http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/authors/5247/brian-chen Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sat, 13 Jun 2026 04:46:27 -0400 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 04:46:27 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1751/the-captains-compromise-political-symbolism-in-herman-melvilles-benito-cereno By Brian Chen - Until the outbreak of civil war, the United States would continually try and fail to subdue the existential threat of slavery, with each attempt exacerbating the sectional tensions between slave and free states. In 1830, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster claimed that the country stood on the “precipice of disunion” and foresaw a future in which “the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union” are drenched in “fraternal blood.”[1] As tribalism tore away the shared history between the North and South, Webster’s grim prediction would eventually... Wed, 09 Jan 2019 10:37 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1751/the-captains-compromise-political-symbolism-in-herman-melvilles-benito-cereno