoria after the victory at New Orleans. The Federalists declined in power. President Madison and most Republicans allowed the First Bank of United States to close down and it was an error. The Second Bank of America was created in 1816 to finance projects. The Republicans also imposed tariffs designed to protect the infant industries that had been created when Britain was blockading the U.S. With the collapse of the Federalists as a party, the adoption of many Federalist principles by the Republicans, and the systematic policy of President James Monroe in his two terms (1817–1825) to downplay partisanship, society entered an Era of Good Feelings and closed out the First Party System. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 allowed for the entry of states of Maine being free and Missouri being a slave state. There were no more slave states allowed north of 36 30. In 1829, the British West Africa Squadron's slave trade suppression activities are assisted by forces from the United States Navy via the USS Cyane. On March 16, 1827, the Freedom's Journal begins publication being the first African American newspaper.
The Monroe Doctrine was created in 1823 to reject European powers from trying to colonize or interfere in the Americas. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson ran for a second term under the slogan "Jackson and no bank" and did not renew the charter of the Second Bank, dissolving the bank in 1836. Jackson was convinced that central banking was used by the elite to take advantage of the average American, and instead implemented publicly owned banks in various states, popularly known as "pet banks." Andrew Jackson caused economic chaos and was very racist against black people and Native Americans. The Democratic-Republican party split into factions over the choice of a successor President James Monroe. The Democratic Party came from the split. They followed the views of Jefferson including Martin Van Buren. Henry Clay formed the Whig Party. The Whigs were split on the issue of slavery in the 1850s. The nation grew and oppressed Native Americans by displacing them in the West. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the president to negotiate treaties that exchanged Native American tribal lands in the eastern states for lands west of the Mississippi River. Its goal was primarily to remove Native Americans, including the Five Civilized Tribes, from desirable lands in the American Southeast. Thousands of deaths resulted from the relocations, as seen in the Cherokee Trail of Tears, which resulted in approximately 2,000 to 8,000 of the 16,543 relocated Cherokee dying along the way. Many of the Seminole Indians in Florida refused to move west and fought the Army for years in the Seminole Wars. Many settlers came to New Mexico, California, Oregon, and other places. Some believed in the racist Manifest Destiny views that white American settlers were destined by God to expand across the continent to rule and dominate.
In 1832, Sarah Harris Fayerweather, an aspiring teacher, is admitted to Prudence Crandall's all-girl school in Canterbury, Connecticut, resulting in the first racially integrated schoolhouse in the United States. Her admission led to the school's forcible closure under the Connecticut Black Law of 1833. In 1833, The American Anti-Slavery Society, an abolitionist society, was founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass becomes a key leader of the society.
Manifest destiny was rejected by modernizers, especially the Whigs like Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln who wanted to build cities and factories – not more farms. Democrats strongly favored expansion and won the key election of 1844. After a bitter debate in Congress, the Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845, leading to the Mexican–American War. The U.S. Army invaded Mexico at several points, captured Mexico City, and won the war decisively. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war in 1848. Many Democrats wanted to annex all of Mexico, but that idea was rejected by White Southerners, who argued that incorporating millions of Mexican people, mainly of multiethnic people, would undermine the U.S. as an exclusively white republic. Instead, the U.S. took Texas and the lightly settled northern parts (California and New Mexico). Simultaneously, gold was discovered in California in 1848. To clear the state for settlers, the U.S. government began a policy of extermination since termed the California genocide. A peaceful compromise with Britain gave the U.S. ownership of the Oregon Country, which was renamed the Oregon Territory. The demand for guano (prized as an agricultural fertilizer) led the U.S. to pass the Guano Islands Act in 1856, which enabled U.S. citizens to take possession, in the name of the country, of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits. Under the act, the U.S. annexed nearly 100 islands in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. By 1903, 66 of these islands were recognized as U.S. territories.
June 1, 1843, was when Isabella Baumfree, a former slave, changed her name to Sojourner Truth and begins to preach for the abolition of slavery. August 1843 was when Henry Highland Garnet delivered his famous speech Call to Rebellion. Frederick Douglass begins publication of the abolitionist newspaper the North Star in 1847. Joseph Jenkins Roberts of Virginia becomes the first president of Liberia by 1847.
The women's suffrage movement began with the 1848 National Convention of the Liberty Party. Presidential candidate Gerrit Smith established women's suffrage as a party goal. One month later, the Seneca Falls Convention was organized, signing the Declaration of Sentiments demanding equal rights for women, including the right to vote. The women's rights campaign during first-wave feminism was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Susan B. Anthony, among others. Stone and Paulina Wright Davis organized the prominent and influential National Women's Rights Convention in 1850.
The Church of East has been very underrated in Christian history. Many people don't know its evolution and spread. The Church of the East was from Syria to as far as India and parts of China from 100 A.D. to 606 A.D. Many branches of the Church of the East were East Syriac Church, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian Church. Many churches of the East accepted Chalcedonian Christology (believed by the majority of Christianity) and some didn't. Chalcedonian Christianity believes in the Christian view that there is the union of two natures (divine and human) in one hypostasis of Jesus Christ, who is a single person (prosopon). It accepts Nicene Christianity. In other words, the Council of Chalcedon declared that Jesus Christ is one person with two natures, a human nature and a divine nature. It declared that Jesus Christ's 2 natures are complete, and that each nature retains its own properties. The Church of the East started in Mesopotamia during the time of the Parthian Empire (which started in Iran). The Church of the East spread into China, Central Asia, and other Turkic territories. Many Churches of the East members aren't Nestorians. Many of them use the Peshitta translation of the Old Testament and New Testament. Christianity was in China by 635 A.D.
From the 300's to 1400 A.D., heresies were promoted in Europe. Later, the Roman Catholic Church would embrace these heresies as part of their fundamental doctrines. One of the early heresies of the apostate church (not the true church) is the embrace of prayers for the dead and the sign of the Cross. Wax candles were shown to the church by 320 A.D., the veneration of angels and dead saints existed by 375 A.D., the veneration of Mary as the Mother of God originated in the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D, there were extreme Unction by 526. The doctrine of purgatory was formed by Gregory the Great in 593 A.D. The Latin language as the language of prayer and worship in Western churches was imposed by Pope Gregory I. The title of Pope or universal bishop was first given to the bishop of Rome by the emperor Phocas in 610 A.D. Boniface III accepted the title when the Bible is clear that the bishop is to be married and only Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Kissing the pope's feet existed in 709 A.D. Holy water was created in 850 A.D., Fasting on Fridays and during Lent was created by 998 A.D., the mandatory of the priesthood was made by Pope Hilderbrand, Boniface VIII (as the apostles, bishops, etc. can be married with children as found in 1st Timothy 3:2,5 and 12 and Matthew 8:14-15). The Rosary was created by Peter the Hermit in 1090. The Inquisition was made in 1184 when Jesus never taught the use of force to spread his faith. Indulgences existed in 1190, and the dogma of transubstantiation was created by Pope Innocent III in 1215. Later, the adoration of the Host, confession od sins to a priest, and Scapular are more heresies that existed before the Reformation by the Roman Catholic Church.
Involving Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans for decades has been mistreated by the powers that be. There were structural issues in the design of the levee system that compromised the safety of the city long before 2005. Back in the day, the coastal wetlands provided a natural barrier protecting the city from storm surges. The problem was coastal erosion over the years. The rising sea levels caused the natural wetlands to be gone. When transportation canals went over the wetlands over the 20th century, many constructed them to be used by the oil and gas industry. This increased the rate of erosion. The canals connected many port cities, introduced salt water into fresh water marshes (killing marsh grasses that anchor the soil), and an average of 34 square miles of South Louisiana wetland disappeared each year over 50 years (according to the U.S. Geological Survey or USGS). From 1932 to 2000, the state of Louisiana lost 1,9000 square miles of land to the Gulf Coast. The Flood Control Act of 1965 was passed by Congress during the time of Hurricane Betsy. The law mandated the Army Corps of Engineers to work with the Sewage and Water Board (SWB) and Orleans Levee Board (OLB) to fortify New Orleans' hurricane protection at its outfall canals. The Corps was responsible for 30 percent of the funding and according to spokesperson for the American Society of Civil Engineers, sought to cut costs each step of the way. The Corps made the mistake of making the underground sheet pilings of the system's wall being too short. A Katrina-like catastrophe was predicted as recently as 2004. In 2004, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness conducted the Hurricane Pam Exercise. The exercise modeled a Category 3 hurricane hitting New Orleans, overtopping the levee system and flooding the city with up to 20 feet of water. The Pam models showed levees being overtopped, but it didn't predict that the levees would break. In the Times-Picayune's 2002 series of Washing Away, it said that experts predicted that a worst-case scenario storm would trap storm water inside for weeks, thousands of people would be homeless, and it would take months to dry out the area and begin to make it livable.
The late Brother Bob Marley was an artist who transcended music with his skill and message as an artist. He expressed a message that gravitated to the consciousness of the people the world over. As a pioneer of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, he had a great songwriting style and a distinctive voice. Bob Marley always had spirituality in his music. He went from being a follower of the Rastafari religion to being baptized in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faith just before he passed away. He was born in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Malcolm. His maternal grandfather, Omariah (or Myal) was an early musical influence on Bob Marley. He played music with Neville Livingston, later known as Bunny Wailer, while at Stepney Primary and Junior High School in Nine Mile, where they were childhood friends. He worked with Bunny and Peter Tosh as the Teenagers at first. They were the Wailers later on.
He was in the group called The Wailers with icons like Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer since 1963. One of the early The Wailer songs was a reworking of People Get Ready in 1965. They had many albums like Catch a Fire and Brunin' in 1973. Bob Marley established his own solo career with songs like No Woman, No Cry. His breakthrough album in America was Rastaman Vibration which came about in 1976. One of his greatest albums was Exodus that came about in 1977. Exodus had songs like Exodus, Waiting in Vain, Jamming, Three Little Birds, and One Love/People Get Ready. Bob Marley survived an assassination attempt. Bob Marley believed in Pan-Africanism and celebrated the independence of Zimbabwe via his concert. After his passing, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and induction into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. He loved his children unconditionally. One of his greatest songs and one of the greatest songs of human history was Redemption Song which had lyrics desiring human beings' minds to be free from mental slavery. Bob Marley taught us that our gifts in enriching the human minds filled with creativity, love of Africa, and embracing wisdom make perfect sense. That album had one of the greatest songs in human history called Redemption Song. He loved his wife, Rita Marley, and their children. Many of his children and grandchildren are musicians, actors, and actresses like Selah Marley, Skip Marley, Ziggy Marley, etc.
Rita Marley worked at the Dupont Hotel for a time in Wilmington, Delaware. The I Three Harmony group made many contributions to music. Later, she converted Bob Marley's home to the Bob Marley Museum in 1986. She is the Founder and Chairperson of the Robert Marley Foundation, Bob Marley Trust, and the Bob Marley Group of Companies. She invests in annual Africa Unite concerts to help African people. She loves her children and grandchildren a lot. She was in the group of The Soulettes during the 1960's too.
Alcohol has been digested by millions and possibly billions of people for thousands of years. Alcohol has been debated and even banned once in American history with the Prohibition era. While I don't agree with banning people from consuming all alcohol, new scientific research in the 21st century confirms that alcohol drinking has tons of risk factors that can't be ignored. For years, many people have said that wine has tons of heart benefits, and that may be true to a certain extent. Yet, the truth is that alcohol is a neurotoxin, meaning that it can damage human brain cells, and new studies show that there is no safe amount of alcohol for people to consume. That is why I mention this information, because no one should die before their time. What is alcohol? Alcohol is part of the chemical name of ethanol and is the 2nd most consumed psychoactive drug globally behind caffeine. Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant. Today, the WHO or the World Health Organization classified alcohol as a toxic, psychoactive, dependence-producing, and carcinogenic substance. Many people won't like these previous words, but truth is truth. If we want to save lives (which we all do humbly), then we have to tell people what the real deal is about alcohol is. Drinking alcohol is playing Russian Roulette with your life literally. I won't minch words or be politically correct on this issue. Now, many people have the right to drink alcohol in a free and open society, and I believe in freedom. Yet, we must confront drug addiction and other problems to prevent needless deaths. The formula of the alcohol molecule is C2H6O. Alcohol can be found in fermented beverages like beer, wine, liquor, and distilled spirit. Some religions permit alcohol like the Catholic Church, and some done. Short term effects from moderate consumption of alcohol were relaxation, decreased social inhibition, and euphoria. Binge drinking can result in cognitive impairment, blackout, and hangover. Excessive alcohol usage can result in alcohol, abuse, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, hepatitis, dementia, and diverse cancers. Globally, alcohol use was the 7th leading risk factor for both deaths and DALY (or disability adjusted life year or lower life expectancy due to ill health or disability by excessive alcohol usage) in 2016.
In 2023, the WHO declared that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption and that "the risk of the drinker's health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage." National agencies are aligning with the WHO's recommendations and increasingly advocating for abstinence from alcohol consumption. Drunkenness while driving and hit and run are illegal. Alcohol addiction is a disease, and many people with that disease act involuntarily (which people have lax control in handling that addiction). That is why therapists, and other programs exist to help people with alcohol addiction. According to the British Journal of Cancer in 2015 on alcohol consumption, light alcohol consumption showed no connection to most cancers, but a slight rise in the likelihood of melanoma, breast cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men was observed by researchers. Many religious people defend using alcohol, but even the Bible forbids drinking alcohol except in limited circumstances. Also, drunkenness is forbidden in the Bible, and alcoholic wine in the ancient world was significantly different than modern wines being much lower in alcohol content (and was consumed after significant dilution with water). Alcohol abuse has killed millions of people. B.A.Cs as low as 0.02 percent can affect human driving ability and crash likelihood. The probability of a crash starts to increase significantly at 0.05 percent BAC and climbs rapidly after about 0.08 percent (according to Zador, Krawchuk, and Voas, 2000). With all of these facts, I believe in abstentionism. That means that I don't believe in forcing people against their wills to not drink alcohol (as I reject fascism completely), but I believe that total abstinence from alcohol is the wisest and most loving way to live in the present circumstances out of prudence.
By Timothy
