Slavery on a Knife’s Edge

Paul E. Ronan

Description

Illinois’ contribution to the Union victory in the Civil War is well documented. Less well known is the very real danger that Illinois could have become a slave state. The decades long struggle to keep Illinois free from the looming shadow of slavery was spearheaded by three Virginians – Thomas Jefferson, James Lemen, and Edward Coles. Jefferson was the philosopher who early on recognized the threat and took action from Washington to forestall it. He commissioned James Lemen, a Revolutionary War veteran and true pioneer, to migrate to Illinois and organize and lead the resistance there. Edward Coles, raised on a Virginia plantation, brought the slaves he inherited to Illinois and freed them there. He became Illinois’ second Governor and led the crucial final effort that finally defeated the menace. This book details the efforts of these three men, and is an epic saga in American history.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Civil War
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 18 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669851271
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Slavery on a Knife’s Edge
 
How Three Virginians Kept Illinois Free and Saved the Union
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paul E. Ronan
 
Copyright © 2022 by Paul E. Ronan.
 
Library of Congress Control Number:
2022919100
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-5129-5

Softcover
978-1-6698-5128-8

eBook
978-1-6698-5127-1
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 10/18/2022
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
843153
CONTENTS
Prologue
Part I           Introduction
The Institution of Slavery
Illinois as the Key Battleground
A Profile of the Three Virginians
Why Virginia?
Part II         Roots of the Crisis–Developments Through 1800
Slavery in Virginia Before 1800
The Age of Enlightenment
Slavery in Illinois Before 1800
Thomas Jefferson’s Great Accomplishments
James Lemen
Edward Coles
End of the Eighteenth Century
Part III       1800–1809
State of the Nation
Reversal in Virginia
Illinois in Formation
Thomas Jefferson at the Crossroad
James Lemen’s Ascent
Edward Coles–A Crisis of Conscience
Part IV       1810–1818
A Nation Dividing
Illinois–Journey to Statehood
Thomas Jefferson in Full Retreat
James Lemen–Strength of Character and Leadership
Edward Coles–Diversion, Temptation, and Return
Part V         1819–1822 Prelude to Crisis
Nation Divided–The Missouri Crisis
Illinois and the 1822 Election
Thomas Jefferson–Changing Sides
James Lemen–The Rock at Sunset
Edward Coles Assumes the Leadership
1822 Summary
Part VI       1823–1824 Crisis
The Issue in 1823
The Vote in the Legislature
Shifting and Hypocrisy
The Twin Pillars: Enlightened Self-Interest and Morality
The Result
The Reward of Virtue
Immediate Aftereffects
Part VII       Afterward
Analysis
Edward Coles
Impact
 
Appendix A     The Jefferson-Lemen Compact
Appendix B     Geography, Demographics, and the Political Situation in 1824
Appendix C     Timeline
Appendix D     Order v. Justice As Related to Slavery in the Antebellum United States
 
Bibliography
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Size, Population, and Political Representation in the United States in 1824 (See appendix B for details.)
Figure 2: Geography of the United States in 1824
Figure 3: Relative Population of Virginia 1790–1820
Figure 4: North America in 1750 and 1763
Figure 5: Illinois in 1790
Figure 6: Jefferson’s Progression on Slavery
Figure 7: Illinois in 1809
Figure 8: Illinois in 1818
Figure 9: Plaque to Edward Coles Jr. in Christ Church, Philadelphia
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Population Data and Worst-Case Assumptions
Table 2: Virginia Population Growth 1700–1770
Table 3: Distortion in Apportionment of Illinois Legislature Seats in 1822 in Two Counties
PROLOGUE
R ESOLUTION OF SERIOUS conflicts seldom results in total agreement but often in a series of compromises that are temporary and fully satisfy neither side. Such was the history of the national conflict over slavery from the time of the founding of the United States. A peaceful permanent agreement proved impossible between disputants whose core beliefs on what constituted basic individual rights and on the very definition of humanity itself were diametrically opposed.
Both sides had dedicated advocates who believed in the righteousness of their positions. One side defined success as a well-ordered society in which they completely dominated another race of people, and viewed any expansion of rights for that subjugated class of people a loss of rights and power for themselves. The other side favored freedom for all people regardless of race. Both sides constantly attempted to convert the remaining large group of uncommitted people.
The pendulum of success oscillated from one side to the other from the founding of the nation to the Civil War. The tipping point occurred in August 1824 after which the fortunes of those favoring freedom steadily improved to a point where the oppressors chose secession and war to protect their fading position.
In a referendum in August 1824, the citizens of the state of Illinois defeated a final effort to legalize slavery. The national proslavery lobby would score some later successes such as tightening its hold on Congress and admission of a number of new slave states. However, slavery had been forever denied the foothold north of the Ohio River necessary to make it a permanent institution in the American Union.
Three Virginians—Thomas Jefferson, James Lemen, and Edward Coles—struggled for more than forty years to keep Illinois free of slavery. The combined efforts of these three men demonstrated decisively that selfless adherence to principles, a willingness to accept unpleasant personal consequences, and true leadership involving both contemplation and action—the idea and the deed—can overcome the forces of fear, peer pressure, greed, and ambition. It was not enough to simply cultivate and adhere to principles as individuals; the success of the antislavery efforts in Illinois required heroic efforts to convince, educate, organize, and lead others along the righteous path.
Although the contributions of these three Virginians are covered in detail throughout the book, a brief summary of their roles in the struggle to keep Illinois free follows.
Thomas Jefferson established at the national level the legislative foundation for prohibiting slavery in Illinois. He commissioned James Lemen to permanently move to Illinois as his special agent to oppose slavery at the territorial level while supporting Lemen’s efforts behind the scenes in Washington.
James Lemen erected the political and moral antislavery structure in Illinois that narrowly overcame repeated efforts to introduce slavery into the territory. In 1818, Illinois was admitted to the Union with a state constitution banning slavery.
Edward Coles, a latecomer to Illinois and the state’s second governor, organized and directed the effort that narrowly defeated the final and most serious challenge by the proslavery faction to end the ban on slavery in the state constitution.
The 1824 referendum in Illinois went almost unnoticed on the national scene, but it was, in fact, one of the key turning points in American history.
For a detailed timeline of the events recorded in this book, see appendix C.
PART I
Introduction
I N 1818, TO comply with the conditions that Congress had mandated for statehood (i.e., conformance to the terms of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787), the drafters of the Illinois Constitution reluctantly included a provision banning slavery. They knew that once Illinois became a sovereign state, it would have unfettered authority to amend its own constitution. In 1822, the legislature of the three-year-old state approved the holding of a public referendum on whether to convene a state convention to amend the constitution. Ostensibly, the purpose of the convention was to correct minor issues in the original document, but its real purpose was to legalize slavery. Given the demographic changes underway in the new state, the proslavery forces recognized this opportunity as their best, and probably last, chance to do so.
Most of the early settlers immigrated to Illinois from slave states and were either proslavery or ambivalent about the institution. However, between the census of 1818 and the census of 1820, a new wave of antislavery immigrants from the northeast dramatically changed the makeup of the population. In 1820, the state legislature, elected based on the census of 1818, had a comfortable proslavery majority. These representatives recognized that theirs would be the last legislature in which they would have the two-third majority in both Houses required to call for a referendum on convening a constitutional convention. They quickly and by the narrowest margin approved such a referendum and scheduled it to be held at the next general election in 1824. Assuming electorate approval, the convention delegates would be chosen based on the makeup of the existing legislature, ensuring a solid proslavery majority and making the legalization of slavery a certainty.
In 1824, the United States faced a crisis dwarfing in importance the later, more publicized struggle for Kansas in the mid-1850s. The stakes could not have been higher. A vote to allow slavery in Illinois would have decisively altered the political, geographic, and demographic forces that were shaping the nation’s future, and would have turned them in a direction more favorable to the perpetuation of slavery.
The Institution of Slavery
Prior to the fall of the Roman empire, people were held in slavery as punishment for a crime or in restitution for an unpaid debt. It was also customary at the end of a successful war for the victor to enslave a portion (usually the elite) of the conquered people, ext