Assignment 2.2 Liberty Challenged int he 19th Century
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assignment2.1_thesis_and_outline.docxWith the birthing of a constitutional republic, slavery, the “Peculiar Institution,” shaped American way of life in many social, economic, and political ways. Slaves struggled to maintain their natural human order, while white Americans staunchly opposed humanization of slaves and strictly enforced the ideals of chattel slavery.
Two outcomes of each of the following:
1. 3/5ths compromise:
a. Delegates that all slaves of a particular state are to be counted as three-fifths of a white person. Prior to 1787, slaves were treated as property, much like animals.
b. Slaves were counted as 3/5ths of a white person when apportioning Representatives, as well as Presidential electors and taxes.
c. The south’s representation went from 38% to 45% representation in the HOR (Laws.com, n.d.)
2. Missouri Compromise of 1820:
a. With an equal 11 pro-slavery and 11 anti-slavery states, tensions rose when Missouri requested to enter the union as a slave state, threatening the balance of the slave debate within the union
b. Congress admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as an anti-slavery state to keep the balance.
c. Congress also passed an amendment that drew an imaginary line across the former Louisiana Territory, establishing a boundary between free and slave regions (History.com, n.d.)
3. Compromise of 1850:
a. California was admitted as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery in each to be determined by popular sovereignty
b. Ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
c. Reinforced fugitive slave laws (History.com, n.d.)
4. Kansas-Nebraska Act
a. Allowed settlers of a territory if slavery would be allowed within its boundaries
b. Overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820
c. Helped paved the way to the American Civil War (History.com, n.d.)
5. Dred Scott Decision:
a. Courts ruled that no free or black slave could claim U.S. citizenship
b. Blacks could not petition the courts for their freedom
c. The decision offended and ruffled abolitionists and north/south tensions culminated in was three years later (History.com, n.d.)
Suggest three (3) reasons why slavery was and is incompatible with our political and economic system.
1. Reluctant slaves, being paid nothing, treated harshly and inhumanely, and being denied education, were uninterested in learning new farming techniques. These slaves also depleted the soil quickly. This caused the south to lose a competitive advantage in farming to their northern counterparts.
2. Because of the divide on the issue of slavery, the south was unable to form trading partners, forcing slave owners and farmers alike to diversify their interests.
3. Overall, and maybe most importantly, treating slaves as property and debasing them to lower than animals in terms of respect and treatment, had a great economic impact. One can wonder what the slaves had contributed to society as a whole if they were free people and treated equally with whites (W & K.D., 2013)
List three to five (3-5) driving forces that led to the Civil War.
1. Economic/social differences between the north and south
a. The south was a one crop economy reliant on slave labor while the north’s diversification into other less labor intensive crops prompted them to focus on city life as opposed to farming which dominated the south.
b. Diversification in the north meant people of different races and cultures relied heavily on working with each other and not just on one race to do all the work.
2. Slave/Non-Slave State conflict
a. Missouri Compromise of 1820
b. Compromise of 1850
i. Fugitive Slave Act
c. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
i. “Bleeding Kansas”
1. Pro-slavery Missourians began to pour into Kansas to help force it to be slave. They were called "Border Ruffians." Problems came to a head in violence at Lawrence, Kansas.
3. Growth of the Abolition Movement
4. Election of Abraham Lincoln
a. Thinking Lincoln was anti-slavery, six states left the union before he was even elected (Americanhistory.about.com, n.d.)
References
Americanhistory.about.com. (n.d.). What caused the civil war? Retrieved from http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm
History.com. (n.d.). Compromise of 1850 - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/compromise-of-1850
History.com. (n.d.). Dred Scott Case - Black History. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case
History.com. (n.d.). Kansas-Nebraska Act - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/kansas-nebraska-act
History.com. (n.d.). Missouri Compromise - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/missouri-compromise
Laws.com. (n.d.). Three Fifths Compromise - constitution. Retrieved from http://constitution.laws.com/three-fifths-compromise
