Today I found out about the new party in Congress. I saw a man promoting it on main street in my town. Apparently people think it is time to have a political party that is actually standing up against slavery. There have been a lot more interest in antislavery than before like with the Free Soil Party. They actually have enough people to qualify as a party. The Republican Party has attracted people who believe in antislavery from all different political parties such as Democrats, Whigs, Free-Soilers, and Know-Nothings. Know-Nothings were a political group of people who raised questions about their prejudices. The Republicans are different then Free-Soilers because they are not just focused on the lands gained from the Mexican-American War. I am really happy that there is a political party that is speaking out how about how wrong slavery is, instead of just trying to make small fixes. The party is mainly liked by people in the north, but it attracted people from all over the United States. By now, 1856, the Republican Party is big enough to challenge the more established parties.
I also heard about a Supreme Court decision about a man named Dred Scott. Dred Scott is a slave from Missouri. He sued for his freedom because his owner had taken him to free soil but still made him work. He was taken to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory from 1834 to 1838. The Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that he was not free. The court decided that slaves were considered property and if the court ruled him free then they would be taking away his owners property without due process of law. They also ruled that slaves were not entitled to sue in courts. This case also made the Supreme Court rule that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. The North did not agree with this decision against Dred Scott. There are people saying that we, the North, should secede from the Union. There are other people saying that the Supreme Court judges should be impeached. I believe it is not fair that more than half the people on the Supreme Court are southerners. Fredrick Douglass has stated that this decision will probably make the end of slavery come sooner than expected. I hope he is correct. Here is an image of a pamphlet about Dred Scott from one of the newspapers:
That's all for now Diary,
Rebecca
Dred Scott Decision. N.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2016.
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