Pre Civil War Thinkers.....

I first heard this Quote from Martin Luther King !!!

 

 

The arc of the moral universe is long,

But it bends toward justice

--Abolitionist Theodore Parker, c. 1850s

 

As I search thru census records....... the 1830-1850 - Pre Civil War Thinkers

Who Was Theodore Parker?

He was born in Massachusetts 1810-1860.... and known as an American Transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. 

 A reformer and abolitionist, his words and quotations which he popularized would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Theodore Parker rejected all miracles, and saw the Bible as full of contradictions and

mistakes. He retained his faith in God but suggested that people experience God

intuitively and personally. He thought that individual experience was where people

 should center their religious beliefs.^[

 

In Boston, Parker led the movement to combat the stricter Fugitive Slave Act enacted with the Compromise of 1850. It required law enforcement and citizens of all states- free states as well as slave states- to assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves. Parker called the law "a hateful statute of kidnappers", and helped organize open resistance to it in Boston. Parker and his followers formed the Committee of Vigilance, refusing to assist with the recovery of fugitive slaves, and helping to hide them.^[11] For example, they smuggled away Ellen and William Craft when Georgian slave catchers came to Boston to arrest them. Due to Parker's effort, from 1850 to the onset of the American Civil War in 1861, only twice were slaves captured in Boston and transported back to the South. On both occasions, Bostonians combatted the actions with mass protests

 

 

Parker's abolitionism became his most controversial stance, at a time when the American union was beginning to split over slavery.^[20] He wrote the scathing To a Southern Slaveholder in 1848, as the abolition crisis was heating up. Parker defied slavery^[21] and advocated violating the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, a controversial part of the Compromise of 1850 which required the return of escaped slaves to their owners. Parker worked with many fugitive slaves, some of whom were among Parker's congregation. As in the case of William and Ellen Craft,^[22] he hid them in his home. Although he was indicted for his actions, he was never convicted.^[8]

During the undeclared war in Kansas (see Bleeding Kansas and Origins of the American Civil War) prior to the 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. After Brown's arrest, Parker wrote a public letter, "John Brown's Expedition Reviewed, "defending his actions and the right of slaves to kill their masters.

Book Reading Adventures

After the Glory

by Donald R. Shaffer

The heroics of black Union soldiers in the Civil War have been justly celebrated, but their postwar lives largely neglected. Donald Shaffer's illuminating study shines a bright light on this previously obscure part of African American history, revealing for the first time black veterans' valiant but often frustrating efforts to secure true autonomy and equality as civilian...more The heroics of black Union soldiers in the Civil War have been justly celebrated, but their postwar lives largely neglected. Donald Shaffer's illuminating study shines a bright light on this previously obscure part of African American history, revealing for the first time black veterans' valiant but often frustrating efforts to secure true autonomy and equality as civilians. "After the Glory shows how black veterans' experiences as soldiers provided them for the first time with a sense of manliness that shaped not only their own lives but also their contributions to the African American community. Shaffer makes clear, however, that their postwar pursuit of citizenship and a dignified manhood was never very easy for black veterans, their triumphs frequently neither complete nor lasting. Shaffer chronicles the postwar transition of black veterans from the Union army, as well as their subsequent life patterns, political involvement, family and marital life, experiences with social welfare, comradeship with other veterans, and memories of the war itself. He draws on such sources as Civil War pension records to fashion a collective biography--a social history of both ordinary and notable lives--resurrecting the words and memories of many black veterans to provide an intimate view of their lives and struggles.

 

 Like other African Americans from many walks of life, black veterans fought fiercely against disenfranchisement and Jim Crow and were better equipped to do so than most other African Americans. They carried a sense of pride instilled by their military service that made them better prepared to confront racism and discrimination and more respected in their own communities. As Shafferreveals, they also had nearly equal access to military pensions, financial resources available to few other blacks, and even found acceptance among white Union veterans in the Grand Army of the Republic fraternity. "

 

After the Glory is not merely another tale of black struggles in a racist America; it is the story of how a select group of African Americans led a quest for manhood--and often found it within themselves when no one else would give it to them.

Hardcover, 282 pages

Published July 1st 2004 by University Press of Kansas

7 Things I might find in a really...GOOD OBITUARY

...or Death Notice....

 

1.     Name (spelling) of the relative, their year of birth

2.     Names of their parents…. Their designated birth order in the family

3.     Names of their spouse (multiple)… their children’s names and grandchildren

4.     Names of special friend/supporter

5.     Names of the towns and how long they may have lived in each one

6.     Age of spouse, marriage date, and date spouse may have died.

7.     The relatives date of death, name of cemetery, date and place of the funeral home

8.     Significant names of pallbearers and Minister