Rosalia Pembroke

While researching this video, I realized there were two ways to criticize Cass; I could make him the ridiculous Senator or General Gas figure, or I could portray him as a dangerous threat to Northern interests.  I thought it would be more effective to play up Northern fears of the slave power and its extension into National politics.  I meant to make Cass appear both threatening and beholden to Southern interests. I emphasized that Lewis Cass was a doughface politician, who could be expected to ignore Northern interests and rights.

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10C590FE9B472780/0F4223B7E8433C2F

I opened my video with the statement, “nothing but the most united and determined action of the people of the North can prevent all the political power…from passing forever into the hands of the slaveholders.”  I wanted to foster the idea of a call to arms, something that would encourage Northern voters to come together in opposition to the extension of slavery, which would, in their minds, have led to the cementing of southern politicians as the leading force in congress. I took this quote completely out of context; the actual article is criticizing this type of thinking, but I found it to be a somewhat frightening statement.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c11474/

I chose to put “the slaveholders” over Cass’s face. I chose a younger picture, because he fits the image of a deviant and conniving southerner better without the jowls. I think that Northern voters would still recognize a portrait from his days as the governor of Michigan.

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10B7B0AF531AC328/0F4223B7E8433C2F

I chose this quote, despite its length, because it, by declaring that Cass sold himself to southern taskmasters, in some ways equates him with a slave. And not only a slave, but one who would willingly put himself in bondage in order to obtain a false sense of power.  This casts him as a puppet of the slaveholding south, and its pernicious interests.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003656597/

I used this official picture of Cass from the Democratic Party to draw attention, once again, to who nominated him. The Democratic Party, with its preponderance of southerners and dedication to the preservation of southern, slaveholding, agrarian interests.

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10BBED822D783A70/0F4223B7E8433C2F

This quote just states that Cass opposed banning Slavery in territories taken from Mexico.  I thought paying less attention to popular sovereignty, and emphasizing that Cass’s position could lead to the wide expansion of slavery, reflected what Northern Audiences feared most at the time.

http://www.humanitiestexas.org/archives/digital-repository/map-united-states-1848

I used Ken Burns effect on this map to draw attention to the territory, obtained from Mexico, that could support slavery if Cass’s policy of popular sovereignty became law.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a12909/ Anti-cass anti-slavery cartoon

In this cartoon, Cass laments the slave drivers who control him, and to whom he must pander for votes.  An audience during the election would probably have recognized the allusion to slavery and slaves made with the pig’s human face, but the connection is much less apparent to any current audience. The label Federal Pap. emphasizes the role of the federal government with regards to slavery’s continuation.   This cartoon actually criticizes multiple politicians of the time, but I used the Ken Burn’s affect and a transition to focus on Cass.

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10DE928F633DCA20/0F4223B7E8433C2F

Cass’s “servile and indecent obeysance [sic] to the Slave power of the south” really summed up most of the tensions and fears I wanted to exploit in this aid. Northern fear of the slave power was both prevalent and well founded. The increased representation (without an accompanying increase in voters) in Congress caused by the 3/5ths clause made the South a considerably stronger force.  The preponderance of older southern congressmen also led to a heightened dominance of committees in congress. The south did exercise significant control over the federal government, exceeding what could have been expected.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ds.00852/  War President Cartoon

This Cartoon depicts Cass as a monstrous assortment of artillery pieces, waving a bloody sword inscribed with the phrase “Manifest Destiny”.  His speech bubble lists the new territories he wished to obtain. I chose this cartoon because I wanted to link Cass’s aggressive demands for expansion with the southern desire to expand slavery into new lands. One of the main reasons to expand, especially to Cuba, was the eventual extension of slavery. Cass’s speech bubble mentions cuba. The violence suggested by the bleeding sword and the phrase “A War President” also fit with the threatening image of Cass that I wanted to cultivate.  I chose the effect because it  made him appear to be moving forward, as if he were attacking the viewer.

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/10B5F10137CE3D58/0F4223B7E8433C2F

This document actually condemns both Cass and Taylor in favor of Van Buren, but I chose to use only the Anti-Cass bits.  I thought that ending the ad by accusing Cass of treachery (repeatedly), would drive home the point that Cass was not only beholden to the Southern Slave power, but that his dependence threatened the rights of Northern Freemen. Treachery also implied that Cass willingly sacrificed Northern rights.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b17049/ The Political Guillotine Cartoon

This is a cartoon of Lewis Cass using a political guillotine. I thought it demonstrated the ominous tone that I wanted well.  I wanted to portray Cass not only as beholden to the Slave power, but as a threatening figure, willing to sacrifice the north simply to win the southern votes necessary for national prominence.  The ad also criticizes the democratic party’s spoil system with the Custom house present on the left side. The words above Cass reference a biblical passage about a divided Kingdom. I chose not to emphasize those words because I was not sure how clear the reference would have been to an audience of that time period (it is from the old testament), but also because I think the sectional divide between North and South had not yet begun to be considered insurmountable.  At any rate, the Cartoon portrays Cass as violent and tyrannical, and I wanted to make sure the audience understood him as a threat,  a puppet for the south but a particuarly dangerous puppet.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003656597/

I thought fading out this image of Cass continued the ominous tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goeOUTRy2es

Franz List wrote this piece in 1847.  While it may not have been widely known, I thought the ominious tone conveyed the threat of Cass.  Fear of the slave power was also growing rapidly at this time, and was emerging as a more significant issue. The controversy of expansion was fast becomingone of the most important issues in national politics. I thought a piece of music that was relatively unfamiliar could help convey the change in national politics.