In 2002, archaeologists Mary Ann Levine and James Delle's student excavation team broke through the roof of an old pool in the yard of the house of one of the most important American politicians in the19th century, and they found a completely unexpected thing: a secret place hidden for escaped slaves. Although the legends of slavery in the United States and the underground railway (the railway network that helps fugitives go north to be free) are full of legends of cleverly hidden hiding places, secret fortresses like thaddeus Stevens in Lancaster, Pennsylvania are quite rare. "I have seen many tunnels called underground railways," said Dale, a 40-year-old professor at nearby Kuztown University. (Levin teaches at Franklin Marshall College. ) "Usually I will expose these websites. But in this case, I can't think of any other possible explanation. In the middle of19th century, Stevens, a seven-term congressman and power broker, was a household name, and his reputation spread far and wide. On many occasions, he was condemned for eloquently calling for the abolition of slavery. He is a brilliant lawyer, and his commitment to racial equality is far earlier than his time. He will be the father of two constitutional amendments, ensuring that all citizens get equal protection before the law of June 5438+04, granting freemen the right to vote in June 5438+05, and also the architect of reconstruction. Due to the politics brought to the United States during and after the Civil War, he is almost unknown today nearly a century and a half after his death in 1868. Charlie Smithgall, the 58-year-old mayor of Lancaster, said, "If you stop a hundred people on the streets of Lancaster today and ask them who Stevens is, I bet only 50 people know. "."Most people can only tell you that there is a junior college named after him. "

Stevens' reputation, even in his hometown, is not as good as that of his neighbor and sworn enemy, james buchanan, the 5th president of the United States, which can be said to be the worst. "Buchanan's vision has been consolidated in the past," said Jean Harvey Baker, a historian at Gucci College in Baltimore, Maryland and the author of Buchanan's biography published in May this year. "When other western countries got rid of slavery, he continued to regard the United States as a enslaved republic. If he can do this, he will make the United States a slave society extending from Baja California to the east coast. " Today, a carefully restored monument stands in Wheatland, the solemn home of Lancaster in Buchanan; For decades, Stevens' simple brick row houses have been largely neglected. Despite historical archaeological discoveries, they will soon be partially demolished to make way for a huge new conference center.

There is almost no more vivid study of these two people: one is considered to be the most radical fire abolitionist of his generation, the other is the northerner who supported the South with words at that time, and the other is Douglas. Baker said: "Douglas is mainly a member of the border States. They obey the orders of the south politically. " . "The word means that they are plastic and can be processed. They don't care about slavery at all. They only care about maintaining the integrity of the Democratic Party and the Confederacy. " Stevens is a man driven by moral beliefs. On the other hand, Buchanan appeared as a great ambiguous person. He is always accommodating, conformist and arrogant, so that President andrew jackson once called him "Miss Nancy"-a sissy.

However, the lives of Stevens and Buchanan kept a strange parallel process. They came from humble origins: Buchanan 179 1 was born in a cabin on the Pennsylvania border, and Stevens was born in rural Vermont a year later. Both of them are lifelong bachelors and workaholics with strong political ambitions. Both are lawyers who started their careers in Lancaster; Their lives are less than two miles apart. Both of them will die from the trauma of post-war reconstruction in the summer of 1868. For decades, when slavery was a 600-pound gorilla in the living room of American democracy, the two men would find that their strongly opposed political views were inevitably intertwined. Buchanan will bring America to the brink of civil war. Stevens will shape its sequelae.

Lancaster is a prosperous small city. Buchanan, 18 years old, 1809 When he arrived there, the population was about 6,000. Beautiful two-story and three-story masonry buildings are arranged in a solemn grid, which matches the city center as the national capital since 1799.

It is the home of gunsmiths, craftsmen and markets for hundreds of farmers in surrounding counties. Although the streets of Lancaster have not been paved, they still exude a bustling atmosphere. Buchanan has just graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, and he is determined to please his demanding Scottish-Irish father. He always takes pains to tell his eldest son how much he sacrificed to educate him.

Let Buchanan live in the present, and experts will probably describe him as an insider, promoting his status as a professional politician through designated positions and personal relationships. Baker said: "In the18th century, ambitious people walked into the church." On the 20th, they entered big enterprises. You left your mark in the Buchanan era, not because you founded Enron, but because you joined party politics.

Buchanan, a tall and burly man, entered the Congress as a federal member, representing Lancaster and its surrounding areas. At this time, the Federalist Party founded by alexander hamilton has declined as a national power, which is not only the result of its opposition to the 18 12 war, but also the result of its maintenance of the image of the rich. The party has lost to the Democrats, whose origins can be traced back to Thomas Jefferson and who call themselves supporters of the people of Meng Man. However, the main loyalty of the new federal senator is not so much to the party as to the cause. "Buchanan was an opportunist," said Matthew Pinske, a historian at Dickinson College. "Earlier, for a man who wanted to get ahead in politics, he learned an important lesson: don't disagree with anyone. He has an impressive resume, but he is not a popular figure; He is an insider.

In 1828, aware of the rise of a vibrant opposition party, Buchanan cast his support for andrew jackson, a Democrat who was elected president that year. Buchanan served as a Democrat in the last of five terms in the House of Representatives. 1832 to 1833 as Jackson's ambassador to Russia, 1834 was elected as a member of the Senate (according to the law at that time). 1 1 years later, Democrat james polk became president and Buchanan became secretary of state. His idea won praise in the northwest of the United States.

When 50-year-old Thaddeus Stevens moved to Lancaster in 1842, Buchanan was already a rising political star in Ran Ran, Ran Ran. Stevens went to Pennsylvania after graduating from Dartmouth College. He settled in Gettysburg, where he won the reputation of the most outstanding lawyer in the town, despite his double disabilities: deformed feet and disfiguring diseases, and rare baldness caused him to lose his hair at the age of 35. He wore a wig all his career. When a political admirer once begged for a lock of his hair, he took off the whole wig and gave it to her with a regretful smile. )

Stevens won the Pennsylvania parliamentary election in 1833, when he was 4 1 year old. During his tenure, he became an advocate of public education. However, what he cares about most is slavery. His hatred for this matter stems not only from his growing experience in the Yankees, but also from an incident in 182 1. If he never explains or even implies, Stevens successfully defends the owner of Butler, a charity for runaway slaves, and he is released as a slave. Hans Trevors, the author of Thaddeus Stevens:/Kloc-an egalitarian in the 9th century and emeritus professor of American history at City University of new york, said that although this was a professional victory, the case "deeply affected him". "I think he is disgusted with what he has done." Since then, Stevens' commitment to equal rights for African-Americans-an idea that even many abolitionists abhor-will never waver.

On the contrary, Buchanan condemned slavery in theory, but actually supported it. 1826, he asserted in front of Congress: "This is a moral evil. If we don't introduce infinite evil, we can't escape. In this alliance, if you liberate your slaves, they will become slave owners. " He declared that if necessary, he was willing to "tie it on my backpack" to defend the south, and vigorously defended the 1850 fugitive slave law, which required citizens to help find fugitive slaves anywhere in the country, regardless of their beliefs. Baker said: "He totally opposed abolitionism and supported the South. He wants to protect the alliance of southern minorities. His agenda is appeasement.

Even so, Buchanan is not without defenders. "Buchanan reveres the Constitution with almost religious enthusiasm," said Samuel C. Slaymaker, director of the james buchanan Foundation, which oversees Wheatland. "He is afraid of the masses, but he is also afraid that the president has too much power. He believes that the president is the manager of Congress making laws, not the person who makes laws himself. He foresaw that a war would be long and bloody and worried that the country might not survive. " As for slavery, the slaver said Buchanan thought it was more a legal issue than a moral one, and thought it would gradually disappear in the south like Pennsylvania. He felt that abolitionists would only anger southerners with their "excessive language" and make things worse.

Although Buchanan had long dreamed of becoming president, when he was appointed as British Minister under President franklin pierce in 1853, he thought his career was actually over. Ironically, this exile helped him win the prize he sought. During his three-year overseas career, most well-known Democrats in China, including Pierce and Illinois Senator Stephen A Douglas, had fierce infighting over whether slavery should be extended to the western region. Within a few months of returning to China, Bu Shan 'an became the presidential candidate of his party with 1856. During the campaign,

According to the practice at that time, it was not bad to make any speech. However, his opponents laughed at his silence and plain performance. "A candidate's impression is wrong," said Stevens, his colleague Lancaster. "There is no such person as james buchanan in the campaign. He's dead. There is only one program and there is a lot of political corruption. " Republicans who formed their own party two years ago nominated John C. Fremont, a cartographer and explorer who led several expeditions across the Rocky Mountains in the 1940s.

But as a well-established and well-funded Democrat, Buchanan catered to the imprisoned people in the south and gained an advantage. Finally, he remained silent and won the presidency with 45% of the votes. Northerners who opposed slavery flocked, and the Republican Party showed amazing strength with 33% of the votes. )

1Buchanan's inaugural speech on March 4, 857 reflected an almost morbid situation. "Everything practical has been decided," he declared. "There are no other problems that need to be adjusted, because e According to the Constitution, except for the states where slavery exists, slavery in all states cannot be achieved by any human resources." Of course, the new president is convinced of this. The bloody conflict between slavery and anti-slavery began to ravage the territory of Kansas from 1855. In the election campaign that led to Buchanan's election, violence reached * * *.

Buchanan was temporarily changed. Stevens lived a double life, an outstanding lawyer and politician, and a secret activist. His strong abolitionist views are well known, but the scope of his secret work for fugitive slaves is still unclear. Even though Stevens lived in Gettysburg, he began to voluntarily defend runaway slaves in court. After 1842 moved to Lancaster, he often helped fugitives set out from Columbia, Pennsylvania, an important underground railway activity center, west 14 miles. Stevens also hired a spy to report the slave catchers active in this area to the fugitives and pass on what he learned to them. 1847, he wrote to his abolitionist colleague Jeremiah Brown: "I have a spy watching spies to find out the truth." . "However, all this must be kept secret, otherwise we will lose all the advantages we have now. This is the eighth batch of slaves I warned in a week.

There is no existing document describing how the reservoir behind Stevens' brick house was used as a hiding place. Perhaps these fugitives came to Lancaster from Colombia, where William whipple, an African-American timber merchant, transported them eastward to Philadelphia and traveled freely on a railway truck with secret parts. The escaped prisoner may be sent to the pub next to Stevens' house, sealed in a bucket. Slaves may be hidden in reservoirs for hours or days until they are moved to other places.

1848, Stevens established a cooperative relationship with a 35-year-old widow, Lydia hamilton smith, who is a light-skinned hybrid (her father is white) and will be his housekeeper, property manager and confidant for the next 25 years. This is an extraordinary and brave relationship in an era when apartheid is almost universal. Even in the north, blacks are almost completely excluded from universities and public schools, and are forbidden to enter theaters, libraries, eating places and houses. Lewis Tapan, a silk merchant, was the most influential abolitionist in new york before the war. He refused to hire black shop assistants because he thought they were untrustworthy. True partnership between whites and blacks is almost unheard of.

In view of her relationship in the local African-American community, Smith is likely to manage the activities of fugitives entering and leaving Stevens' home. She can easily shuttle between the black and white world, which is very suitable for such a task. Although Stevens was rumored to be a lover before and after his death, there is no conclusive evidence to support this statement. In any case, Stevens treats Smith equally. He called her "lady", always offered her his seat on public transportation, and invited her to participate in social activities with friends.

Southern politicians have warned that if Republican presidential candidate abraham lincoln wins, they will lead the states to secede from the Union. In the election, his opponent was divided into two Democrats, Steven Douglas and John C. Bregin Ritchie, and the fourth candidate, john bell. Lincoln was elected in June 1860 1 1. As soon as the game was decided, the southern States began to make up for their threat. In the months before Lincoln took office, President Buchanan's forceful response may have curbed the separatist enthusiasm. But he responded with a peculiar ambiguity. 1860 65438+On February 20th, South Carolina seceded from the Union; Then 10 Southern states seceded from the Union. "Buchanan's handling of splitting the country is very bad", and sa legislation is not as far-reaching as Stevens hoped; In particular, it does not provide for giving free people the right to vote. However, shortly after the bill was passed, Stevens made a speech in Congress, indicating that he was willing to accept the promise: "Why do you ask this? I accept such an imperfect proposal. Because I live among humans, not angels.

Although he tried to create a legislative solution, Stevens watched Lincoln's successor, andrew johnson, Tennessee, allow southern state legislatures, including many former federations, to make laws, effectively depriving free people of their civil and economic rights. Anti-black riots swept through southern cities, killing hundreds of African-Americans. "Violence is everywhere," Forner said. "Law and order have collapsed everywhere. The failure of the first stage of reconstruction discredited President Johnson and opened the door for people like Stevens. Radicals (Stevens of the Republican Party) are at least considered to have a coherent agenda. " Stevens saw his chance: despite being weakened by age and illness, he redoubled his efforts to stop the rise of defeated allies. "At the beginning of 1867,

Being weak, he can only speak in a low voice. Stevens implored Congress to take action, even though his colleagues had to crowd around him to listen to his speech. "The south," he accused, "is full of lawlessness and murder." It is said that this speech is one of the few speeches in Congress that led to the change of on-site voting. Stevens got what he wanted: more federal troops would be sent to the south, and eventually an occupation army of 20,000 people would be formed to protect the rights of free people and white people loyal to the union.

Stevens continued to argue forcefully in Congress that blacks everywhere must have the right to vote, but even in some northern states, he still refused them. "We gave them the privilege of fighting, the privilege of sacrificing to defend freedom, and the privilege of bearing the same tax as them; However, where did we give them the privilege to participate in the formulation of their own laws?

It was also Stevens who led the attempt to impeach Johnson and fire a radical cabinet member in the final battle of 1868, although the real question is whether Congress or the President will decide the process of reconstruction policy. Despite the personal unpopularity of the president, many members of Congress believe that this time Stevens and activists overreacted when trying to weaken the power of the executive branch. In May of that year, when the Senate counted the number of speakers, the efforts to recall the president failed by one vote.

A few months later,1August 2, 868, Stevens died. In the years before the war, he was slandered for his views that were regarded as non-mainstream. But he lived long enough to see at least some of his ideals become law. "Stevens is ahead of the times because he really believes in racial equality," Trevor said. "Without him, it is impossible for the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fifteenth Amendment to guarantee the voting rights of freemen." Stevens did not live to see the amendment 15 approved in 1870. Trevor said: "In fact, these amendments were actually invalid in the south in the years after reconstruction. But they are still in the law. In the twentieth century, the amendment will remind Americans of what these laws once stood for: they are the standards set by the state for itself. " In fact, amendments 14 and 15 became the basis of almost all civil rights legislation in the 20th century. "Kdspe "kdsps" kdspe "kdsps" north won. Civil war on the battlefield; However, in some ways, victory is short-lived. By 1877, all the federal troops had withdrawn from the south. Stevens amendment has been abolished in essence, and severe discriminatory laws have been promulgated. Vigilante groups like the Klan intimidate black people. The south, even the whole country, has been trapped in institutionalized apartheid for nearly a century.

For Stevens, perhaps the lowest point of his fame is 19 15. In the civil war epic "The Birth of a Country" directed by film director David Griffith, he is portrayed as a villain who conspires with a half-blood conspirator to incite a racial war against whites. Smith, who also appeared in this film, was contemptuously called a "hybrid", which was characterized by ambition and insatiable greed. The film called the Klan "an organization that saved the South from black rule". President Woodrow Wilson allowed the film depicting black people as clowns and inferior people to premiere at the White House.

With Stevens' reputation plummeting, james buchanan's reputation began to rise, at least in Lancaster in 1960. In 1930s, with the support of public donations, the wheat field reappeared in the middle of19th century. (Stevens' home is not even listed on the map of the important urban area of Lancaster Historical Society in 1962. On a recent trip to Wheatland, a commentator dressed in the clothes of the times cheerfully described Buchanan as "a good man who only believes in the Constitution." Stevens volunteered, and there seems to be an inexplicable despicable tendency. Later, it snowed in the streets of Lancaster. Archaeologist Jim Chandler opened the front door of a row of houses where Stevens lived, only one block away from the square, and a group of enthusiastic supporters were listening to his endless speech. The facade of the federal era has disappeared under a modern facade made of dirty white bricks; A garage door broke into Stevens' front room. The shabby industrial carpet, broken plaster and graffiti added a desolate atmosphere to the room on the first floor, where Stevens probably wrote his most famous speech. In the yard behind the house, Chandler scraped the snow from the plywood covering the top of the broken water tank; We climbed down an aluminum ladder. The archaeologist pointed out a small hole in the wet brick wall. The escaped prisoner climbed in through a tunnel, which connected with the basement of the pub next door.

Two years ago, real estate developers agreed to this after many local negotiations, but they insisted that the rest of the building must be razed to make room for the new conference center. David hickson of the Convention Center Authority said, "We must improve efficiency from the perspective of cost." But we are trying to integrate these historic buildings into the project. We need this space. "Although the current plan has no funds, it needs to rebuild the rest of the house; An underground museum will also be built, including a reservoir. Randolph, former director of Lancaster County Historical Protection Trust? Randolph Harris said, "We can't just leave this house. He has been trying to prevent Stevens' house and adjacent property from being demolished. "Stevens is a very important figure in our history, and we can't abandon him any more."