I write southern historical fiction and local history. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog is about my journey as a writer and a reader.
I should have kept my notes from studying the Gideon v. Wainwright US Supreme Court case when I took Constitutional Law as a senior political science major in college. Fifty years later, I remembered the Gideon case as the one that gave individuals charged with a crime in the United States the right to legal counsel, but I was more than a little fuzzy on the details. Hence, today’s post necessitated my doing some research.
Who was Wainwright?
Louie L. Wainwright was the Secretary of Florida Department of Corrections from 1962 to 1967.
Who was Gideon?
Clarence Earl Gideon had an eighth-grade education. He reportedly ran away from home while a middle school student. He was no stranger to the law throughout his life as he was jailed or in prison more than once for committing nonviolent crimes.
So how in the world did his name get attached to a landmark US Supreme Court case in 1963?
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Earlier charges against Gideon bear no bearing on the Gideon v. Wainwright case. The pertinent background facts in the determination of this case are as follows:
Gideon was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor after allegedly breaking into a pool hall in Panama City, Florida in June 1961 with intent to commit a misdemeanor. At that time (I do not know the current Florida laws) that charge constituted a felony. Gideon asked the judge in that case to appoint legal counsel from him because he could not afford an attorney. Florida law only permitted for free legal counsel in capital offense cases at that time.
After the judge was forced under state law to deny Gideon’s request, Gideon represented himself in the trial. Despite doing a commendable job considering his education and background, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.
On the grounds of his constitutional rights having been violated, Gideon filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court. The state court denied the petition.
Against all odds, Gideon then filed a handwritten petition with the United States Supreme Court and the justices agreed to hear the case. What Gideon was calling into question was the interpretation of the last clause in the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution.
The Sixth Amendment was ratified with the following wording in 1791 and has never been amended:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”
The US Supreme Court agreed to hear Gideon’s case in part to determine if the 1942 Betts v. Brady case should be reconsidered. In Betts v. Brady, the US Supreme Court had ruled that persons charged with a felony in a State Court was not guaranteed legal counsel under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Outcome of Gideon v. Wainwright
The US Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Betts v. Brady decision. The Court found the Court had ignored precedent set by Powell v. Alabama (1932) when it decided Betts v. Brady.
Justice Hugo Lafayette Black wrote the opinion for the Court. In part, he stated that “reason and reflection require us to recognize that in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person hauled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.”
Justice Black went on to say that the ideal of a fair trial cannot be met if a poor defendant is not granted the right of legal counsel.
Therefore, today we have the perseverance of Clarence Earl Gideon and a decision by the US Supreme Court 61 years ago today on March 18, 1963 for the right individuals in the United States have to free legal counsel to defend them in-person in a trial whether it be in a state or federal district case, if they cannot afford to hire an attorney.
Being in the Bill of Rights, the right to a fair trial is fundamental in the United States. This is a right people in such countries as Russia, China, and North Korea cannot imagine.
Remember that when you vote in November.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have at least one good book to read this week.
Don’t forget to visit https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com to subscribe to my e-newsletter and to read about the books and short stories I have written.
Remember the people of Ukraine, Gaza, and all the other places in the world where innocent people are suffering.
You and I do not have to agree on politics but, at least for now, I am free to state my opinions. I hope you are free to state yours.
I am wearing my historian hat today to write another #OnThisDay blog post. Sometimes I’m quite familiar with the topics covered in my occasional #OnThisDay blog posts, but today’s subject was one I knew nothing about. I need a topic like that to come along once in a while to keep my research juices flowing.
The Blizzard of 1888
I had never heard of the Great Blizzard of 1888 until I stumbled upon it in a reference book that lists events of note for every day of the year. It turns out that the blizzard in March 1888, also known as the Great White Hurricane, was not measured in feet like the snow in the Sierra Nevada ten days ago. However, it was a paralyzing blizzard in the Northeast US and eastern Canada.
Photo by Christian Spuller on unsplash
It was unseasonably mild leading up to the March 1888 blizzard. Temperatures plummeted and it snowed for a day and a half. Many people were stranded at their places of employment. It is said that prisons and hotels were crowded with people seeking shelter from the storm.
Snow depths from 10 to 58 inches accompanied by sustained 45 mile-per-hour winds created 50-foot snow drifts. It took eight days to clear the New York-New Haven rail line at Westport, Connecticut. Telegraph service infrastructure was knocked out in Montreal and from Washington, DC to Boston for days. In fact, the disabling of rail and telegraph lines by that storm prompted authorities in New York City to start working toward moving of some of those services underground.
More than 400 people died as a result of the blizzard, including 100 seamen as more than 200 ships were grounded or wrecked. Immobilized fire stations prevented firefighters from responding to fires. Loss of property to fires alone during the blizzard amounted to $25 million (in 1888 dollars), which is the equivalent of $810 million in 2024.
The Children’s Blizzard of 1888
In researching the Great Blizzard of 1888, I found information about another blizzard that year and a book about it – The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin. I read the book and thought it would be interesting to supplement what I had learned about The Blizzard of 1888 with a few details about The Children’s Blizzard.
Photo by Laura Ockel on Unsplash
To my surprise, The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin captivated my interest. The stories about the so-called Children’s Blizzard dwarfed the more famous “Blizzard of 1888” in the northeastern states. Granted, the snow drifts in the northeast might have been higher than in the Children’s Blizzard in the Plains states two months earlier, but the sheer brutality and suddenness of the storm in Montana, the Dakota Territory, Nebraska, and Minnesota made the one in the northeast pale in comparison.
The snowstorm on January 12, 1888 in the Plains was called the Children’s Blizzard because so many school children were caught off-guard in their one-room schoolhouses that mild winter day when a monster blizzard roared in at break-neck speed. In today’s meteorological parlance, it would probably be described as a “perfect storm,” as all the forces of nature converged to create a blizzard beyond comprehension.
Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
Like the Blizzard of 1888 in the northeastern states and eastern Canada, the Children’s Blizzard was preceded by at least a few hours of mild weather. This lulled people, except for the most seasoned Plains residents, into a false sense of security. Folks across the Plains welcomed a morning when the temperatures did not dictate the wearing of their heaviest winter clothing. Children were glad to have a pleasant morning on which to walk to school.
The state of weather prediction in 1888 did not afford the people enough – and in some cases, not any – warning that within several hours a dramatic drop in temperature and blinding snow would engulf them.
I will write more about The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin in my blog post scheduled for the first Monday in April.
Until my next blog post
Never be without a book to read. I hope you are reading one now that you don’t want to put down.
Don’t forget to visit https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com to subscribe to my e-newsletter and to read about the books and short stories I’ve written.
Remember the people of Ukraine who have been fighting for their lives and democracy for two years now. Can the members of the US Congress not see what Putin is doing?
Remember the innocent people in Gaza who it appears more convincing by the day are the victims of a genocide. I do not condone in any way the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023; however, that event does not warrant the wholesale bombing of millions of innocent people. This war will not lead to peace in the Middle East. It will lead to countless generations of hatred on the part of survivors and the descendants of those who are murdered. And that hatred will be turned against not only Israel but also on the countries that enable Israel.
You and I don’t have to agree on politics but, at least for now, I am free to state my opinions. I hope you are free to state yours.
Before I address today’s topic, I need to apologize for an error I made in my January 15, 2024 blog post. I stated that Dr. Gregory Davis was the first African-American president of Central Piedmont Community College. That, of course, is not true! What I meant to write and thought I wrote was that he was the first African-American student body president at Central Piedmont Community College. My eagle-eyed sister, Marie, found the mistake and brought it to my attention. I have corrected that post, but I wanted to make sure those of you who read the original post knew about the error.
Points of View
Before I launch into Roe v. Wade, I will share two quotes I happened upon last night while reading a blog post about how to write a novel with multiple points of view. I had already written today’s post and scheduled it. It was worth opening it up to add these quotes. Although they were intended to help me be a better writer of fiction, they dovetailed nicely with the true theme of today’s post — which isn’t abortion. Abortion is just an example of the issues over which U.S. citizens are deeply divided.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” ~ attributed to Harper Lee.
“If there is one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view.” ~ attributed to Henry Ford.
Fasten your seatbelts. I’m getting ready to step on some toes.
Roe v. Wade
It was on this date in 1973 that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the case of Roe v. Wade. It was believed by the Court then that a woman had a constitutional right to obtain an abortion as a protected right of privacy.
In summary, the lengthy Roe v. Wade written decision ruled that in the first trimester a woman had the right to get an abortion and the right to seek advice from her doctor. In the second trimester, the law could impose reasonable restrictions related to the woman’s health. In the third trimester, when the fetus is recognizable as a human being and not completely dependent upon the mother for life, the law had considerable authority to regulate abortion.
Overturning the Roe v. Wade decision became a goal of the Republican Party in 1980. That goal was achieved on June 24, 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court published their six to three decision to reverse the 1973 ruling.
That reversal left each of the 50 states to adopt laws regarding abortion and left women in many of those states once again being relegated to the pre-1973 back- alley abortions in unsanitary conditions that put their future fertility and very lives at risk.
Sadly, some of the new state laws have forced women to continue to carry a dead fetus because the medical procedure necessary to deliver the dead fetus is now illegal. Whether that was a conscious decision made by legislators or due to their ignorance probably varies from state-to-state. There was a case of that in my own family in the 1950s, and the trauma of that experience is still talked about.
It baffles me that “the party of family values” / “the party of ‘Let’s get the government out of the bedroom’” thinks treating American citizens like this in 2024 is just fine and dandy.
A hijacked segment of Christians and a hijacked political party?
It has always baffled me that people who most-adamantly say they are pro-life because they are Christians are against all government programs designed to make sure those babies have sufficient food and basic healthcare once they are born. I think they should more accurately say they are anti-abortion instead of saying they are pro-life.
The Jesus I follow is all about His followers taking care of the poor and downtrodden. The Jesus I follow is all about forgiveness and compassion. The Jesus I follow is all about loving your neighbor as you love yourself.
I don’t see any of that in the people who wear the MAGA caps, so maybe it’s time for the Christians who support the hatred spewed by that segment of today’s Republican Party to be honest with us and with themselves. It appears from the outside that they have lost sight of Jesus in their zeal to crush anyone who gets in their idol’s way.
I don’t understand why they think it is acceptable to be a racist, misogynist, or a xenophobe and would support a politician who proudly falls into all three of those categories. Jesus is certainly none of those things.
There is something very wrong today if Democrats don’t think Republicans can be Christians and Republicans don’t think Democrats can be Christians.
I miss the America of my younger days when most people did not know and did not care about another person’s political affiliation because most people understood that our democracy thrives when we have choices and two imperfect but relatively healthy political parties.
I miss the America of my younger days when in polite society in the United States you did not talk about religion or politics to a stranger, much less threaten to kill another person if they dared to hold opinions that differed from yours.
I miss the America of my younger days when you could have a civil conversation with a friend or relative with whom you disagreed about politics.
I miss the America of my younger days when I did not realize how very fragile democracy is.
My intentions for my blog
I did not set out to use my blog as a political platform; however, I have been blogging for more than a decade and I think God expects me to use my blog and my freedom of speech — which I will have at least until noon on January 20, 2025, when I just might lose all my rights.
Since my last blog post
I have struggled more than ever before with the writing of a blog post because I know some of the toes I’m stepping on are the toes of some close friends and relatives.
The topic of today’s blog post is complex. There are no easy answers, so I pray that both sides on the issue will try to keep their minds open to differing views and scientific facts as they wrestle with the matter.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade is, no doubt, not the last word on this issue. If we are a democracy after January 20, 2025, this matter will continue to be debated in the United States. I just hope it is debated with more compassion and open-mindedness than it was over the last 51 years. I hope people will stop hating the people whose beliefs on this subject and anything else do not match theirs.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have access to the medical attention you need.
I hope you have a good book to read.
I hope you pay close attention to politics on all levels and practice your responsibility to vote, if you have that right.
I hope you and I will continue to be friends, and in the Presbyterian way, “Agree to disagree agreeably.”
Remember the people of Ukraine during their miserable winter and how cherished freedoms can disappear in the blink of an eye.
In memory of the 2,977 innocent victims who died 22 years ago today in the Twin Towers in New York, the crash of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and The Pentagon in Washington, DC.
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
Photo by Aidan Bartos on Unsplash
Photo by Fiona Murray on Unsplash
A day that all of us who were alive on that day will forever remember with unspeakable sadness.
When I was planning my blog post topics for August, I considered writing about today being the 64th anniversary of the statehood of Hawaii. I thought the 64th anniversary was a ho-hum time to draw attention to it, so I planned to write about a different subject today.
Then the wildfires erupted on Maui. Fanned by hurricane-force winds, the fires became a raging inferno and in the blink of an eye, at least 1,100 human lives were lost (as 114 deaths have been documented and more then 1,000 people are still unaccounted for as I write this.) Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands of people were left not only homeless but with nowhere to work.
A 200-year-old church sanctuary was destroyed, as well as the local public library – along with everything else in the town of Lahaina.
There is speculation that the fire was sparked by a tree connecting with a power line. However it started, it was fed by low level winds created by Hurricane Dora some 300 miles away and another weather system thousands of miles to the north. The converging wind circulations of the two weather systems created a recipe for disaster.
Should someone or a government agency have seen it coming and issued warnings? That’s not for me to say. This isn’t the time to place blame. The wounds are still too raw. I’m sure the situation is being carefully investigated. I hope the result will be improvements that will give residents and tourists in the future a better chance to evacuate.
Hawaiians should be celebrating the islands’ statehood today, but instead they are in mourning for the lives, beautiful landscape, jobs, history, and property lost in the wildfire.
It’s too early to tell the prognosis of the massive 150-year-old banyan tree on Front Street in Lahaina. I understand it was quite a local landmark.
Lahaina was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which makes the total destruction of the town even more painful and significant.
I’m old enough that I remember when Hawaii became the 50th state in the United States. We heard about it at home and we talked about it at school. It happened during the first week when I was in the first grade. It was a big deal.
Hawaii is 5,000 miles (or 8,000 kilometers) from North Carolina. I didn’t know anyone who had been there on vacation and couldn’t dream in 1959 that I would ever know anyone to do so. Even by the black-and-white photographs we saw, we could tell it was an exotic place of incredible beauty.
Photo by Neora Aylon on Unsplash
Hawaii still holds a mystique for me and probably most Americans in the other 49 states. I don’t expect to ever visit the state, but the photographs of the lush green of the land and azure Pacific Ocean waters on all sides bring the word “paradise” to mind.
A sizeable portion of paradise on Maui got burned beyond recognition just over a week ago. The landscape is changed forever. I’m sure people will rebuild most of the structures that were destroyed, but lives and artefacts cannot be replaced. The history of the place will only live in the hearts and minds of the people who knew the area before the sudden fire.
Since my last blog post
I finally finished formatting The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes except for the introduction through the help of Atticus.io. It was beginning to look like it was only going to be an e-book, but technical difficulties caused by my ignorance were eventually ironed out. My sister and I hope to publish the cookbook on Amazon in paperback as well as for Kindle in November. I’ll let you know when it is available.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to hold your interest this week. I hope it inspires, educates, and entertains you.
Appreciate your friends and relatives, even if they disagree with you politically.
Remember the people of Ukraine and the Island of Maui in Hawaii.
I majored in political science in college, but I’d be hard pressed off the top of my head to tell you what the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution is about. Its ratification was completed on January 23, 1964 when South Dakota became the 38th state to ratify it. The 59th anniversary of its ratification prompted me to blog about the amendment today.
What the 24th Amendment prohibits
It prohibits the United States Congress and any state in the union from basing a person’s right to vote for US President, US Vice President, US Senate, or US House of Representatives in a primary or other election based on the payment of any tax.
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
Why the 24th Amendment came about
In the late 1890s and until just after the turn of the 20th century, former Confederate States adopted so-called poll taxes. The laws varied from state to state, but they were created as a way to prevent many black people and poor white people from voting. This was a way the states circumvented the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits a person being prevented from voting based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The 15th Amendment said nothing about taxes.
The constitutionality of poll taxes was upheld by the US Supreme Court in Breedlove v. Suttles in 1937. In that case, Nolan Breedlove, a 28-year-old white man refused to pay the $1.00 per year poll tax in Georgia. By not paying the poll tax, Mr. Breedlove was not allowed to register to vote in any election in the state.
Mr. Breedlove filed a lawsuit against Mr. T. Earl Suttles, the Fulton County, Georgia Tax Collector, arguing that the poll tax was in violation of the 14th and 19th Amendments to the US Constitution. Hence, the name of the US Supreme Court case. The Breedlove v. Suttles decision was eventually overturned, but the case serves as an example of the US Supreme Court making wrong decisions sometimes
The Breedlove v. Suttles decision was unanimous! The Court concluded that the “privilege of voting is not derived from the United States, but is conferred by the state, and, save as restrained by the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments and other provisions of the Federal Constitution, the state may condition suffrage as it deems appropriate.”
It was a case, like we’ve seen in other cases as recently as 2022, where the US Supreme Court took the easy way out and clung to the “states’ rights” doctrine.
How the 24th Amendment became the law of the land
After decades of some politicians ignoring the issue of poll taxes and a few politicians pushing for the abolishment of such taxes, Congress finally proposed the 24th Amendment at the prompting of President John F. Kennedy. The amendment was submitted to the states on September 24, 1962 after a vote of 295 to 86 in the US House of Representatives and a vote of 77 to 16 in the US Senate.
Illinois was the first state to ratify the amendment in November 1962 and South Dakota was the 38th state to ratify it on January 23, 1964. That 38th vote was all that was needed.
The aftermath of ratification of the 24th Amendment
Some states were slow to ratify the amendment even after its national ratification was final in 1964. Some states were slow to amend their constitutions to be in compliance with the federal amendment. Always looking for ways to get around the law, some states continued to require racial minority citizens to pass senseless tests in order to earn the right to vote.
People who want to keep other US citizens from voting have turned to more subtle (and some not-so-subtle) forms of voter intimidation. They’ve felt emboldened over the last seven years and the pendulum is swinging toward bolder attempts to scare certain people away from the voting booth. This is an attack on our democracy.
Our democracy depends on each of us defending the right of all citizens to vote.
Since my last blog post
As my new website has transitioned from the design phase to the development phase, I continued to write new content for the site.
It seemed like I had to learn some new technology every day. There is still more I will have to learn. I hope this is good for my brain cells. It isn’t good for my emotional stability or my disposition.
It’s been gratifying to see how well received my local history book, Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 1 has been on Amazon and in the local bookstore, Second Look Books. Thank you to everyone who has purchased it! Don’t be shy about rating it or even leaving a short review of it on Amazon!
My sister and I took a much-needed break on Saturday afternoon and went to see the movie, “A Man Called Otto.” Tom Hanks was perfect in the role of Otto. The movie is based on the book, A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman. I read the book back in 2017 and I’ve remembered it ever since. Here’s the link my June 2, 2017 blog post in which I wrote about the book: You Need to Read These Books! I recommend the book and the movie.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. While you’re at it, please read one for me. I haven’t had much time to read lately.
The encampment of the Continental Army at Valley Forge began 245 years ago today. We’re all familiar with the image of George Washington leading his troops across the frigid Delaware River. We know that it was a bitterly cold winter, but there are some interesting facts I hope to surprise you with today.
1,700 to 2,000 soldiers died of disease at the six-month encampment.
Food for the troops was scarce. The Oneida delegation, allies of the Patriots, arrived in May 1778 with white corn. Polly Cooper of the delegation instructed them on how to safely prepare the corn for consumption and stayed after most of her fellow Oneidans had left. She received a shawl from Martha Washington in thanks for her assistance.
In December it went down to 6 degrees F., 12 degrees F. in January, 12 degrees F. in February, and 8 degrees F. in March.
It was the last time United States soldiers served in a racially-integrated army until the Korean War in the 1950s.
The volunteer drill master was Baron von Steubon, a Prussian military commander. The Prussian military drills and tactics he taught the troops were used by the United States military for the next 30 years.
It is thought that 250 to 400 women were in the encampment, serving as cooks, nurses, laundresses, and menders of clothing.
Mary Ludwig Hayes, a.k.a., Molly Pitcher, was at Valley Forge with her husband. She is remembered for jumping into service to help load a cannon at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse after her husband was wounded.
Hannah Till was an enslaved cook for George Washington at Valley Forge. She purchased her freedom a few years later and became a salaried cook.
We hear a lot about our “forefathers” but not enough about our “foremothers!”
Since my last blog post
Look who’s reading my book! He must have found it on Amazon or in Harrisburg, NC at Second Look Books or Gift Innovations! It’s in short supply in Harrisburg until I get my next shipment. If you prefer an e-book, remember it’s available for e-book and in paperback from Amazon.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas or whatever holidays you are celebrating.
I hope you enjoy time with family and friends.
Remember the suffering people of Ukraine.
I’ll see you again here at my blog on December 26 – the last Monday in 2022!
Can you imagine hearing and then seeing meteor blazing across the sky and then crashing through a tree before plunging several feet into the dirt? That’s what happened on Hiram Bost’s farm on October 31, 1849.
Photo by Juskteez Vu on Unsplash
I grew up in Cabarrus County, but I’d not heard of the meteorite until I happened upon a newspaper article about it while doing research on another topic for a local history column I was writing in 2009 for Harrisburg Horizons weekly newspaper. Last week while I was formatting those newspaper articles for two planned books in 2023, I thought the highlights of the seven-part series I wrote about Mr. Bost’s meteorite would make an interesting blog post on this Halloween.
Although the meteorite landed near Midland in Cabarrus County, it was mistakenly named “Monroe.” Meteorites are usually named for where they land. The town of Monroe is actually in the adjoining county and not where the 1849 meteorite crashed to the Earth.
I’ve never heard a meteor or seen one up close. The closest I’ve come is seeing an occasional “shooting star.” The witnesses of the 1849 meteorite described explosions and rumblings They saw a white-hot object in the sky even though it was broad daylight.
Word of the meteorite spread by the proverbial grapevine and in newspapers in Charlotte and Concord. When word reached the Charlotte Branch of the United States Mint, a Mint employee and a Charlotte doctor headed some 20 to 25 miles to the site by horse-drawn wagon.
Knowing he had an item of interest and unknown value on his hands, Mr. Bost displayed the meteorite on top of a pole for all to come and see. It was accompanied by a sign warning people not to touch or break the rock.
I was naïve enough to think that perhaps the Monroe meteorite had ended up intact at the North Carolina Museum of Natural History, but I soon found out that the meteorite has been chopped and sliced into countless pieces and the museum in Raleigh doesn’t even have a piece of it.
One thing led to another, as is always the case when I do historical research, and I went down the rabbit hole of searching for the locations that own part of the meteorite. What I discovered is that pieces and slivers of the meteorite are owned by universities, museums, The Vatican, and private companies and individuals around the world.
I learned that bits and pieces of the Monroe meteorite are for sale by rock and mineral dealers and are sometimes available through rock and mineral auctions. Those pieces and slivers are priced by the gram and aren’t cheap.
To learn more, be on the lookout for my book, Harrisburg, Did You Know? – Book 2 on Amazon in 2023.
I expect to publish Harrisburg, Did You Know? – Book 1 on Amazon in January 2023. I’ll give progress reports in future blog posts. Even if you don’t live in the Harrisburg, North Carolina area, I think you’ll find something of interest in both my local history books.
Since my last blog
I continue to write my first historical novel, The Heirloom.
I hired a company to completely redesign my outdated website, JanetMorrisonBooks.com. My writing is taking a new path and I need a new website to reflect that. With numerous decisions to be made and the holiday season approaching, it might be January before I can unveil the new site.
My sister and I continue to proofread Harrisburg, Did You Know?—Book 1. When I blogged last week, I thought the books would only be available for Kindle, but I now hope to also have them published in paperback.
A word about my blog
Last week’s blog post included a note about a change in my follower count on my blog and the reason I was given for the widget policy change. Apparently, I wasn’t the only blogger to complain, for this week the count once again includes the 1,000+ followers that were dropped last week. I’m happy again!
Until my next blog
I hope you have a good book to read.
Remember the brave people of Ukraine who face freezing to death this winter.
“The what?” you say. I must admit I’m guilty, too. I had to look it up.
In a nutshell, the Wilmot Proviso of 1846 was a failed attempt in the US Congress to ban slavery in the western territories the US obtained as a result of the Mexican-American War. It was just this type action that paved the way for the American Civil War in 1861.
Photo by Tasha Jolley on Unsplash
The proviso was named for David Wilmot, the Congressman from Pennsylvania who introduced it on August 8, 1846. The proviso was a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill three months into the Mexican-American War. The bill passed in the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate.
Some background
Photo by Edgar Moran on Unsplash
Perhaps in the southwestern US states, the Mexican-American War is taught in elementary and high schools, but it was my experience in North Carolina that the two-year war in the 1840s was just mentioned in passing. Or perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention. Anyway, I had to do some research to find the details of the Wilmot Proviso.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 prohibited slavery in the remaining Louisiana Territory above the 36th parallel, 30 north latitude line. The “compromise” was that Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state at the same time Maine was admitted as a free state.
Photo by Ray Shrewsberry on Unsplash
The controversy over the annexation of the Republic of Texas enters into the story, as did New Mexico and California, which had been captured by the US during the Mexican-American War. After substantial land area gains by the US early in the war, Congress started setting its sights on more expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Slavery was a hot button issue and Democrats and Whigs (the two main political parties in the US at that time) tried to keep it out of national politics. There was no way to avoid it, however. It was the proverbial “elephant in the room.”
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash
There was disagreement within the Democratic Party over the way Martin Van Buren had been denied the party’s nomination for US President in 1844 when southern delegates uncovered an old convention rule that required a nominee to receive a two-thirds vote by delegates. (I didn’t take time to thoroughly research that. I’m sure there’s more to the story than meets the eye.)
More and more over time, the Mexican-American War was more popular in the southern states than in the northern states. It was seen by many in the south as a way to gain more territory where slavery would be accepted.
Back to the Wilmot Proviso
President James K. Polk sent a request to Congress for $2 million to boost negotiations with Mexico to end the war. That was on Saturday, August 8, 1846. Congress was scheduled to adjourn two days later. A special night session was arranged by the Democrats so the request could be considered.
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash
Rules mandated that debate be limited to two hours. No one member of Congress could speak for more than ten minutes. A Polk supporter and friend to many southerners, David Wilmot was selected to present the bill to help ensure its passage.
The following language was included in the proviso that would apply to all territory the United States would acquire from Mexico by virtue of any peace treaty: “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted.”
The Senate took up the House bill and there was a push to pass it with the exception of the Wilmot Proviso. The Democratic politicians thought the House would then be forced to pass the bill without the proviso due to the bewitching midnight hour when Congress had to adjourn.
Senator John Davis, a Massachusetts Whig, schemed that he would speak on the floor of the Senate so long that the Senate would have to vote on the bill as written because it would be too late to return the bill to the House of Representatives.
Does anyone know what time it is?
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
In a twist of fate (or by design?), there was an eight-minute difference in the official clocks of the Senate and the House. The clock in the House struck midnight before Davis could call for the vote in the Senate. The 1846 session of Congress had adjourned without full passage of the $2 million bill.
Proponents introduced the bill again in 1847 as a $3 million bill, but it had the same results. There were efforts to resurrect the proviso in 1848 as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but those efforts also failed.
The Wilmot Proviso would have effectively made the 1820 Missouri Compromise null and void.
What happened about slavery in the western territories/states?
California’s constitution banned slavery, so it was given statehood as a free state in 1850. Nevada was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1864. The US. acquired New Mexico and Utah in 1848, and slavery was legal in those territories until slavery was banned in all US territories in 1862.
How did Texas play into this?
My research about the Wilmot Proviso prompted me to delve into the history of Texas. The Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States and granted statehood in 1845 – just months before the debates over the Wilmot Proviso began. I knew there were slaves in Texas. We just recently celebrated Juneteenth, marking the anniversary of the slaves in Texas finally being told they were free.
I learned that there were African slaves in Texas as early as 1529. Texas joined the United States as a slave state. Slavery was a deciding factor in the annexation of the Republic of Texas while James K. Polk was US president.
Photo by Vivian Arcidiacono on Unsplash
Therefore, since Texas was already a US state prior to the debate over the Wilmot Proviso of 1846, slavery in Texas wouldn’t have been affected by the proviso, had it passed. It would have only pertained to territories the US gained as a result of the Mexican-American War.
What a difference one action or inaction can make
My research last week brought to mind how nations evolve and how peoples’ lives can turn on a dime with decisions made by governments. What if the Wilmot Proviso had passed in 1846 (or 1847 or 1848?) What if Texas had not been a state in 1846? What if the US had not won the Mexican-American War? What if the South had won the Civil War? What if African slaves had never been brought to North America? What if America had been defeated in the American Revolutionary War? What if Germany and Japan had won World War II?
How different world history would be if just one of those decisions or wars had gone the other way!
Aftermath of the Wilmot Proviso
If nothing else, the Wilmot Proviso brought to light how divided the United States was between the North and the South. The Democrats and Whigs were both split by regional loyalties.
Neither party wanted to vote on the issue of slavery, but the vote on the Wilmot Proviso pulled the cover off and began to lay bare the true division within the country. What had begun some 70 years earlier as an experiment in democracy was now under more pressure than ever and would ultimately be tested in a civil war just 15 years later.
Photo by Juan Manuel Merino on Unsplash
Even with the end of that civil war, the issue of race relations in the United States would not be settled and, sadly, remains a point of conflict to this day. It is still “the elephant in the room” – that difficult conversation we still struggle with in our society today.
Since my last blog post
As you might guess, I spent several hours researching the Wilmot Proviso and condensing my findings into a somewhat digestible blog post. You’re probably saying, “That was more than I wanted to know about the Wilmot Proviso.” I felt the same way as the history got increasingly complicated.
With the Wilmot Proviso out of the way, I turned my focus to working on my family cookbook project, my historical short stories, and some reading.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. I’ve already read a one this month and I’m ready to share my thoughts about it in my September 5 blog post.
Life is short. Make time for friends and family.
If you don’t have a hobby, find one.
Don’t forget the people of Ukraine, Uvalde, and Highland Park, etc. and the people in Kentucky whose lives have been turned upside down by flooding.
Today’s topic is somewhat obscure and isn’t given much thought by the average citizen until it comes into play. When it needs to be put into action, it is of monumental importance.
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on July 18, 1947. To fully appreciate US Presidential Succession, however, we need to first look at the United States Constitution and the Presidential Succession Acts prior to 1947. Later in this post, we’ll learn about what has happened on this matter since 1947.
My post today is longer than usual, but please read on. You might learn something. I did!
US Constitution, Article II, Section I, Clause 6
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
The vice president is designated as the first in the presidential line of succession by Clause 6 in Section I, Article II of the US Constitution. That is all many Americans know, since we’ve never lost a sitting president and sitting vice president at the same time… or lost a president who has assumed the office due to the death or incapacity of his predecessor.
Clause 6 also gives Congress the authority to provide for the line of succession after the vice president.
US Presidential Succession Act of 1792
The Presidential Succession Act of 1792 designated the US Senate president pro tempore as next in line after the vice president, followed by the Speaker of the House.
US Senate Practice in the 1800s
During most of the 19th century, the US Senate assumed it could elect a president pro tempore only during the absence of a vice president. With Congress only being in session approximately half the year at that time, concerns were raised over the high mortality rate of the era. What if the president and vice president both died or became incapacitated during Congress’ adjournment?
The solution was for the vice president to voluntarily exit the Senate chamber before the current session of Congress ended. While the vice president was out of the room, the Senate would elect a president pro tempore.
That scheme sort of worked for decades, but then vice presidents from the minority political party started fearing that in their absence from the Senate chamber, someone not from their political party might be elected. To remedy that, some vice presidents refused to leave the chamber while the vote was taken.
Congressional Action in 1886
Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash
No deed goes unpunished, and it seems that Congressional members are always looking for something they can change and take credit for. In 1886, Congress changed the presidential succession order after the vice president cabinet secretaries in the order in which their federal departments had been created.
No Act of Congress goes uncriticized. Proponents of the 1886 Act maintained that the office Senate pro tempore is filled based on parliamentary skills and not on the person’s executive skills.
The Death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945
Vice President Harry Truman was in House Speaker Sam Rayburn’s office enjoying a glass of bourbon when they received word that President Roosevelt had died and Truman was to take the oath of office for the Presidency as quickly as possible.
Mr. Truman was friends with Sam Rayburn and had a somewhat strained relationship with Senate President Pro Tempore Kenneth McKellar. It came as no surprise then when President Truman started campaigning for a change in presidential succession.
Arguing that Sam Rayburn had been chosen by his Congressional peers to be their leader in the office of Speaker of the House, Truman pushed for a change in the law.
This was completely political. Although Truman, Rayburn, and McKellar were all Democrats, Truman preferred Rayburn over McKellar and saw his chance to reinstate two elected officials in the line of succession after the vice president and before cabinet members. Cabinet members, of course, are not elected. They are nominated by the sitting US President and reflect the governing philosophy or the President.
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947
President Truman prevailed. The result was the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, which established the line of succession as the vice president, the Speaker of the House, the Senate President Pro Tempore, followed by the cabinet secretaries in the order in which their departments were created.
When House and Senate Leaders are in Opposition to the President
Of the 76 years since the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the Speaker of the House has not been from the President’s political party 44 years. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate has not been from the President’s political party for 36 of those 76 years.
Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash
As we have witnessed in recent years, these situations can create stalemates in Congress when it comes to a US President being able to get his legislative issues passed into law. It boils down to the balance of power between the three branches of the federal government and the system of checks and balances. Sometimes it’s a good thing, and sometimes it’s a bad thing. It all depends on which political party or philosophy you align yourself with and how quickly you want to see the laws of the land changed.
The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1967
Until the adoption of the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1967, there was no way to replace a deceased, incapacitate, or resigned US vice president or one who had moved into the office of US president due to an unexpected vacancy in that office.
Prior to the 25th Amendment, therefore, the office of vice president remained vacant until the next presidential election. That meant the Speaker of the House was first in line if something happened to the president.
With the 25th Amendment in place when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned, President Richard M. Nixon had the authority to nominate Gerald R. Ford on October 12, 1973. Mr. Ford was confirmed by Congress on December 6, 1973. It is ironic, then, that Gerald Ford became the president when Richard Nixon was forced to resign. I was majoring in political science in college at the time. It was a great time to participate in political debates. There was never a dull moment in poli sci class!
When Presidential Succession becomes a concern, it suddenly becomes a big concern
When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1962, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became the President. Next in line for the office were 73-year-old Speaker of the House John W. McCormack and 86-year-old Senate President Pro Tempore Carl Hayden.
Photo by History in HD on Unsplash (I couldn’t help but notice there’s not a woman or a person of color in the entire photo. It’s an image that epitomizes government in the US in the early 1960s.)
Our current US president is 79 years old. He might run for reelection in 2024. Regardless of one’s political leanings, age is an issue. That said, though, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that a 73-year-old and an 86-year-old in the year 1962 were definitely considered elderly. Seventy-three isn’t considered as old as it did in 1962 – and I’m not just saying that because I’m in my late 60s.
Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president in 1973. When that happened, Carl Albert was in line for the presidency. I’ve read that Mr. Albert had an alcohol problem and didn’t want to be president; however, when Gerald R. Ford became president less than a year later, Mr. Albert was still next in line. That was not a good situation for the country.
Think back to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. “He who shall not be named” was the US president. He was hospitalized with Covid-19. What if he had died and Vice President Mike Pence had also succumbed to the virus? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was next in line and from the other major political party. Even if you’re a Democrat, you must admit such a transition of power would have created political havoc in our country.
This possible scenario, along with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, raise the question of presidential succession anew. It has been suggested that the Secretary of Homeland Security should be elevated from last in the line of succession to a higher position in that line
What do you think?
Is it time for Congress to revisit the line of presidential succession?
I think it is, but members of Congress and the American public are too polarized in 2022 for anything of such importance to be considered. Everything today is decided along political party lines – even in the US Supreme Court and perhaps within the US Secret Service.
When the political pendulum swings back to a more moderate place of common sense and an adherence to the philosophy that all elected officials should only work for the common good, perhaps then the issue of Presidential Succession can be revisited.
Since my last blog post
My sister and I enjoyed an overnight trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. (By the way, I wrote a vintage postcard book by that name a few years ago and it’s still available on Amazon and from Arcadia Publishing. You just might like to read it and see the postcards which all date prior to 1970, with most being from the 1940s and 1950s. Pardon the shameless plug for my book. I must blow my own horn.)
The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, by Janet Morrison
It poured rain on us most of the way to Boone on Sunday, and then dense fog set in and blocked our views along the Blue Ridge Parkway most of the way to Asheville. Even so, it was good to get away if just for a couple of days.
Upon returning home, I took the plunge and purchased access to Atticus writing software. I’ve started my first book on the platform, which formats one’s writing ready for electronic and print publication. That first book is tentatively called The Aunts in the Kitchen: Tried and True Recipes from the Aunts in Our Family.
I read a book that’s been on my “To Be Read” (TBR) list for several years. One down, 300+ books to go.
It’s been a good week.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book or two to read. I’m listening to and reading books by some authors I’ve not read before.
Take time for family, friends, and a hobby.
Remember the four-year-old little girl in Ukraine who was pushing her baby stroller one minute and was killed by a Russian rocket the next; the surviving children in Uvalde and the parents who lost children in the domestic terrorist attack there; and the orphaned two-year-old boy, the partially-paralyzed little boy, and all the grieving and traumatized people in Highland Park. Unfortunately, the list could go on and on.
Janet's Writing Blog 