Saturday, April 7, 2012

Machiavelli’s Concepts of Governing


Niccolo Machiavelli was a great political thinker during his time even though he did not consider himself a philosopher. [1] He saw Italy as a corrupt nation and wanted to find a way that an independent state could run effectively within that nation.[2] Machiavelli was trying to advise and inspire future leaders of the state by writing The Prince. Many political figures have used Machiavelli’s advice to gain power in their own countries however some have not followed the advice to create the leader that Machiavelli was trying to create.
                Some of Machiavelli’s advice in The Prince could work in our current political system, while some advice could not. Although Machiavelli was a great political thinker, he did not foresee the issues that the United States would encounter. A few of these issues are; problems with ethics, special interest groups, and the idea of politicians changing their views or “flip flopping.”  I intend to argue that virtu, fortune, and the idea of the lion and the fox all have a place in our political system and society today. However, I will argue that Machiavelli’s ideas of republican liberty, prudence, and the chameleon are all bad theories that don’t work or are not ethical in our current political system.
                Throughout time it has been understood that leaders would gain the respect of their townships by being morally upstanding and virtuous therefore earning the respect of their followers.[3] The Prince outlines the way that a leader should act to gain the respect and power of a municipality which is by any means necessary. Maureen Ramsey states, “Machiavelli was concerned to establish from historical example and factual evidence the kinds of qualities rulers must have and the actions they must take in order to achieve political success.”[4] Machiavelli’s ideology is that in order to rule a leader will need to do some things that may not be thought of as ethical. Cary Nederman explains that “there is no moral basis on which to judge the difference between legitimate and illegitimate uses of power. Rather, authority and power are essentially coequal.”[5] The idea is that Machiavelli did not think actions were ethical or not rather that the basis was all in gaining power and being able to assert control and then rule over people in a way that brought glory to the leader. Machiavelli did not believe that a good and just leader could maintain political stability by being just and virtuous so he wrote The Prince in order to explain how to acquire political office and then keep it.[6]
In The Prince he teaches that fear is way to keep people in line when he says “fear holds them fast by a dread of punishment that never passes.”[7] Machiavelli believed that the people needed to have a very basic knowledge of politics and only the leaders of “forty or fifty” would know what was going on behind the scenes because it was done behind closed doors.[8] He did tell the leader to be virtuous when he could, however he would need to be flexible when the time came to use means that may not be virtuous.[9] He also told the leader that he would need to exhibit traits that were not so good and explains “as to the actions of all men and especially those of princes…everyone looks to their results.”[10] Although a leader needs to learn how to be not so good the results would justify his actions regardless if they were perceived as ethical or not. From this concept is where political thinkers come up with the idea of the ends justify the means.
There were a few ideas that Machiavelli held that would work within the political realm in our current system. These ideals offer the prince a way to gain power and respect without losing the authority that he has over his people and his leadership. The idea of virtu helps the prince become a good leader and is something that is seen in politics today. Every politician needs some good fortune in winning political office however some have been ousted out of their seats because of bad fortune. We have seen the lion and the fox work for some politicians and hinder others. These concepts make Machiavelli relevant today.
The concept of virtu is one that best describes the requirements for the prince.[11] Ramsay explains how a Machiavellian politician should act when she states, “He must be bold, resolute, flexible, prepared to break promises and act against charity, truth, religion and humanity.”[12] The prince needs to be able to do what is necessary to win at all cost. Machiavelli states this when he writes “For anyone who wants to act the part of a good man in all circumstances will bring about his own ruin, for those he as to deal with will not all be good. So it is necessary for a ruler, if he wants to hold onto power, to learn how not to be good, and to know when it is and when it is not necessary to use this knowledge.”[13] Machiavelli knew that it would be hard for a leader to be honest in all things when he would be dealing with others that were not honest.
Machiavelli’s idea of virtu can be seen in today’s political system. Candidates are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead or keep their office. An example would be political attack ads seen during elections. Machiavelli did not see the media as being a major force in our political system because there was no media at the time. However, the media has made virtu easier for candidates and a must in the political realm. Attack ads are able to bring opponents worst attributes to the surface. In this way it is imperative that politicians have virtu to traverse through the political landscape of today.
The idea of Fortune is a key concept that Machiavelli uses to describe things that happen to a political leader that he cannot explain. In The Prince, Machiavelli states, “Those who, having started as private individuals, become rulers merely out of good luck [fortune], acquire power with little trouble but have a hard time holding on to it.”[14] Ramsay says, “When he [Machiavelli] could not explain events, he attributed them to the quasi-superstitious workings of fortune.”[15] The concept of fortune can be defined as luck, either good or bad. Ramsay explains that virtu is used to balance fortune in politics.[16] Machiavelli believed that a leader could have good or bad fortune and that virtu would be used as a means to balance that leader’s bad fortune or his opponent’s good fortune.
Machiavelli’s concept of fortune has a place in our political society as we see good and bad fortune befall political leaders all the time. One example is of politicians who get caught doing things that they thought they would never be caught doing. Sexting, affairs, and frequenting houses of prostitution are a few of the examples of bad fortune that gets some politicians headed out of office. These examples can also be examples of good fortune for opponents. The Watergate scandal of President Nixon was an example of bad fortune for him, however, it was good fortune for Jimmy Carter who ran as the honest candidate who was going to be bring integrity back to Washington. The idea of fortune cannot be attributed to Machiavelli alone. However, he is the thinker that contributed to the idea of fortune and virtu working hand in hand to create the politician.
The final concept that is useful for politicians to posses in our current political system is of the lion and the fox. Machiavelli discusses in chapter eighteen of The Prince the concept of being both a lion and a fox. He states, “A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himself against snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves. Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves.”[17] His idea is that a politician will need to be cunning and strong in his endeavor to gain power. The politicians that are strong can gain power but cannot always keep it and those that are cunning don’t always have the strength to retain their office.
The idea of the lion and the fox works well in our political system. One of the ways that Machiavelli explains this working is through the political inner circle. He explains, “The easiest way of assessing a ruler’s ability is to look at those who are members of his inner circle. If they are competent and reliable, then you can be sure he is wise, for he has known both how to recognize their ability and to keep them faithful.”[18] He continues to state that if the inner circle is not reliable and faithful then it is a poor choice on the part of the ruler.[19] A ruler may use his inner circle to gain the strength or the cunning to rule his people. Larry Arnhart argues that it is not a good idea to act so beastly in a leaders governing.[20] However, I believe that in order to rule a country the prince will need to be both strong and cunning whether he himself or through his political inner circle.
There are three concepts of Machiavelli that don’t fit in our political system or wouldn’t go over well with the populace. Those three ideas are of prudence, the chameleon, and republican liberty. These ideas could have worked for a prince in Italy but in the United States’ political system it would be hard to get everyone to accept these concepts.
To most people today republican liberty means individual liberty and freedoms. In the sense that Machiavelli uses the term it is meant as people free from captivity. People today would think that personal liberty meant small government with limited power. Arnhart explains that Machiavelli’s idea of republican liberty was that the prince had all the power and does not even mention individual or personal rights.[21] Machiavelli writes, “[They] are easily satisfied by institutions and laws that confirm at the same time the general security of the people and the power of the prince. When a prince does this, and the people see that by no chance he infringes the laws, they will in a very little while be content, and live in tranquility.”[22]
His idea is to take control and as the people see that the prince is abiding by the law then they will be content. However, this would not work in our society today. Many people feel that they are knowledgeable about politics. These same people claim that President Obama is a socialist and is taking away their personal freedoms. People on the left felt the same way when President Bush enacted the Patriot Act, they argued that his administration was infringing on their personal rights. Machiavelli’s concept of republican liberty would not be an idea that Americans could stand behind today. As Arnhart explains, “James Madison, in his famous Federalist essay Number 51, warned that in establishing a government we have to take into account the selfish nature of human beings.”[23]
Machiavelli explains that “Prudence consists in knowing how to assess risks and in accepting the lesser evil as a good.”[24] The concept of prudence is one that everyone could accept and admire in a leader. Leo Paul de Alvarez states that Machiavelli uses Cesar as an example of prudent leadership and as someone that other leaders can look to as an example.[25] Being a prudent leader means making the hard decisions and being able to make that decision for the greater good.
Prudent leadership would be hard to attain in the United States political system today. Many leaders want the glory but are not willing to make the hard decisions due to a variety of factors. Some politicians are not willing to make the hard decisions for fear that they will offend their constituency. Others have special interest groups telling them what to do rather than weighing the options and making tough decisions. And some are afraid of the backlash they may take if they decide to run for a higher office, taking the safe route rather than making a decision that may be unfavorable. In today’s political arena, prudence is not looked at as an admirable trait but a weakness.
The final concept is that of the chameleon. Machiavelli says, “People are by nature inconstant. It is easy to persuade them of something, but it is difficult to stop them from changing their minds. So you have to be prepared for the moment they no longer believe.”[26] In order for a politician to please his constituency he will need to be attuned to the will of the people. In this regard he will have to swing on the pendulum of the people and what they find important at the time. This means shifting in ideology to coincide with what the people are thinking. This concept is one that validates Machiavelli’s idea of by any means necessary.
Although this concept is one that is important it does not work in our political landscape. In the 2004 election John Kerry was deemed a “flip flopper” because he voted for and against similar bills. During the 2012 republican debates Mitt Romney has also been seen as a flip flopper and someone who does not know what party line to follow. The American people want a candidate who is willing to be himself all of the time, even though his ideologies might have changed. I see Mitt Romney as being a Machiavellian in the idea of doing whatever it takes to become president even though that might mean being too moderate for republicans. The concept of the chameleon doesn’t work in our system today because of the media cycle and how Americans can see what a politician has said every time he has spoken. Although Machiavelli is right in his idea, it is not something that is easily attained in the American system of government.
The Prince offers great insight into how a prince should run his government. All of Machiavelli’s advice seems sound in the context of Italy at the time. However, in our political society some of the advice works and others do not. The concepts of virtu, fortune, and the lion and the fox are still relevant in our system. These ideas continue to work for politicians in a variety of ways. The concepts that don’t work are the ones that seem to get in the way of special interest, the twenty-four hour news cycle, or our idea of personal freedom such as prudence, republican liberty, and chameleon. The Prince offers great advice and although Machiavelli does not come out and say the ends justifies the means his writing can be perceived as such. Politics can be very entertaining due to Machiavellian attitudes and ideals.







Bibliography

Arnhart, Larry. Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Rawls. Long Grove: Waveland Press Inc., 2003.
Beiner, Ronald. Civil Religion: A Dialogue in the History of Political Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
de Alvarez, Leo Paul. The Machiavellian Enterprise. Dekalb: Norhern Illinios Press, 2008.
Duff, Alexander S. "Republicanism and the Problem of Ambition: The Critique of Cicero in Machiavelli's Discourses." The Journal of Politics, vol. 73, no. 4, 2011: 980-992.
Edwards, Alistair and Townshend, Jules (ed). Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Marx. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Hulliung, Mark. Citizen Machiavelli. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Najemy, John M. Between Friends: Discourses of Power and Desire in the Machiavelli-Vettori Letters of 1513-1515. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Nederman, Cary. "Niccolo Machiavelli." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Fall Edition 2009. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/ (accessed March 22, 2012).




[1] Cary Nederman, “Niccolo Machiavelli,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fall edition 2009, accessed March 22, 2012, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/.
[2] Maureen Ramsey, “Machiavelli 1469-1527” in Alistair Edwards and Jules Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Marx (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2002), 21.
[3] Nederman, “Niccolo Machiavelli” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/.
[4] Quoted in Maureen Ramsey, “Machiavelli (1469-1527)” in Alistair Edwards and Jules Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Marx (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 22.
[5] Nederman, “Niccolo Machiavelli” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/.
[6] Nederman, “Niccolo Machiavelli” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/.
[7] Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince quoted in Cary Nederman, “Niccolo Machiavelli,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fall edition 2009, accessed March 22, 2012, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/.
[8] Mark Hulliung, Citizen Machiavelli (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), 23.
[9] Quoted in Ramsay, “Machiavelli (1469-1527)” in Edwards and Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy, 22.
[10] Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, quoted in Maureen Ramsey, “Machiavelli (1469-1527)” in Alistair Edwards and Jules Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Marx (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 22.
[11] Nederman, “Niccolo Machiavelli” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/.
[12] Quoted in Ramsay, “Machiavelli (1469-1527)” in Edwards and Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy, 22.
[13] Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 15, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince15.htm.
[14] Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 7, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince15.htm.
[15] Ramsay, “Machiavelli (1469-1527)” in Edwards and Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy, 29.
[16] Ramsay, “Machiavelli (1469-1527)” in Edwards and Townshend, Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy, 22.
[17] Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 18, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince15.htm.
[18] Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 22, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince15.htm.
[19] Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 22, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince15.htm.
[20] Larry Arnhart, Political Questions: Political Philosophy from Plato to Rawls (Long Grove: Waveland Press Inc., 2003), 122.
[21] Arnhart, Political Questions, 125.
[22] Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 16, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince16.htm.
[23] Arnhart, Political Questions, 127.
[24] Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 21, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince21.htm.
[25] Leo Paul de Alvarez, The Machiavellian Enterprise: A Commentary on The Prince (Dekalb: Northern Illinois Press, 2008), 34.
[26] Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 6, http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince06.htm.

Colored Servants


In July 1897, Salt Lake City Utah was preparing for a gathering unlike any other that the state had seen before. The Brigham Young Memorial Association had been working to gather as many pioneers as possible for the fiftieth anniversary of the entrance of Brigham Young and his wagon train into the Great Basin. The Pioneer Jubilee, as it was called, took place over four days and included speeches, parades, and boasted the biggest firework show ever witnessed in the West.[1] The biggest attraction was the unveiling of the Pioneer Monument which had been under scrutiny for six years while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints worked tirelessly to fund the project. The monument was draped in an American flag waiting to be unveiled on the opening day of the jubilee.
The crowd fell silent in awe as the flag was dropped and the thousands of people from around the region were able to gaze at the craftsmanship of the Brigham Young statue sculpted by Cyrus Dallin.[2] The monument was constructed of granite and was topped with the ten foot figure. On the front of the monument was a plaque which read: “In Honor of Brigham Young and the Pioneers.”[3] On the reverse side of the monument was another plaque that has garnered controversy since the 1970’s. This plaque lists all the names of the pioneers who first made the trek with Brigham Young in 1847. On the bottom right hand side of the plaque are the names Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby delineated by a bracket inscribed “colored servants.”[4]
Mormon pioneers began traveling west in 1846. They were looking for a place where they could worship without the conflicts that they were enduring in Illinois, Missouri and previously Ohio and New York. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had been persecuted for their beliefs since Joseph Smith had started the religion April 6, 1830. After the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young led a group of pioneers to Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and eventually to the Salt Lake Valley. The thousand-mile trek from the Midwest to the Utah territory was a difficult journey for the group and there were many hardships along the way. The party reached the Great Basin July 24, 1847 consisting of one hundred and forty-three men, three women, and two children.[5] However, on July 21, three days earlier, an advance party entered the Salt Lake Valley carrying three African American slaves who had been given to Brigham Young in Winter Quarters. These three slaves were Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby.
Fifty years after the initial party of Mormon pioneers made it to the Great Basin, Cyrus E. Dallin constructed a monument honoring the man who led the group and the pioneers who had made the trek. Scholars have looked at this memorial, as well as other evidence of slaves in the Salt Lake Valley, as proof of racism and discrimination by a religion itself fleeing from persecution. Many people have seen the inscription to be a term of prejudice, however, by many accounts Green Flake was regarded as a prominent figure in Utah for being one of the first pioneers into the valley. The status of Green Flake in the West after the Civil War raises questions about how he was able to transcend the issue of race when the rest of the country was fighting to keep African Americans in the shadows.
The Brigham Young Memorial Association was created by the President of the LDS church, Wilford Woodruff, in 1891 to build a memorial to Brigham Young and the pioneers who settled in the Salt Lake Valley. According to an 1892 book created by The Mormon Church called the Contributor, “The desire to erect a monument in the memory of Brigham Young and the Pioneers has been in the hearts of the people of these valleys for many years.”[6] The association started devising a plan to have the monument built and paid for. From the beginning there was an idea to include a plaque on the monument that would include “the names of the Pioneers and the date of their entrance into the valley” to honor the “illustrious band.”[7] However the most important piece was getting an artist to sculpt a statue of Brigham Young so the plaques for the front and back were put on hold.
The association commissioned local artist Cyrus E. Dallin, who was not Mormon, to begin sculpting the monument which they had determined would be made of bronze. Dallin had recently been asked to sculpt the angel that sits atop LDS temples and was gaining an “enviable reputation as a sculptor” throughout the country.[8] A report by Captain Willard Young and J. H. Moyle about the design states, “The general idea…is to make not simply a statue of Brigham Young but rather a monument to the pioneers, with President Young as the central, or crowning figure.”[9] Dallin’s job was to create a monument that would honor all of the pioneers with Brigham Young as the center piece. His model, given to the association, shows that a statue of Brigham Young would adorn the top of the monument with a trapper and Native American flanking each side. A pioneer family would be carved into the bas-relief on the front of the monument. There was no discussion of the plaque for the rear of the monument in correspondence between the association and Dallin. His main concern was making sure that the monument that bore his name as artist was detailed properly as it would reflect on his reputation.
The Brigham Young Memorial Association did not discuss the creation of a plaque again until it was proposed in June 16, 1897. In the meeting E.A. Smith, the treasurer of the Brigham Young Memorial Association, suggests that “A copper plate be prepared with the names of the original band of pioneers of 143 men 3 women and 2 children engraven thereon to be placed in the base of the pioneer monument.”[10] The motion carried and Spencer Clawson, another member of the association, suggested that the names of the pioneers come from the banner created by Thomas Bullock and should be the model that the association should follow to place the names on the monument.[11] The Pioneer Banner lists all the members of the first party into the valley by name. Near the bottom of the banner is a bracket that carries the inscription colored servants and the titles of the three African Americans. Below these names are the names of the women and children of the company followed by the provisions.[12]
Thomas Bullock had been a member of the original band of pioneers when they arrived in the valley in 1847. According to a Deseret News article Thomas Bullock had been a clerk for Joseph Smith “and for many years a widely known and much esteemed citizen of this territory.”[13] This article goes on to detail the banner Bullock had created for the first pioneer celebration in 1849. It had been on display at the Pioneer Day celebration and “is a valuable and interesting historical record.”[14] This banner was the template used for creating the list of names and how they should be listed including the delineation of colored servants.
It was the desire of the Brigham Young Association to have all living members of the pioneer company of 1847 in attendance at the Pioneer Jubilee in 1897.[15] The association sent out letters inquiring about addresses for the living members of the pioneer group. A letter from an 1890 Deseret News article asks for biographical sketches of each member and then list the members that they do not have sketches for. Among the list of ninety-one are Green Flake, Hark Lay and Oscar Crosby without any reference to race.[16] The Association did not have a position towards African Americans or how they should be mentioned. The three African American men listed on the plaque were a different race however they were pioneers and incorporating their names on the monument suggests that the status of “pioneer” took precedence over ethnicity.
The discrimination of African Americans was not a new concept in the United States. The American South had been built on the backs of African American slaves. Southern plantation owners believed that slavery was the natural state of mankind and pointed to nature to demonstrate that all men were not created equal.[17] According to William Jenkins book Pro Slavery Thought in the Old South, the issue of slavery had been under great debate since the country had been founded.[18] Jenkins explains that in Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia he states, “negroes were by nature an inferior race of beings.”[19] The ideology of discriminating against African Americans had been ingrained in the minds of the American people by leaders of the country and Jenkins proves that point by showing Jefferson’s bias.
The anti-slavery thought in the North was due to the fact that Northerners did not depend on slaves for their livelihood. The abolitionist movement could take hold in an area that did not fully grasp the implications of freeing slaves. However the movement still did not take root as deeply as abolitionist would have liked. C. Eric Lincoln writes “The situation in New England was dishearteningly similar in effect to that prevailing in the South.”[20] Societies in the North showed signs of discrimination similar to that of the South and it originated with the acceptance that African Americans were inferior.[21] Although Lincoln’s argument is regarding New England it indicates a broader scope of intolerance outside the boundaries of the South. This philosophy explains why discrimination was prevalent across the country and not just the South.
Following the Civil War African Americans thought that they would gain equality with those who had discriminated against them. Ira Berlin states that relations between freed people and their masters became strained when African Americans began testing their new found freedom.[22] Berlin explains that the freed peoples’ actions were seen as “ingratitude and insolence.”[23] The separation between the two races shrank until the color of their skin was the only separation left.[24] Berlin’s claim that the new found freedom of African Americans in the South created a problematic situation between them and white residents provides an argument for why racism progressed. Creating equality for African Americans established a society where white citizens felt that they were being disrespected because they had to cohabitate with an inferior race.
For racism to persist there had to be a mechanism that allowed it.[25] Discrimination could not have existed without a culture that accepted racism as a social standard. Edward Blum suggests in his book Reforging the White Republic that books like The Cotton States, The Great South, and The Prostrate State “characterized the South as a place where black suffrage and civil rights were destroying public stability.”[26] The vehicle of racism allowed discrimination to exist and was the same vehicle that allowed the nation to reunite after the Civil War. Without racism the nation would not have been able to come together but this left many African Americans questioning when they would gain equality.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were not above this intolerance. The LDS Church decided in 1847 that members of African descent could not hold the priesthood. The first instance of this comes from Parley P. Pratt who was an apostle of the church. In speaking to a group of saints about William McCary (a “black Indian” who pretended to be an ancient prophet) Parley P. Pratt stated, “[McCary] got the blood of Ham in him which linege [sic] was cursed as regards [to] the priesthood.”[27] In the fall of 1847 Brigham Young began alluding to the same idea that African Americans were a cursed people and were banned from holding the priesthood or entering LDS temples.[28]
The banning of African Americans from the temple and holding the priesthood was the start of racial intolerance from white members of the faith. However the groundwork had been laid by teachings within the Mormon faith which ultimately showed African Americans as an inferior race. Joseph Smith taught that people of African descent were cursed with the mark of Cain which was the black skin. Smith also referred to African Americans as “negroes…the sons of Cain.”[29] Mormon leaders began furthering these ideas after the death of Joseph Smith. Orson Hyde taught that some people had been predetermined to have black skin because they had not been valiant before coming to earth.[30] These teachings prolonged the racist attitudes of faithful Latter Day Saints toward their African counterparts.
Slavery also became an issue in the Mormon religion as more Southerners joined the faith and began joining the saints in Illinois and Missouri. These Southern members transported slaves with them which they regarded as property. The ideology of slavery in the church had been ambivalent with leaders on either side of the issue. Joseph Smith ran for president as an abolitionist candidate and believed that no man should own another. Brigham Young believed that slavery was ordained by god and that the church shouldn’t get involved in matters between a master and his slave.[31] The slavery issue in the LDS religion helped further the divide among African Americans and white members of the church.
Although there are instances of white members of the church treating African Americans with decency and respect, they are small instances with a larger problem of discrimination and intolerance towards the African race. However in one case African Americans were able to transcend the boundaries of race to find equality among members of the church. The instance in which this happens is similar to that of bringing two factions of America together after a civil war. By uniting saints under the banner of “pioneer” all members under that title become a unified body that rises above racism and inequality. One instance in which this is true is the story of Green flake.
Abraham Green was born in North Carolina in 1828 and customarily changed his name to Green Flake to show the ownership of his master James Flake.[32] James Flake joined the LDS church and Green followed a few weeks later. James and his family decided that they were going to join the other saints in Nauvoo and allowed all their slaves to go free.[33] Green opted to stay with the Flake family therefore retaining the status of a slave. The Salt Lake Tribune says that “He [Green Flake] joined the Mormons at Winter Quarters and came West with the first company to leave that camp.”[34] Green drove James Flake’s wagon to the Salt Lake Valley with instructions to build a home for the family, and shortly after the Flake family journeyed to the Great Basin.[35] In 1848 James headed to California in search of gold and was killed in a mule accident there. James Flake’s wife gave Green to Brigham Young, allegedly, for back payment of tithing.[36] Green worked for Brigham Young and the Church for two years before the church gave him his freedom.[37] Green married Martha Crosby, the sister of Oscar Crosby, and set up a house in Union just outside of Salt Lake City.
Green Flake was a slave when he made the trek to Utah and was treated as such. Sometime after arriving in Utah he was able to rise above the color of his skin to become a well known pioneer of 1847.[38] People in Utah began to become interested in the history during the years after the initial band of pioneers moved into the valley. A Deseret News article states, “The magnitude of the task performed by those who pioneered the way across the Great Plains to these mountain vales forty-seven years ago is being more generally recognized than in former years, and interest increases in the history of the individuals who composed that noble band.”[39] This interest in the “noble band” is how Green Flake was able to go beyond the boundary of racial discrimination and become one of the most notable pioneers of 1847.
A small article from the Deseret News in 1888 details the festivities of a Utah Pioneer Day Celebration. The article explains that speeches and songs were part of a program honoring the pioneers. The only speaker named in the article is Green Flake when it states, “Among the speakers was Mr. Green Flake one of [the] Pioneers who gave a short account of the travels of the Pioneers across the plains.”[40] Green Flake was able to recount his travels across the plains at this celebration, something that few other African Americans were doing in Utah or across the country at the time.
Green Flake is mentioned in a Deseret News article in 1894 after a pioneer celebration at which he gave a speech. The article gives this account of the celebration, “Pioneer Green Flake, 66 years old, the only survivor of the three colored men who were numbered among the Pioneers of 1847, gave a short speech, in which he said that he had always felt proud of the distinction of being one of the Pioneers of Utah.”[41] He also sat on the stand “seated in comfortable chairs” with President Wilford Woodruff and fourteen other prominent pioneers.[42] The article goes on to share a story related by Wilford Woodruff, president of the LDS Church, where he describes the pioneers going out to the Great Salt Lake to swim. “Green Flake, the colored man who had just spoke, was one of the party. After coming out of the briny waters his entire body being covered with salt, Mr. Flake was for once in his life a white man, and remained thus until by application of fresh water he regained his natural color.”[43] The Ogden Standard offers a small account of the celebration and mentioned that Green Flake spoke and referred to him as the only surviving member of the three slaves as well.[44]
In anticipation of the jubilee, the Salt Lake Tribune created a series called “Fifty Years Ago Today.” The daily series would detail the journey from Winter Quarters to the Great Basin each day. The May 31, 1897 edition of the series shows a hand drawn picture of Green Flake and offers an excerpt of his life story.
Green Flake is one of the original pioneers of Utah. He is a colored man, born in the state of Mississippi [sic], and is still alive, being a respected citizen of Gray’s Lake, Bingham County, Ida. The date of his birth is not recorded, but he is said to be over 75 years of age. He had been a slave all of his life, but joining the Mormon church, he became a valued man in the pioneer company travelling in the fourteenth ten. of which Joseph Matthews was captain.
Mr. Flake is very well known in Salt Lake, having been a resident of Union ward for years prior to his moving to Idaho.[45]
            Green Flake had become a well known pioneer before the Pioneer Jubilee of 1897. He had given multiple speeches and accounts of his journey across the plains with Brigham Young. One account is a story that he wrote in the Book of the Pioneers vol. 1 where he recalls the story of President Young negotiating with Native Americans for passage across their land.[46] In his account he also tells of a buffalo hunt that took place along the trek and how it was the first time that he had seen the animal.[47]
            Flake participated in all of the events surrounding the Pioneer Jubilee. He received a Jubilee pin that had his name engraved on it, as did all the pioneers. On July 26, 1897, the Salt Lake Tribune wrote a piece that gave details about seven visitors who attended the Jubilee. The very first one in the article is Flake and it states, “Among the most interesting of the pioneers was Green Flake.”[48]
            October 22, 1903, Green Flake passed away in Idaho Falls, Idaho. On October 22 the Deseret News placed his obituary on the front page with the title, “Green Flake Passes Away” in bold letters at the top of the page.[49] Flake had become more than a slave or colored servant, even more than an ordinary citizen, he had gained local recognition for being a pioneer of 1847. He had sat with the President of the LDS Church, he had given speeches about his travel to the Great Basin, and he had gained notoriety for being one of the African Americans who entered the Salt Lake Valley with the first band of pioneers.
            Green Flake was able to overcome the racial attitudes of the late nineteenth century because he was a pioneer. Not many African Americans can say that they enjoyed the prominence that Flake did after the Civil War. His name on the plaque only furthers his legend and provides another way to honor his legacy. It is not possible to see if Hark Lay and Oscar Crosby would have had the same reception due to their deaths prior to the increased interest in the pioneers. However, the Brigham Young Memorial Association included the two men in any and all records that they produced. They are also immortalized on the plaque memorializing their accomplishments. Without assuming that Hark Lay and Oscar Crosby would be treated the same, there is one case in which one African American was able to transcend racial discrimination and leave a lasting legacy. That legacy continues to persist on Cyrus Dallin’s pioneer monument with the delineation between free whites and colored servants.
Primary Sources
Brigham Young Memorial Association. "Book of the Pioneers Vol. 1 A-L." S.J. Quinney College of Law Library, University of Utah. 1847-1897. http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/uthisstat,5878 (accessed March 14, 2012).
Dallin, Cyrus E. "Pioneer Monument 1897" Monument. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2012.
Editor of Historical Record, “The Pioneers,” Deseret News, April 2, 1890, accessed March 14, 2012, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oq9LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gTADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4895,587378&dq=pioneer+jubilee&hl=en.
Flake, Green. "Green Flake to Brigham Young Memorial Association 1897" Correspondence. Salt Lake: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, 2012.
International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, "Jubilee Program." Last modified 2011. Accessed March 14, 2012. http://www.dupinternational.org/jubilee/program.htm.
Utah Digital Newspaper, “Fifty Years Ago Today” Salt Lake Tribune, May 31, 1897, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOSHOW=15895&CISOPTR=15886.

Utah Digital Newspaper, “Green Flake Passes Away,” Deseret News, October 22, 1903, accessed March 16, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/den3&CISOPTR=22317.
Utah Digital Newspapers, "Jubilee Visitors" Salt Lake Tribune, July 26, 1897, accessed March 15, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOSHOW=23530&CISOPTR=23482.
Utah Digital Newspapers, "The Memorial Association" Salt Lake Tribune July 21, 1897, Last modified 2011. Accessed March 14, 2012. http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOPTR=31269.
Utah Digital Newspaper, “Salt Lake News” Ogden Standard, August 21, 1894, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ogden4&CISOSHOW=69333&CISOPTR=69322.
Utah Digital Newspaper, “Some Jubilee Visitors” Salt Lake Tribune, July 26, 1897, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOSHOW=23530&CISOPTR=23482.

Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Pioneers of 1847” Deseret News, August 25, 1894, accessed March 14, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews6&CISOPTR=106958.
Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Pioneer Company: Names of its Members and a List of its Outfit,” Deseret News, August 1, 1888, accessed March 14, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews4&CISOPTR=5338.
Utah Digital Newspaper “The Pioneer Jubilee,” Deseret News, March 24, 1897, accessed March 14, 2012, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oq9LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gTADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4895,587378&dq=pioneer+jubilee&hl=en.
Utah digital Newspaper, “The Twenty-Fourth at Union” Deseret News, August 1, 1888, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews4&CISOSHOW=5369&CISOPTR=5338.
Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Utah Pioneers,” Deseret News, August 25, 1894, accessed March 16, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews6&CISOPTR=106958.
Various, "Brigham Young Memorial Association Papers" Papers 1892-1900. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints History Library, 2012.
Weggland, Dan. "Pioneer Banner 1849" Textile. Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum, 2012.
Wells, Junius F. The Contributor: Representing the Young Mens Mutual Improvement Associations of the Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City: The Contributor Company, 1892.




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Bringhurst, Newell G. Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism. Westport, Connecticut : Greenwood Press, 1981.
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[1] International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, "Jubilee Program." Last modified 2011. Accessed March 14, 2012. http://www.dupinternational.org/jubilee/program.htm.
[2] Utah Digital Newspapers, "Salt Lake Tribune 1897-7-21." Last modified 2011. Accessed March 14, 2012. http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOPTR=31269.
[3] Cyrus E. Dallin, “Monument.” Brigham Young Monument. (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), 2012.
[4] Dallin, “Brigham Young Monument.” 2012.

[5] Dallin, “Brigham Young Monument.” 2012.

[6] Junius F. Wells, The Contributor: Representing the Young Mens Mutual Improvement Associations of the Latter Day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Contributor Company, 1892), 337.
[7] Wells, The Contributor, 337.
[8] Wells, The Contributor, 337.
[9] Quoted in Junius F. Wells, The Contributor: Representing the Young Mens Mutual Improvement Associations of the Latter Day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Contributor Company, 1892), 337.

[10] Brigham Young Memorial Association, “Meeting Minutes.” Brigham Young Memorial Association Papers. (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), 2012.
[11] Association, “Meeting Minutes,” 2012.
[12] Dan Weggland, “Pioneer Banner.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), 2012.
[13] Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Pioneer Company: Names of its Members and a List of its Outfit,” The Deseret News, August 1, 1888, accessed March 14, 2012,
[14] Utah Digital Newspaper “The Pioneer Company,” 2012.

[15] Utah Digital Newspaper “The Pioneer Company,” 2012.
[16] Editor of Historical Record, “The Pioneers,” The Deseret News, April 2, 1890, accessed March 14, 2012, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oq9LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gTADAAAAIBAJ&pg=4895,587378&dq=pioneer+jubilee&hl=en.
[17] William Sumner Jenkins, Pro-Slavery Thought in the Old South (Gloucester: The University of North Carolina Press, 1960), 60.
[18] Jenkins, Pro-Slavery Thought in the South, 49.
[19] Quoted in William Sumner Jenkins, Pro-Slavery Thought in the Old South (Gloucester: The University of North Carolina Press, 1960), 52.
[20] C. Eric Lincoln, Race, Religion, and the Continuing American Dilemma (New York: Hill and Wang, 1984), 39.
[21] Jenkins, Pro-Slavery Thought in the South, 243.
[22] Ira Berlin, Generations of Captivity: A History of African American Slaves (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003), 263.
[23] Berlin, Generations of Captivity, 263.
[24] Berlin, Generations of Captivity, 263.
[25] Lincoln, Race, Religion, and the Continuing American Dilemma, 11.
[26] Edward J. Blum, Reforging the White Republic: Race, Religion, and American nationalism, 1865-1898 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005), 126.
[27] Quoted in Newell G. Bringhurst, Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981), 86.
[28] Newell g. Bringhurst, Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981), 86.
[29] Bringhurst, Saints, Slaves, and Blacks, 86.
[30] Bringhurst, Saints, Slaves, and Blacks, 87.
[31] Dennis L. Lythgoe, “Negro Slavery in Utah,” Utah Historical Quarterly 39, no 1 (1971): 50.
[32] Charles Seldin, “Controversial Listing on Plaque: Black Utah Pioneer Lives in Memory,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 14, 1975.
[33] Katherine B. Carter, The Story of the Negro Pioneer (Salt Lake City: Utah Printing, 1965), 4.
[34] Utah Digital Newspaper, “Jubilee Visitors,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 26, 1897, accessed March 15, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOSHOW=23530&CISOPTR=23482.
[35] Carter, The Story of the Negro Pioneer, 5.
[36] Pat Bagley, “Living History: Slaves Arrived in Utah with Brigham Young,” Salt Lake Tribune, February 19, 2010, accessed March 15, 2012, http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14437472.
[37] Bagley, “Living History,” Salt Lake Tribune, February 19, 2012, accessed March 15, 2012, http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14437472.
[38] Utah Digital Newspaper, “Green Flake Passes Away,” Deseret News, October 22, 1903, accessed March 16, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/den3&CISOPTR=22317.
[39] Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Utah Pioneers,” Deseret News, August 25, 1894, accessed March 16, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews6&CISOPTR=106958.
[40] Utah digital Newspaper, “The Twenty-Fourth at Union” Deseret News, August 1, 1888, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews4&CISOSHOW=5369&CISOPTR=5338.
[41] Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Pioneers of 1847” Deseret News, August 25, 1894, accessed March 14, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/deseretnews6&CISOPTR=106958.
[42] Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Pioneers of 1847,” 2012.
[43] Utah Digital Newspaper, “The Pioneers of 1847,” 2012.
[44] Utah Digital Newspaper, “Salt Lake News” Ogden Standard, August 21, 1894, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ogden4&CISOSHOW=69333&CISOPTR=69322.
[45] Utah Digital Newspaper, “Fifty Years Ago Today” Salt Lake Tribune, May 31, 1897, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOSHOW=15895&CISOPTR=15886.
[46] J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Book of the Pioneers vol. 1 A-L p. 242 Utah State Archives and Records Service, accessed March 19, 2012, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/uthisstat&CISOPTR=6299.
[47] J. Willard Marriott Library, Book of the Pioneers vol. 1 A-L, p. 242.
[48] Utah Digital Newspaper, “Some Jubilee Visitors” Salt Lake Tribune, July 26, 1897, accessed March 19, 2012, http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/slt17&CISOSHOW=23530&CISOPTR=23482.
[49] Utah Digital Newspaper, “Green Flake Passes Away” Deseret News, October 22, 1903.