The Racist Presidents continued
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James K. Polk 1845-1849
This 11th President of the United States in 1832 had fifteen slaves who he treated most cruel. Many of his slaves would runaway to escape the harsh treatment of his hard disciplinary ways toward them.
It is clear by his own words that James Polk saw himself as the superior and the slave (a.k.a. Israelite) as the subservient heaven sent servant.
Often referred to as the first "dark horse" President, James K. Polk was the last of the Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the Civil War.
By 1835 as Speaker of the House of Representatives Polk had to deal with the constant barrage of anti-slavery petitions delivered by Congressman John Quincy Adams and others. Polk ruled that the petitions had to be received, but could then be rejected – a compromise that pleased no one. His inability to control the House permitted Adams to link abolitionism to the Constitutional right to petition. (McCormac, p94)
1841: Polk’s plantation was troubled by slaves running away to nearby plantations, claiming mistreatment by the overseer. When Polk visited the plantation he had the most recent two brought back and whipped. (Sellers. P446)
It is clear by his own words that James Polk saw himself as the superior and the slave (a.k.a. Israelite) as the subservient heaven sent servant.
Often referred to as the first "dark horse" President, James K. Polk was the last of the Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the Civil War.
By 1835 as Speaker of the House of Representatives Polk had to deal with the constant barrage of anti-slavery petitions delivered by Congressman John Quincy Adams and others. Polk ruled that the petitions had to be received, but could then be rejected – a compromise that pleased no one. His inability to control the House permitted Adams to link abolitionism to the Constitutional right to petition. (McCormac, p94)
1841: Polk’s plantation was troubled by slaves running away to nearby plantations, claiming mistreatment by the overseer. When Polk visited the plantation he had the most recent two brought back and whipped. (Sellers. P446)
Words of James Polk
- 1826: “ When this country became free and independent, this species of population (slaves a.k.a. Israelites) was found amongst us(found amongst us, give me a break). It had been entailed upon us by our ancestors, and was viewed as a common evil; not confined to the locality where it was, but affecting the whole nation. Some of the States which then possessed it have since gotten clear of it: they were a species of property that differed from all other: they were rational; they were human beings.” (McCormac, p612)
- 1830: “A slave dreads the punishment of stripes (i.e. whipping) more than he does imprisonment, and that description of punishment has, besides, a beneficial effect upon his fellow-slaves.” (Sellers, p186)
- 1838: “The Abolitionists (are) fanatical and wicked agitators.” (Sellers. P349)
1837, poster to alert citizens of the Abolitionist. Notice the appeal to the Union.
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Zachary Taylor 1849-1850
The 12th President Zachary Taylor was very accustom to the benefits of free labor through slavery. In 1800 Zachary's father owned 26 Israelite slaves and by 1847 he himself owned well over 100 Israelite slaves.
Zachary Taylor by his words was a very frugal man but the investment in slaves shows he was also very wealthy and was determine to keep slavery alive even by war.
Zachary supposedly never sold a slave. (Hamilton.P31)
Traditionally, people could decide whether they wanted slavery when they drew up new state
constitutions. Therefore, to end the dispute over slavery in new areas, Taylor urged settlers in New Mexico and California to draft constitutions and apply for statehood, bypassing the territorial stage.
Southerners were furious, since neither state constitution was likely to permit slavery; Members of Congress were dismayed, since they felt the President was usurping their policy-making prerogatives. In addition, Taylor's solution ignored several acute side issues: the northern dislike of the slave market operating in the District of Columbia; and the southern demands for a more stringent fugitive slave law.
In February 1850 President Taylor had held a stormy conference with southern leaders who threatened secession. He told them that if necessary to enforce the laws, he personally would lead the Army. Persons "taken in rebellion against the Union, he would hang ... with less reluctance than he had hanged deserters and spies in Mexico." He never wavered.
Then events took an unexpected turn. After participating in ceremonies at the Washington Monument on a blistering July 4, Taylor fell ill; within five days he was dead. After his death, the forces of compromise triumphed, but the war Taylor had been willing to face came 11 years later. In it, his only son Richard served as a general in the Confederate Army. ( whitehouse.gov )
Zachary Taylor by his words was a very frugal man but the investment in slaves shows he was also very wealthy and was determine to keep slavery alive even by war.
Zachary supposedly never sold a slave. (Hamilton.P31)
Traditionally, people could decide whether they wanted slavery when they drew up new state
constitutions. Therefore, to end the dispute over slavery in new areas, Taylor urged settlers in New Mexico and California to draft constitutions and apply for statehood, bypassing the territorial stage.
Southerners were furious, since neither state constitution was likely to permit slavery; Members of Congress were dismayed, since they felt the President was usurping their policy-making prerogatives. In addition, Taylor's solution ignored several acute side issues: the northern dislike of the slave market operating in the District of Columbia; and the southern demands for a more stringent fugitive slave law.
In February 1850 President Taylor had held a stormy conference with southern leaders who threatened secession. He told them that if necessary to enforce the laws, he personally would lead the Army. Persons "taken in rebellion against the Union, he would hang ... with less reluctance than he had hanged deserters and spies in Mexico." He never wavered.
Then events took an unexpected turn. After participating in ceremonies at the Washington Monument on a blistering July 4, Taylor fell ill; within five days he was dead. After his death, the forces of compromise triumphed, but the war Taylor had been willing to face came 11 years later. In it, his only son Richard served as a general in the Confederate Army. ( whitehouse.gov )
Words from Zachary Taylor
(Noticed he believed the constitution gave them the right to own slaves. He was right to believe so and don't let anyone tell you a lie that the constitution was also written with the slave (a.k.a. Israelite) in mind. Zachary was willing to fight for this constitutional right to keep slavery alive.)
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- 1847: “I too have been all my life industrious and frugal, and that the fruits thereof are mainly invested in slaves, of whom I own three hundred.” (McKinley, p208)
- 1847: “The moment (the abolitionists) go beyond the point where resistance becomes right and proper, let the South act promptly, boldly and decisively with arms in their hands, if necessary, as the Union in that case will be blown to atoms, or will be no longer worth preserving.” (McKinley, p270)
- 1847: “So far as slavery is concerned, we of the south must throw ourselves on the constitution and defend our rights under it to the last, and when arguments will no longer suffice, we will appeal to the sword, if necessary." (Hamilton, p45)
(Noticed he believed the constitution gave them the right to own slaves. He was right to believe so and don't let anyone tell you a lie that the constitution was also written with the slave (a.k.a. Israelite) in mind. Zachary was willing to fight for this constitutional right to keep slavery alive.)
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Millard Fillmore 1850-1853
Born in the Finger Lakes country of New York in 1800, Fillmore as a youth endured the privations of frontier life. He worked on his father's farm, and at 15 was apprenticed to a cloth dresser. He attended one-room schools, and fell in love with the redheaded teacher, Abigail Powers, who later became his wife.
He owned no slaves and gave the notion that he detested slavery but would endure it's evil until it could be done away with entirely. He had no desire to see the slave trade continue are see any other state join the territories as more ground for the institution of the evils of slavery. Millard Fillmore seems to be a breath of fresh air amongst a sea of men bent on conquest and the pursuit of their own gain of prosperity and the American dream that was a nightmare for the Israelite slave. Signing the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 leaves one to believe that although Fillmore detested slavery and all its evils he only saw them no more than mere property and not human beings.
President Fillmore track record speaks for its self. Using Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois at this critical juncture, President Fillmore announced in favor of the Compromise. On August 6, 1850, he sent a message to Congress recommending that Texas be paid to abandon her claims to part of New Mexico. This helped influence a critical number of northern Whigs in Congress away from their insistence upon the Wilmot Proviso--the stipulation that all land gained by the Mexican War must be closed to slavery.
Douglas presented five separate bills to the Senate:
1. Admit California as a free state.
2. Settle the Texas boundary and compensate her.
3. Grant territorial status to New Mexico.
4. Place Federal officers at the disposal of slaveholders seeking fugitives.
5. Abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
Each measure obtained a majority, and by September 20, President Fillmore had signed them into law.
Some of the more militant northern Whigs remained irreconcilable, refusing to forgive Fillmore for having signed the Fugitive Slave Act. Which helped deprive him of the Presidential nomination in 1852.
Within a few years it was apparent that although the Compromise had been intended to settle the slavery controversy, it served rather as an uneasy sectional truce.
As the Whig Party disintegrated in the 1850's, Fillmore refused to join the Republican Party; but, instead, in 1856 accepted the nomination for President of the Know Nothing, or American, Party. Throughout the Civil War he opposed President Lincoln and during Reconstruction supported President Johnson. He died in 1874.
Whitehouse.gov
(Note: It is very interesting to me for a President so against slavery and the slave trade that Fillmore would sign such a bill into law. This clearly shows that he favored the owners of slaves more so than the slaves themselves. As you see below the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 gave no rights to the runaway slave by no means. All power was placed in the hand of the Federal Marshal and law-enforcement agencies to capture so called runaway slaves whether they were freed citizens or really runaways at all. The free Israelite was not allowed a trail or jury to proclaim his/her freedom in a court of law. The Israelite (slave) could be apprehended on a white persons claim that the slave belonged to them even if they were a free citizen.)
He owned no slaves and gave the notion that he detested slavery but would endure it's evil until it could be done away with entirely. He had no desire to see the slave trade continue are see any other state join the territories as more ground for the institution of the evils of slavery. Millard Fillmore seems to be a breath of fresh air amongst a sea of men bent on conquest and the pursuit of their own gain of prosperity and the American dream that was a nightmare for the Israelite slave. Signing the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 leaves one to believe that although Fillmore detested slavery and all its evils he only saw them no more than mere property and not human beings.
President Fillmore track record speaks for its self. Using Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois at this critical juncture, President Fillmore announced in favor of the Compromise. On August 6, 1850, he sent a message to Congress recommending that Texas be paid to abandon her claims to part of New Mexico. This helped influence a critical number of northern Whigs in Congress away from their insistence upon the Wilmot Proviso--the stipulation that all land gained by the Mexican War must be closed to slavery.
Douglas presented five separate bills to the Senate:
1. Admit California as a free state.
2. Settle the Texas boundary and compensate her.
3. Grant territorial status to New Mexico.
4. Place Federal officers at the disposal of slaveholders seeking fugitives.
5. Abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia.
Each measure obtained a majority, and by September 20, President Fillmore had signed them into law.
Some of the more militant northern Whigs remained irreconcilable, refusing to forgive Fillmore for having signed the Fugitive Slave Act. Which helped deprive him of the Presidential nomination in 1852.
Within a few years it was apparent that although the Compromise had been intended to settle the slavery controversy, it served rather as an uneasy sectional truce.
As the Whig Party disintegrated in the 1850's, Fillmore refused to join the Republican Party; but, instead, in 1856 accepted the nomination for President of the Know Nothing, or American, Party. Throughout the Civil War he opposed President Lincoln and during Reconstruction supported President Johnson. He died in 1874.
Whitehouse.gov
(Note: It is very interesting to me for a President so against slavery and the slave trade that Fillmore would sign such a bill into law. This clearly shows that he favored the owners of slaves more so than the slaves themselves. As you see below the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 gave no rights to the runaway slave by no means. All power was placed in the hand of the Federal Marshal and law-enforcement agencies to capture so called runaway slaves whether they were freed citizens or really runaways at all. The free Israelite was not allowed a trail or jury to proclaim his/her freedom in a court of law. The Israelite (slave) could be apprehended on a white persons claim that the slave belonged to them even if they were a free citizen.)
Words from Millard Fillmore
(Note: These Presidents saw slavery as a constitutional right whether they believed in owning slaves are not. They proudly upheld the right for those who owned slaves as it was the idea attached to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", something given to all white men of the newly established territories.)
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- 1838: After Fillmore was nominated to Congress an abolitionist group sent him the following list of questions: “Do you believe that petitions to congress…on slavery and the slave trade, ought to be
- 1846: Fillmore called the Mexican War a “wild and wicked scheme of foreign conquest” to add “another slave territory to the United States.” He added that while the North had the majority, “the South has managed to have the Speaker of the House about two-thirds of the time, and the Presidency about two-thirds of the time…I cast no imputations upon the South for this, but ask: Shall we submit to our servile condition?” (Rayback, p162)
- 1850: Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act and warned that he would use federal troops to enforce it. “God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil, for which we are not responsible, and we must endure it,(what is he actually enduring) and give it(slavery) such protection as is guaranteed by the constitution, till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world.” (Their freedom seemed more important than the slave.) (Rayback, p252 and 271)
- 1852: MF wrote about slavery in the draft of his last state-of-the-union message, but his cabinet convinced him to leave that text out. He predicted that within a century the population, White and Black, would overwhelm the land. “It will give birth to a conflict of races with all the lamentable onsequences which must characterize such a strife… The terrific scenes of St. Domingo (i.e. the slave rebellion in Haiti) are sooner or later to be re-enacted here, unless something be done to avert it.” The only solution would be to free the slaves and send them back to Africa. “If emigration could take place at the rate of 100,000 per annum, that would not only prevent the increase of the slave population, but constantly diminish it, and at last…wipe it out entirely.” Asians would be permitted in to replace the slave labor force. (Rayback, p368-9)
(Note: These Presidents saw slavery as a constitutional right whether they believed in owning slaves are not. They proudly upheld the right for those who owned slaves as it was the idea attached to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", something given to all white men of the newly established territories.)
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1851 poster warning Israelites in Boston of policemen acting as slave catchers.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southernslave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a 'slave power conspiracy'. It declared that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters. Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.
In response to the weakening of the original fugitive slave act of 1793, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made any Federal marshal or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000. Law-enforcement officials everywhere now had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a runaway slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a bonus or promotion for their work. Slave owners only needed to supply an affidavit to a Federal marshal to capture an escaped slave. Since any suspected slave was not eligible for a trial this led to many free blacks being conscripted into slavery as they had no rights in court and could not defend themselves against accusations.
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The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southernslave holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a 'slave power conspiracy'. It declared that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters. Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.
In response to the weakening of the original fugitive slave act of 1793, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made any Federal marshal or other official who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave liable to a fine of $1,000. Law-enforcement officials everywhere now had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a runaway slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a bonus or promotion for their work. Slave owners only needed to supply an affidavit to a Federal marshal to capture an escaped slave. Since any suspected slave was not eligible for a trial this led to many free blacks being conscripted into slavery as they had no rights in court and could not defend themselves against accusations.
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Franklin Pierce 1853-1857
Franklin Pierce became President at a time of apparent tranquility. The United States, by virtue of the Compromise of 1850, seemed to have weathered its sectional storm. By pursuing the recommendations of southern advisers, Pierce--a New Englander--hoped to prevent still another outbreak of that storm. But his policies, far from preserving calm, hastened the disruption of the Union.
Franklin did not own any slaves but like most presidents before him whether fore or against slavery he upheld the right for slave owners to own slaves under the rights afforded by the constitution. Franklin played politics at the expense of the unfortunate slave (a.k.a. Israelite) .
Franklin did not own any slaves but like most presidents before him whether fore or against slavery he upheld the right for slave owners to own slaves under the rights afforded by the constitution. Franklin played politics at the expense of the unfortunate slave (a.k.a. Israelite) .
Words from Franklin Pierce
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- 1835: (In his state, New Hampshire, there was) “not one in a hundred who does not entertain the most sacred regard for the rights of their Southern (slave owning) brethren – nay not one in five hundred who would not have those rights protected at any and every hazard. There is not the slightest disposition to interfere with any rights secured by the constitution.” (When an abolitionist newspaper in New Hampshire published a petition signed by far more than one-in-five-hundred, Pierce responded that he meant (white) voters – not women and children, who he says, made up most of the petition signers) (Nichols, p84-5.)
- 1838: "Would any man here abridge the liberty of speech, or assail the freedom of the press? I think not... I oppose the Abolitionists, for the very reason that I entertain a sacred regard for these in common with all other rights secured by the Constitution... the citizen of New Hampshire is no more responsible, morally or politically for the existence and continuance of this domestic institution (Slavery) in Virginia or Maryland, than he would be for the existence of any similar institutions in France or Persia. Why? Because these are matters over which the States...retained the sole and exclusive control, and for which they are alone responsible... It is admitted that domestic slavery exists here (in Washington, DC) in its mildest form. That part of the population are bound together by friendship and the nearer relations of life. They are attached to the families (slave owners) in which they have lived from childhood (speaking of the Israelite slave). They are comfortably provided for, and apparently contented." (Congressional Globe 1838. v6n1 p54)
- 1853: “I believe that involuntary servitude as it exists in different states of this Confederacy, is recognized by the constitution. I believe that it stands like any other admitted right, and that the states where it exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the constitutional provisions…. I fervently hope that the question is at test, and that no sectional or ambitious or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of our institutions.” (from his inaugural address) (Nichols. p235-6.)
- 1855: “If the passionate rage of fanaticism and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention, it would be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this enlightened country could have so surrendered themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few Africans in the United States to totally abandon and disregard the interests of 25,000,000 Americans.” (Nichols. P 433)
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James Buchanan 1857-1861
15th President, James Buchanan, on paper did not own any slaves. For political reasons only he purchase his sister's husband two slaves and immediately converted them to his indentured servants. Daphne Cook, age 22, was indentured for seven years and Ann Cook, age 5, was indentured for 23 years of her life. (Klein, p100)
James was the only president who never married. For more than a decade he shared a home with Senator William Rufus King of Alabama, leading to speculation, then and now, that they were homosexuals. King was a slave owner and some historians think his influence was the reason James was more pro-South and pro-slavery than the typical Pennsylvania politician. (“The Other Buchanan Controversy.”)
James was the only president who never married. For more than a decade he shared a home with Senator William Rufus King of Alabama, leading to speculation, then and now, that they were homosexuals. King was a slave owner and some historians think his influence was the reason James was more pro-South and pro-slavery than the typical Pennsylvania politician. (“The Other Buchanan Controversy.”)
William R King
Most evidence of James and Williams relationship was destroyed by the nieces of the two in an effort to hide their love for one another. In one letter James Buchanan wrote in 1844, after William left for France, makes it very clear what relationship the two men had between each other. "I am now solitary and alone, having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection."
Words of James Buchanan
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- 1826: "I believe (slavery) to be a great political and a great moral evil. I thank God, my lot has been cast in a State where it does not exist(slavery). But, while I entertain these opinions, I know it is an evil at present without a remedy. It has been a curse entailed upon us by that nation which now makes us a subject of reproach to our institutions. It is, however, one of those moral evils, from which it is impossible for us to escape, without the introduction of evils infinitely greater. There are portions of this Union, in which, if you emancipate your slaves, they will become masters. There can be no middle course. Is there any man in this Union who could, for a moment, indulge in the horrible idea of abolishing slavery by the massacre of the high-minded, and the chivalrous race of men in the South?" (Curtis, v1. p68)
- 1835: “What is now asked by these memorialists? That in this District (of Columbia) of ten miles square – a District carved out of two slave holding States, and surrounded by them on all sides, slavery shall be abolished! What would be the effects of granting their request? You would thus erect a citadel in the very hearts of these States, upon a territory which they have ceded to you for a far different purpose, from which abolitionists and incendiaries could securely attack the peace and safety of their citizens. You establish a spot within the slave holding States which would be a city of refuge for runaway slaves. You create by law a central point from which trains of gunpowder may be securely laid, extending into the surrounding States, which may at any moment produce a fearful and destructive explosion. By passing such a law, you introduce into the enemy (slave) into the very bosom of these two States, and afford him every opportunity to produce a servile insurrection.” (Horton, p153)
- 1836: "The natural tendency of their publications is to produce dissatisfaction and revolt among the slaves (speaking of the abolitionists), and to incite their wild passions to vengeance... Many a mother clasps her infant to her bosom when she retires to rest, under dreadful apprehensions that she may be aroused from her slumbers by the savage yells of the slaves by whom she is surrounded. These are the works of the abolitionists." (Curtis v1 p317)
- 1837: “When the States became parties to the federal compact, they entered into a solemn agreement that property in slaves should be as inviolable as any other property. Whilst the Constitution endures no human power, except that of the State within which slavery exists, has any right to interfere with the question..” (Horton. P246)
- 1852: "History teaches us that but for the provision in favor of the restoration of fugitive slaves, our present Constitution would never have existed. Think ye that the South will ever tamely surrender the Fugitive Slave Law to Northern fanatics and Abolitionists?" (Curtis, v2. p65-6)
- 1860: "The immediate peril arises... from the fact that the incessant and violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the North, for the last quarter of a century, has at length produced its malign influence on the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of freedom." (Buchanan) p114)
- 1861-6: Between 1861 and 1862 James wrote a book defending his administration against charges ranging from incompetence to treason that had been made by congress and the press. It was published in 1866, after the war was over. "If the fanatics of the North (in the 1830s) denounced slavery as evil and only evil, and that continually, the fanatics of the South upheld it as fraught with blessings to the slave as well as to the master. Far different was the estimation in which it was held by Southern patriots and statesmen both before and for many years after the adoption of the Constitution. These looked forward hopefully to the day when, with safety both to the white and black race, it might be abolished by the people of the slave holding States themselves, who alone possessed the power." (Buchanan) p14)
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