Guest View: U.S. Sens. Cass, Howard

By John E. Mogk

Light is now being shed upon the involvement in slavery of two Michigan U.S. senators during the mid-19th century, both Detroit residents at the time.

Prominent Sen. Lewis Cass (1782-1866) was a slave owner and the leading spokesman for the doctrine of “popular sovereignty,” which held that the people of the American territories should be entitled to decide whether to permit slavery, including in the Northwest Territory where slavery was prohibited. Long forgotten Sen. Jacob Howard (1805-1871) worked closely with President Abraham Lincoln in drafting and passing the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery and the 14th Amendment that is today’s constitutional foundation for protecting all Americans against discrimination by state and local governments.

Professor Tiya Miles of the University of Michigan has chronicled the slave ownership of Lewis Cass and his sale of a slave named Sally to a member of the Macomb family, notorious slave owners in Detroit prior to the Civil War. However, slavery did not dim Cass’ reputation until now. He is remembered in many ways. His statue stands with President Gerald Ford as one of only two in the U.S. Capitol honored from Michigan. Detroit’s leading technical high bears his name as does one of the city’s prominent streets. Detroit’s island park in the center of the Detroit River is named after his daughter, Belle.

Prominent government positions held by Cass are numerable. He was a general in the War of 1812 and, then, appointed governor of the Michigan Territory, served in the cabinets of two presidents and was a candidate for the U.S. presidency, in addition to serving in the U.S. Senate. As the Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Andrew Jackson, he helped implement Jackson’s policy of “Indian removal” along a “Trail of Tears” with many of the 125,000 Native Americans removed from their southeastern tribal lands not surviving the march to the West.

In contrast, Jacob Howard — who owned no slaves, was an attorney for a runaway slave and devoted his political career to opposing slavery. Howard, too, had an impressive political career. After being Detroit city attorney, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Michigan attorney general and helped to draw the platform for the first Republican Convention held in Jackson.

Slave owning Sen. Cass who also endorsed slavery in the territories enjoys a place of honor in Detroit and Michigan history, while Sen. Howard, a founder of the Republican Party who fought slavery throughout his entire career, is long dead, buried in Detroit’s Elmwood Cemetery and forgotten, even by many Michigan historians. There is no memorial recognizing his contribution to abolishing slavery and securing America’s civil rights and liberties in venues such as the Detroit Historical Museum, Charles Wright Museum, The Henry Ford Museum, Detroit City Hall or Detroit Public Schools.

Michigan and the nation are reassessing the honors bestowed upon early Americans who sought to suppress human rights with their names and statues being removed from public places. Lewis Cass deserves to be re-examined in this light. Should he be one…