Alexander Stephens, a native of Taliaferro County, was a prominent member of the Whig Party during the sectional crisis that arose in the wake of the Mexican War (1846-48). Discover Thomas Jefferson famous and rare quotes. This was about 10 percent of the total Union fighting force. Alexander H. Stephens. At the same time, Stephens worked to … Among different reasonable measures, he was a supporter of the Compromise of 1850, a package of bills that helped stave off Southern secession. Alexander Stephens was a prototypical liberal. The original American republic “rested upon the assumption of the equality of the races,” Stephens explained. The Confederacy: America's Worst Idea While Stephens vehemently supported the institution of slavery, he was also committed to maintaining the Union. Among different reasonable measures, he was a supporter of the Compromise of 1850, a package of bills that helped stave off Southern secession. Alexander Stephens was the Confederate Vice President who said that slavery was the “Cornerstone” of the Confederacy. Most famous for serving as the vice president of the Confederacy during the Civil War (1861-65), Alexander Hamilton Stephens was a near-constant force in state and national politics for a half century. Alexander Stephens was born in Wilkes County, Georgia on February 11, 1812. In 1842 he was elected to Congress where he fought against both the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850, because they would restrict the expansion of slavery. Stephens It may be helpful for “Lost Cause” enthusiasts to once again read … Alexander Stephens - American Battlefield Trust Among other moderate measures, he was a supporter of the Compromise of 1850, a package of bills that helped stave off Southern secession. Within a few short weeks, more than two hundred newspapers worldwide had reprinted Stephens’s words. I once thought that civil rights group made too much hay out of the confederate flag. Jefferson Davis, as is well known, was made President of the Confederacy, and Alexander H. Stephens was made Vice-President. Cloth, ISBN: 978-1621906346. The Athanaeum in Savannah, the site of Alexander Stephens’s “Cornerstone Speech” In the midst of all this discussion about Confederate monuments, the Lost Cause, and the meaning of the Civil War, an Ohio middle school American history teacher named James Latuzenheiser tweets:. Alexander H. Stephens, in full Alexander Hamilton Stephens, (born February 11, 1812, Wilkes county, Georgia, U.S.—died March 4, 1883, Atlanta, Georgia), politician who served as vice president of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–65).. Called “Little Ellick” by his colleagues because he weighed only about 100 pounds, Stephens was … Slavery, Stephens noted, … He wrote the letter on February 8, 1861. Stephens also used some of his money to buy slaves. Both are buried near Kettle Creek. Letter to Alexander H. Stephens, December 22, 1860. They harnessed nostalgia for the fallen Confederacy to try to end the power of Republicans in Congress to dictate the terms of Reconstruction. The story of Alexander H. Stephens cannot be told without also telling the stories of Harry and Eliza Stephens. By then, Stephens had moved from an opponent of secession to the vice presidency of the secessionist government. Beginning in the 1600s, black people were taken from Africa and brought to North America to serve as slaves for white people. Did Alexander Stephens own slaves? The “Cornerstone Speech” was very famous because Stephen mainly focuses in the struggle between the north and south which was, slavery. America. Alexander Stephens - Cornerstone Speech Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens delivered this speech in Savannah, Georgia on March 21, 1861, just a ... subject of slavery, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. Among other moderate measures, he was a supporter of the Compromise of 1850, a package of bills that helped stave off Southern secession. Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America makes it clear why the Confederacy fought against the Union and it was over SLAVERY. And with it our economy. This is a list of plantations in North Carolina that are National Historic Landmarks, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, listed on a heritage register, or are otherwise significant for their history, association with significant events or people, or their architecture and design. July 6, 2018 shotglassofhistory@gmail.com Leave a Comment. By the time of the Civil War, Stephens owned 34 slaves and several thousand acres. WASHINGTON — To many, including even some of his living relatives, Alexander H. Stephens, was a racist and his statue should not hold a … By the time of the Civil War, Stephens owned 34 slaves and several thousand acres. How many slaves did Alexander Stephens have? After the Confederacy was defeated and slavery was… Why does Stephens believe that Black americans need to be enslaved and the issues he had with Northern politicians and activists? That is not to say that the average Confederate soldier fought to preserve slavery or that the North went to war to end slavery. It was better not simply because it protected slavery by mentioning it explicitly, where the original constitution did so implicitly. In March 1861, the Vice President of the Confederate States of America, Alexander Stephens, offered a political manifesto for the slaveholders’ new republic. After the war he returned to political service in Georgia and in the House of Representatives. Stephens's speech is remembered by many for its defense of slavery, its outlining of the perceived differences between the North and the South, and the … Most—about 90,000—were former (or “contraband”) enslaved people from the Confederate states. Antietam was the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War. Slavery and the Constitution Alexander Hamilton Stephens was a congressman from Georgia and the former leader of the Whig party. Alexander Stephens, the Confederate vice president, made virtually the same point: “Our new government is founded . Confederates had to quickly create not only a government, but also a nation, including all of the cultural values required to foster patriotism. He became a leading Southern Whig and strongly opposed the Mexican–American War. . https://civilwarproject2017.weebly.com/alexander-stephens.html Alexander Stephens. He entered politics in 1836, and was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, serving there until 1841. As talks of secession grew, Alexander Stephens advocated that the Southern states should remain loyal to the Union, and that a solution could come through Congress and not through secession. So prodigious was his charity, that he died virtually penniless. Stephens' speech declared that disagreements over the enslavement of Africans was the "immediate cause" of secession. At the end of The War Between the States, Stephens was imprisoned … While Stephens vehemently supported the institution of slavery , he was also committed to preserving the Union. Slavery, the "substantial difference between us," would lead to secession and Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, pictured in the 1840s, around the time he and Alexander Stephens developed a friendship and mutual respect for each other, despite their profound differences on … February 25, 2013 at 6:44 pm. A few weeks after Lincoln's inauguration, Stephens proclaimed that slavery was the "cornerstone" of the Confederacy. Alexander took the oath of office on Feb. 11, 1861, his 49th birthday. Born near Crawfordville, in Taliaferro County, on February 11, 1812, to Margaret Grier and … Alexander H. Stephens, Diary entry, (June 5, 1865): Wonder and surprise have been expressed in a number of papers at the suddenness and completeness of the collapse of the Confederate Cause, etc. Today, most professional historians agree with Stephens that slavery and the status of African Americans were at the heart o the crisis that plunged the U.S. into a civil war from 1861 to 1865. The role of slavery in bringing on the Civil War has been hotly debated for decades. University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Transcript of Alexander Hamilton Stephens’ Papers. He makes the argument all throughout his speech that negros are naturally inferior to whites, and that this was the condition/position given to them by God. These slaves were freed due to Lincoln's "war powers". In this speech, Alexander H. Stephens justifies the Confederacy’s secession, arguing that the “cornerstone” of the Confederacy is the maintenance of the institution of slavery and the belief in the inferiority of African Americans. Why did Alexander Stephens defend slavery? Alexander H. Stephens Quote on Slavery and Secession. By the time the war ended in 1865, about 180,000 Black men had served as soldiers in the U.S. Army. ----- In the long list of names who have suffered and died in the cause of freedom, not one, perhaps, could be found whose efforts to redeem a poor family of slaves were more Christlike than Seth Concklin's, whose noble and daring spirit has been so long completely shrouded in mystery. Both Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens claimed that slavery was the “immediate cause” or the “occasion” of the War Between the States. After the 1860 election, Lincoln wrote a letter to the future Confederate vice president, Alexander H. Stephens, concerning the South’s fears of his presidency threatening slavery. Here is his famous speech call the Cornerstone Speech where he lays out the principles of the Confederate Constitution and … Synopsis Alexander Stephens was an American politician born near Crawfordville, Georgia, on February 11, 1812. While there, Alexander Stephens opposed the Mexican-American War, supported the Compromise of 1850 and helped in drafting the Georgia Platform that opposed the secession. Alexander Stephens, US Congressman, 1843–1859, 1873–1882; Confederate Vice-President, 1861–1865; Governor of Georgia, 1882–83 (Image Credit: Wikimedia) In his March 1861 “Cornerstone Speech,” Rebel Vice President Alexander Stephens of Georgia touted the freshly-minted Confederate constitution and reminded his audience why the South seceded: This revolution resulted in the American Civil War. Alexander Stephens clearly was struck by the account and adapted the story for his own purposes, to make the point that Lincoln was a better man in private life than he was in public life. In his so-called Cornerstone Speech, delivered on March 21, 1861, in Savannah, Georgia, the Confederate vice president Alexander H. Stephens described the new Confederate constitution. Today in Georgia History is a joint collaboration of the Georgia Historical Society & Georgia Public Broadcasting. This is to say that … Letter to Alexander H. Stephens, December 22, 1860. By Ta-Nehisi Coates. In this speech, Alexander H. Stephens justifies the Confederacy’s secession, arguing that the “cornerstone” of the Confederacy is the maintenance of the institution of slavery and the belief in the inferiority of African Americans. The basic belief behind slavery was that black people were inferior to whites. … As his wealth increased, Stephens began acquiring land and slaves. April 27, 2009. That the principle would ultimately prevail. Alexander Stephens: Surrender won't be thought of unless you've assured us, in Robert Hunter: This is the arrogant demand of a conqueror for a humiliating, abject— William Seward: You'll not be conquered people, Mr. Hunter. Alexander Hamilton Stephens, vice president of the Confederate States of America, gave this speech on March 21, 1861 to justify secession. Alexander Stephens argued that the Confederacy was the first to base its slave society on white supremacy. Alexander Stephens on Slavery and the Confederate Constitution, 1861. Author. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD * * * * * SETH CONCKLIN. April 27, 2009. Mr. Stephens, the subject of this sketch, was a sickly child and remained sickly, small, and frail all of his life. The leaders of this slaveholding nation would never voluntarily accept peace with an enemy that was arming former slaves and enlisting them alongside white men. A letter to Stephens in October 1866 states that his former slave Pearce was charged with murder and asks for Stephens' legal counsel at Pearce's request (he apparently complied based on a letter from 1869). Stephens proclaimed that slavery had caused the South's break with the Union, a statement obvious and uncontroversial at the time, but embarrassing to later neo-Confederates. Stephens was a lawyer and once successfully defended a slave woman from an attempted murder charge; make of that what you will. Alexander Stephens also supported the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act for the expansion of slavery. He entered politics in 1836, and was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, serving there until 1841. By the time of the Civil War, Stephens owned 34 slaves and several thousand acres. Full Transcript of Alexander Hamilton Stephens' Speech. The story is all the more remarkable because of its portrayal of Stephens, the orator who gave the "Cornerstone Speech" outlining slavery's status as a cornerstone of secession. Alexander H. Stephens, in full Alexander Hamilton Stephens, (born February 11, 1812, Wilkes county, Georgia, U.S.—died March 4, 1883, Atlanta, Georgia), politician who served as vice president of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War (1861–65).. Called “Little Ellick” by his colleagues because he weighed only about 100 pounds, Stephens was … The Civil War Wasn't About Slavery. [Archivist’s note 2: This clipping is the bulk of the “Cornerstone Speech” that Mr. Alexander Stephens gave before a large crowd in Savannah, Georgia, in March 1861, rallying enthusiasm for the new Confederate constitution that he helped to write. Descendants of Alexander H. Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, want to remove the statue of Stephens from the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. 11 months ago HotMovs. Confederates had to quickly create not only a government, but also a nation, including all of the cultural values required to foster patriotism. Slavery was merely the most recent occasion of the North violating the compact that held the States in union. Author. Southern whites had created a nation based on “slavery subordination,” as Vice President Alexander Stephens declared. Over federalism and sovereignty - KINK: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation '' > Wikipedia < /a > the UNDERGROUND *... 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