Early Abolition and Civil Discourse

Grades: 9-12                                           Time: 80-90 min

Topics: Race, Slavery, Civil Rights, Justice, Civil Discourse, Freedom of Speech and Press, Sectionalism, Regional Culture …

Goal/Central Focus Question: How did people view and discuss early abolition in America leading up to the Civil War?

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will analyze a primary source by examining its key features, contextualizing the source, and creating historical interpretations supported by evidence from the text.
2. Students will describe the divergent and nuanced views on abolition throughout the country leading up to the Civil War.
3. Students will connect historical themes to current topics and discuss the role of civil discourse in America’s democratic process.

Lesson Overview: Welcome to a new 4-lesson unit that focuses on Rutherford B. Hayes and his evolving views on anti-slavery as he transformed from an anti-abolitionist to a defender of freedom seekers. This first lesson provides students with the contextual knowledge to understand the fundamental issues related to race, slavery, and civil rights leading up to the Civil War with a specific focus on abolition and surrounding topics such as the gag rule, freedom of speech and press, and the “black laws.” It also offers an opportunity for students to take an active role in history and practice their historical analysis skills. The primary source analysis serves as a lens to explore these larger historical themes while also presenting a unique window into the lives of people at this time, engaging students in a conversation with those in the past and enabling further conversation in the present.

Primary Sources

1. Birchard, Austin. “Letter from Austin Birchard to Sardis Birchard, Feb. 1838 (Transcript).”org The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. 

Optional Secondary Sources

1. McLochlin, Dustin. “From Vermont to Ohio.” Rbhayes.org. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. Accessed August 10, 2023. 
2. McLochlin, Dustin. “Violence in Abolitionist America: and the ‘Compliment Sandwich.’” Rbhayes.org. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. Accessed January 30, 2024. 

Pre-work

Students may read information in their textbooks or additional classroom materials regarding the historical context of Pre-Civil War America, especially in regards to early abolition. This pre-reading should provide a general overview of the era with enough foundational knowledge on the abolitionist movement to begin reading the primary source but does not need to cover specific topics featured in the source (e.g. the mob at Alton, Elijah Lovejoy, and William Slade). Students will investigate these topics as they analyze the primary source.

Contextual Reading Suggestions

1. “Early Abolition.” Khan Academy. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/civil-war-era/sectional-tension-1850s/a/abolition
2. Hart, Thurman. “Abolitionists and Free Speech.” Middle Tennessee State University. Last modified 2009. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/2/abolitionists-and-free-speech

Students may record these vocabulary words in their notebooks for reference throughout the class. These words can also be displayed on a classroom board to support student learning. Or, if time allows, students may be provided with the words and asked to research and develop their own definitions.

Vocabulary

Opening (10 min)

Begin with a brief discussion on conflict and conflict resolution. Ask students how they view conflict in our society/daily lives and how they resolve conflicts. Students may discuss multiple conflict resolution techniques, whether successful or not, that are used navigate division either on a wider scale (throughout the country, on social media etc…) or on a smaller scale (with friends, classmates etc…). If it is not mentioned, students should be encouraged to consider how civil discourse and compromise may factor into to avoiding or resolving conflict and how they are used in our democratic process.

Connect to the overall unit which will use Rutherford B. Hayes as a case study to explore themes conflict, civil discourse, and social transformation during one of the most divisive eras in U.S. history and government (the Pre-Civil War Era).

• Rutherford B. Hayes was an Ohio lawyer, Union Soldier, and 19^th President of the United States who lived during one of the most divisive eras in U.S. history during the 19^th Although Hayes grew up in the North and became a defender of freedom seekers both as a lawyer in Cincinnati and as a Union soldier during the war, Hayes was initially an anti-abolitionist. Yet, as the division between the North and South solidified over the issue of slavery and abolition, Hayes underwent a personal evolution of views, moving closer towards anti-slavery and abolitionist support. Hayes’s initial views and following transformation did not occur in isolation but rather were directly informed by his upbringing, relationship with his wife Lucy, and regional context. By using Hayes’s life as a case study into this era, we gain a lens to view the larger shift that occurred in his wider society. We’ll explore this simultaneous evolution and growing division between the North and South throughout the unit, but for today, we’ll start with the opposing influences that first shaped Hayes: his uncles Sardis and Austin Birchard.

Introduce today’s central focus question and learning objectives to students: “How did people view and discuss early abolition in America leading up to the Civil War?”

Student Activities (65-70 min)

Introduce the analysis activity to students, providing a short introduction to the correspondence between Hayes’s uncles.

• Today’s primary source is a letter from Austin Birchard, who lived in Vermont, to his younger brother Sardis Birchard, who lived in Ohio. Although originally from Vermont as well, Sardis had moved in 1817 with his sister and her family after they acquired a small farm on the Ohio frontier. The two brothers kept in contact over the years, and openly shared their views on current events with one another, including their views on abolition. Yet, their views, like their contexts often differed. While both states had outlawed slavery with the passing of their state constitutions (Vermont in 1777 and Ohio in 1802), Ohio had passed and enacted a series of “black laws” in 1804 that restricted the rights of African Americans. These “black laws” had continued support in Ohio up into the 1830s. Vermont, on the other hand, had a strong tradition of anti-slavery principles as well as substantial abolitionist support. In fact, by the 1830s, most individuals either supported the colonizationist movement or abolitionism entirely with almost no remaining support of any slave system in the state. As you analyze the letter, consider how Austin and Sardis’s differing contexts may have shaped their views on abolition and how they navigated these differences.

Pass out the primary source, “Letter from Austin Birchard to Sardis Birchard, Feb. 1838 (Transcript)” and the Analysis Handout listed in attachments below. Copies of these resources may also be posted to an online class forum like Google Classroom.

• Note for Differentiated Instruction: The Analysis Handout provides a graphic organizer with instructions for annotating primary sources and guiding questions to support student analysis. Please feel free to use and/or adapt any of these tools to best support student learning in your classroom context.
• Teacher modeling may be used to support student analysis. Model how to analyze the primary source, using the graphic organizer to identify an historical term, person, or event that requires more context to understand. Research the topic briefly as a class and create a short summary together, being sure to cite the source with enough information to locate it again. If more support is needed, this activity can be completed as a class. If less support is needed, this step may be skipped to provide a challenge for students. Students who have substantial experience analyzing primary sources may complete the analysis activity without the help of these tools.

Review the materials and instructions with students. This activity can be completed by individuals, pairs, or in groups. It can also be completed together as a class. Encourage students to be curious analyzers by asking questions of the source and investigating unfamiliar topics. Students may also be reminded to follow the main ideas of analysis: “observe, reflect, question.”

Have students read through the primary source and complete their analyses. Once students have completed their analyses, review student work as a class, summarize key learning, and connect to future lessons.

• Early abolition was a significant movement that individuals debated and discussed throughout the whole U.S. Although early abolition found the majority of its support within the North, it was not universally accepted, as seen by the opposing views between Austin and Sardis. In fact, many individuals in the North who may have been anti-slavery did not necessarily consider themselves to be abolitionists like Austin Birchard, or even perceived abolition as a radical movement like Sardis Birchard, whose anti-abolitionist beliefs no doubt influenced his nephew: Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes, however, alongside his wider society would undergo a shift in views over the next decades. We’ll continue to explore this transformation in future lessons, as we look towards the building sectional crisis over slavery in the U.S. following the Annexation of Texas and Mexican-American War. For today, we can learn a lot about the early debate over abolition from the letter between Hayes’s uncles, including the challenges abolitionists faced, such as threats to their lives and freedom of speech/press through violence like the mob at Alton and laws like the “gag rule” in Congress, as well as interesting insights into the role of civil discourse in our country’s history and government.

Closing (5-10 min)

Hold a large group discussion on civil discourse and the democratic process, connecting historical themes to current topics in American government. If helpful to increase student engagement, these discussion questions can be given ahead of time to allow students an opportunity to consider their responses and record their answers. Discussions can also be held in pairs and small groups.

Discussion Questions

• Consider the closing of Austin’s letter. How did he end things with Sardis? What might this tell us about the role of civil discourse in America’s history and government?
• Do you think social media has influenced civil discourse in today’s world? If so, how?
• Are there any obstacles or challenges that make civil discourse difficult to accomplish today? If so, how can we overcome those challenges?
• In your opinion, is civil discourse worth practicing? Why or why not? If so, how can we practice civil discourse today?

Formative assessment: collect students’ completed work and review their findings.

Contingencies

Shorten: The letter can be used as a class reading assignment to begin discussions regarding abolition in Pre-Civil War America and/or civil discourse in America’s democratic process historically and currently. The analysis activities can be saved for a future primary source. If analysis activities are completed but time is short, student findings and discussion questions can be reviewed the following class day.

Lengthen: Students may read secondary sources and articles on these topics listed in references/additional reading below.

Attachments

Primary Source(s)

Analysis Handout

References and Additional Reading

1. Geer, Emily. First Lady: The Life of Lucy Webb Hayes (The Kent State University Press and The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, 1984), p. 31.
2. McLochlin, Dustin. “Abolition and the Birchard Brothers.” Rbhayes.org. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://www.rbhayes.org/research/abolition-and-the-birchard-brothers-part-1/
3. McLochlin, Dustin. “From Vermont to Ohio.” Rbhayes.org. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://www.rbhayes.org/research/from-vermont-to-ohio/
4. McLochlin, Dustin. “Violence in Abolitionist America, and the ‘Compliment Sandwich.” Rbhayes.org. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://www.rbhayes.org/research/violence-in-abolitionist-america-and-the-compliment-sandwich/
5. McLochlin, Dustin. “William Slade: Austin’s Abolition.” Rbhayes.org. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://www.rbhayes.org/research/william-slade-austin-s-abolitionism/
6. “Today in History – November 7: Elijah Lovejoy.” Loc.gov. Library of Congress. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-07/