A Disease in the Public Mind (50 page)

11
. Ibid., 225–227.

12
. Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 3, 183–184.

CHAPTER 4: ONE HEAD TURNING INTO THIRTEEN

1
. Thomas Fleming,
Liberty! The American Revolution
(New York: 1997), 366.

2
. George Washington to Joseph Jones, May 21, 1780, Writings, vol. 18. Nathanael Greene lamented that “a rage for the sovereign independence of each state” was destroying all hope of national unity “and national revenue.” Papers of Nathanael Greene, vol. 2 (Chapel Hill, NC: 1980), 656.

3
. Robert C. Alberts,
Benjamin West: A Biography
(New York: 1978), 123.

4
. Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 3, 255–256.

5
. Jefferson to Madison, April 25, 1784,
The Republic of Letters: Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776–1826,
vol. 1, edited by James Morton Smith (New York: 1995), 308–309.

6
. William W. Crosskey,
Politics and the Constitution in the History of the United States
, vol. 3 (Chicago: 1980), 395.

7
. Samuel Eliot Morrison,
The Oxford History of the American People
(New York: 1965), 39. The first printing press in the New World began operating in Mexico City in 1539.

8
. Stuart Leibiger,
Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic
(Charlottesville, VA: 1999).

9
. Letter from George Washington to Henry Lee, October 31,1786, Writings, vol. 29, 34.

10
. Clinton Rossiter,
The Grand Convention
(New York: 1966), 226. In a final vote on the subject, Washington held out for a three-fourths majority to override a veto, but he was outvoted.

11
. Ibid., 266–268. Rossiter underscores his conviction that “the decisions and non-decisions of 1787 about slavery were . . . decisions for the Union.”

12
. Ibid., 217, 250. Ellsworth was convinced slavery would gradually disappear. Rossiter called him “the halfway man” of the century, a genius at the art of compromise.

13
. Leibiger,
Founding Friendship
, 85.

14
. Junius P. Rodrigue, ed.,
Slavery in the United States, A Social, Political and Historical Encyclopedia
(Santa Barbara, CA: 2007), vol. 2, 515–516. Also see “The Man Who Made Cotton King,” by Stephen Yafa,
American Heritage of Invention and Technology
(Winter 2005).

15
. Letter from Washington to Mercer, Writings, vol. 29, 5; letter to Morris, vol. 28, 408.

16
. Peter R. Henriques,
Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington
(Charlottesville, VA: 2006), 153.

17
. Ibid., 158. Mr. Henriques's chapter on Washington and slavery, “The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret,” is a remarkably thoughtful treatment of Washington's changing view of blacks' abilities and their essential humanity.

CHAPTER 5: THE FORGOTTEN EMANCIPATOR

1
. Thomas Jefferson to Philip Mazzei, April 24, 1796,
The Works of Thomas Jefferson
, vol. 8, edited by Paul Leicester Ford, Online Library of Liberty,
http://oll.libertyfund.org/title/805/87066
.
For Callender quotation see John A. Carroll and Mary W. Ashworth,
George Washington, Volume 7: First in Peace
, completing the biography by Douglas Southall Freeman (New York: 1957), 231.

2
. Richard Norton Smith,
Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation
(Boston: 1993), 213–218. Smith notes that Washington first sent a peace commission to negotiate with the rebels. By the time he acted, the rebellion had spread to twenty counties in four states.

3
. Wiencek,
An Imperfect God
, 273–274.

4
. Carroll and Ashworth,
First in Peace
, 403–407.

5
. Ibid., 541.

6
. Hirschfeld,
George Washington and Slavery
, 127. Hirschfeld finds grave fault with Washington for his failure to act in concert with Lafayette. He has no awareness of the political difficulties Washington encountered, and his concern for the Union as a first and foremost necessity.

7
. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, March 23, 1790. Yale University has a draft of the essay that was published in the
Federal Gazette
.

8
. Hirschfeld,
George Washington and Slavery
, 72–73. The visitor was a popular British actor, John Bernard. He left a vivid account of his conversation with Washington.

9
. Ibid., 209–223. Hirschfeld reports that Washington's heirs spent $10,080 in cash and provided food and shelter for those slaves who were too old or ill to leave Mount Vernon. The last payment was made in 1833 for the burial of a slave named Judy.

10
. Stewart Mitchell, ed.,
New Letters of Abigail Adams, 1788–1802
(Boston: 1947), 13.

11
. Patricia Brady,
Martha Washington: An American Life
(New York: 2005), 234. In her will, Martha gave her grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, “my mulatto man, Elijah,” but he was already a dower slave and she was merely transferring ownership within the family. See “The Will of Martha Washington,” in
Worthy Partner: The Papers of Martha Washington
, edited by Joseph E. Fields, with an introduction by Ellen McCallister Clark (Westport, CT: 1994), 406–410.

CHAPTER 6: THOMAS JEFFERSON
'
S NIGHTMARE

1
. Robert Debs Heinl and Nancy Gordon Heinl,
Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People, 1492–1971
(Boston: 1978), 26–27.

2
. Winthrop Jordan,
White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550–1812
(Chapel Hill, NC: 1968), 376–377.

3
. Robert Hendrickson,
Hamilton
, vol. 2 (New York: 1976), 460–462.

4
. Merrill D. Peterson,
Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation
(New York: 1970), 748–749.

5
. Jordan,
White Over Black
, 280–282.

6
. Harlow Giles Unger,
The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness
(New York: 2009), 140–142.

7
. Dumas Malone,
Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty
, vol. 3 (Charlottesville, VA: 2006), 480.

8
. Heinl and Heinl,
Written in Blood
, 100–108.

9
. Petersen,
Thomas Jefferson
, 748–750.

10
. Dennis A. Castillo,
The Maltese Cross: A Strategic History of Malta
(Westport, CT: 2005), 126. Disagreement over the French acquisition of Malta was the chief cause of the rupture of the peace of Amiens. The British balked at handing it over because of aggressive French moves elsewhere in the Mediterranean, and Napoleon threatened “Malta or war.”

11
. Dumas Malone,
Jefferson the President: First Term
, vol. 4 (Boston: 1970), 284–310.

12
. Heinl and Heinl,
Written in Blood
, 123–130.

13
. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, Eighth Congress, First Session, 813. “Some gentleman would declare St. Domingo free,” Eppes said. “If any gentleman harbors such sentiments, let him come forward boldly and declare it. In such case he would cover himself with detestation” (Annals, 996).

CHAPTER 7: NEW ENGLAND PREACHES—AND ALMOST PRACTICES—SECESSION

1
. Malone,
Jefferson the President
, 297.

2
. James K. Hosmer,
History of the Louisiana Purchase
(New York: 1902), 157–158. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, Eighth Congress, First Session, 463–464.

3
. Peterson,
Thomas Jefferson
, 793–794.

4
. Gerald H. Clarfield,
Timothy Pickering and the American Republic
(Pittsburgh, PA: 1980). This is a seminal book for those seeking to understand how passionately New England regarded its right to lead America. See 219–225, in which many other New England leaders besides Pickering are cited, declaring that the Louisiana Purchase was part of a “deliberate plan” to diminish New England's influence.

5
. Richard Buel Jr.,
America on the Brink
(New York: 2005), 54ff. This is a superb account of New England's resistance to the embargo.

6
. Ibid., 156–160.

7
. Freeman,
R. E. Lee
, 14–17.

8
. Buel,
America on the Brink
, 165–166.

9
. Ibid., 190–191.

10
. Samuel Eliot Morrison,
Harrison Grey Otis: The Urbane Federalist
(Boston: 1969), 356–357.

11
. Ralph Ketcham,
James Madison: A Biography
, rev. ed. (Newtown, CT: 2003), 592–593. A Virginia friend reported that Madison's mind was “full of New England sedition.”

12
. Robert A. Rutland,
James Madison: The Founding Father
(New York: 1987), 230–231.

13
. Leon Litwack,
North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States
,
1790–1860
(Chicago: 1961), 20–24.

14
. Julie Winch,
A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten
(New York: 2002), 189ff.

15
. Davis,
Inhuman Bondage
, 274–279; Fogel,
Without Consent or Contract
, 290–293.

16
. Peterson,
Thomas Jefferson
, 995–998.

17
. Antislavery Northerners were skeptical about diffusion. One said it was “as effectual a remedy for slavery as it would be for smallpox or the plague.” Davis,
Inhuman Bondage
, 277.

18
. David M. Robertson,
Denmark Vesey: The Buried History of America's Largest Slave Rebellion and the Man Who Led It
(New York: 1999). Historians have disagreed about the size and scope of Vesey's revolt, some claiming he was a victim of white hysteria. This is a well-researched, solid account of the tragic episode.

CHAPTER 8: HOW NOT TO ABOLISH SLAVERY

1
. Henry Mayer,
All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery
(New York: 1998), 110–124.

2
. Ibid., 125.

3
.
The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery
, vol. 2 (Santa Barbara, CA: 1997), 568–569.

4
. Mark Arkin, “The Federalist Trope: Power and Passion in Abolitionist Rhetoric,”
Journal of American History
(June 2001). This article brilliantly connects Garrison to New England's grievances against the South for the three fifths clause in the Constitutional Convention, the Louisiana Purchase, and other supposedly evil maneuvers to give Southerners national power and humiliate New England.

5
. Mayer,
All on Fire
, 116–117.

6
. Thomas C. Parramore, “Covenant in Jerusalem,” in Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed.,
Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory
(New York: 2003), 58–76. Also see Matthew J. Clavin,
Toussaind Louverture and the American Civil War
(Philadelphia: 2010), 14–15.

7
. Freeman,
R. E. Lee
, 111–112.

8
. Mayer,
All on Fire
, 120–123.

9
. Winch,
A Gentleman of Color
, 239–249. James Forten wrote for
The Liberator
and donated considerable amounts of cash. He also supplied Garrison with much negative information about the ACS and Liberia.

10
. John L. Thomas,
The Liberator: William Lloyd Garrison
(Boston: 1963), 158–162. Also see Hochschild,
Bury the Chains
, 346–347.

11
. “George Thompson,” American National Biography Online,
http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-01311.html
. When MP Thomas Buxton asked Garrison how the British could assist him, Garrison replied, “By giving us George Thompson.”

12
. Mayer,
All on Fire
, 160–161.

13
. Thomas,
The Liberator
, 167–170.

14
. Mayer,
All on Fire
, 166–167.

CHAPTER 9: NEW ENGLAND REDISCOVERS THE SACRED UNION

1
. James Haw, “The Problem of South Carolina Reexamined: A Review Essay,”
South Carolina Historical Magazine
, vol. 107, no. 1 (January 2006), 9–10.

2
. James Roark et al.,
The American Promise: A Compact History
, vol. 1 (New York: 2000), chap. 11.

3
. Ketcham,
James Madison
, 640–643.

4
. “A Century of Lawmaking for the New Nation: U.S. Congressional Debates, 1774–1875,” Register of Debates, Twenty-first Congress, First Session, January 26–27, 1830.