January 24 (week 3)

Devotional

We started with another great devotional this week. Thanks to everyone who participated and especially to General Behymer who played the piano while we sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic." We also started memorizing D&C 134:2.
Congrats to everyone who passed off the memorization of verse 1!
If you haven't passed it off yet, get it done ASAP!
**Note: Next week will be our last week to work on "Battle Hymn" in class. You will probably need to spend some additional time memorizing it at home. The scholars who have it memorized for class on Feb 7 will get an additional treat.

Presentation

 

Lamoni did a great job on the first presentation of the semester. He taught us about the Army. The unusual punishment portion was especially educational. Next time you get in trouble, be grateful your punishment is not being hung by your thumbs! Thanks Lamoni!

 

Lecture

 

We continued our pre-Civil War historical background study this week as we learned about the 1850's-A Decade of Turmoil.

It was a decade that started with the Compromise of 1850, which was supposed to avert the impending crisis over the slavery expansion issue. It turns out it just added fuel to the smoldering fire.

Other major events of the decade that continued to fan the flames included the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852,

the passage of Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854,

 the caning of Senator Sumner in 1856,

 

the Dred Scott case in 1857,

 the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858,\

 and John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859.

 By the election of 1860, the whole country was like a tinder-box, ready to explode.
And EXPLODE, it did!

Shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln in November, the legislature of South Carolina unanimously voted to secede.

Before Lincoln was even inaugurated,
other Southern states soon followed and the country was truly divided.

In the next few weeks,
we'll discuss how these events led to the start of the bloodiest war in American history.

 

Document Study

 

Finally, we read through the Supreme Court Decision of the landmark Dred Scott Case. It was a very complicated case, but the basic narrative is that Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom based on the fact that he had lived for a time, with his owner, in free states. Although there were several cases of courts giving freedom to slaves in similar situations, Scott was not given his freedom. He appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Southern-majority court held that the federal government had no power to regular slavery in the territories, and that people of African descent (slave and free) could not be U.S. citizens and were not protected by the Constitution.

The consequences of the decision further increased tension on both sides of the slavery expansion issue. Slave owners felt the decision supported their right to take slaves to non-slave states or territories. Many Northerners who had been somewhat content to have slavery contained within in it's existing borders, wondered if slavery would be contained at all.

 

Upcoming Week's Paper

 

"When evil is being done is it right to react with evil?"

 

Reminders/Announcements

 

Next week is movie week. Popcorn for everyone. Treats for those who read to chapter 33 of UTC and do 10 more captures.