I take heart in the lessons of history that somehow Kansas will be able to save itself from what appears a true crisis. A TRIP back in time could help show the way. AS A YOUNG attorney thirsty to make his mark upon the world, Abraham Lincoln fretted all the good opportunities had passed him by those who had fought in the American Revolution. George Washington and his compatriots were viewed much as how those of the “Greatest Generation” who fought in World War II are regarded today. INCREASINGLY, Kansans are voicing their fears about potential laws and measures that would affect the education of children, the judicial branch of government, teachers’ rights, our state prisons, social services, and the nuts and bolts of keeping state roads and parks in good repair.
Yes, we are poised on the precipice of a financial — and some would say moral — crisis. What will save us?
In the beginning of the 1850s the tide was turning against slavery by fits and starts.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a line across the country where slavery was protected by law for the southern third. Even the Constitution regarded slaves as not complete human beings, counting them as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representations in pro-slavery states. Up and coming generations found both increasingly distasteful if not immoral.
Efforts gained steam to abolish slavery and give equal representation.
At the 31st Congress of 1850 anti-slavery activists seemed confident of success in making inroads. Instead, preservationists won the day with the Compromise of 1850 that upheld the Fugitive Slave Act, but allowed California to be a free state.
It was not so much that a majority of Congress was in favor of slavery, rather that its members feared civil war.
Lincoln’s early view on slavery was that it was unconstitutional and as the country expanded new states should not be allowed to adopt slavery. Unlike some of his contemporaries Lincoln didn’t think a “higher power,” i.e., God, deemed slavery a sin, and was unwilling to come down harshly on slave owners.
When the Compromise of 1850 was passed, Lincoln accepted it, though he was unhappy with the provision bolstering the recapture of fugitive slaves.
In her book, “Team of Rivals,” author Doris Kearns Goodwin quotes Lincoln on the nature of compromise, saying “Devotion to the Union rightfully inclined men to yield somewhat, in points where nothing could have so inclined them.” Keeping the peace was the higher cause.
The tipping point for Lincoln came in 1854 with enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that superseded the Missouri Compromise and allowed for the self-determination of slavery in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
Such legislation no longer ensured slavery was on a course to ultimate extinction.
The rest is history.
When policies and laws work to tear at a state or a country’s fabric, history shows Americans don’t take it lying down.
I’d venture Kansas is nearing its tipping point, if not this legislative session, then the next. Surely.
This legislative session may be tipping point
