The Constitution can be interpreted in many different ways, which leads to sectional discord and tension. For many reasons, the South evidently did not like what the constitution said. There were many conflictions with the compromise of 1850, map shown in (Document A) and the fugitive slave act. Certain northerners were so against slavery and the fugitive slave act that they even posted warnings for the slaves. (Document C), [shows how kidnappers were being sent after the slaves, and how Northern abolitionists were revolting against the South's rules and regulations.] This fugitive slave act also helped drive the tension deeper into the Un-United States.…
During the period of 1850-1861, America was struggling to stay united as debates over several major issues started to take the forefront. After the war with Mexico ended in 1848, America gained the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and California through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Soon after, disputes over whether these states should be free states or slave states erupted. By 1850, a solution was found in the Compromise of 1850 where California would become a free state, and New Mexico and Texas would have popular sovereignty, allowing them to decide for themselves whether they would be slave states or not. The Fugitive Slave Act was also written in 1850 in an effort to satisfy southern slave owners by requiring northerners to return any runaway slaves back to their owners in the South. The combination of the Compromise of 1850 and The Fugitive Slave Act, along with debates over the Constitution and popular sovereignty, started to impact the unity of the nation and potentially split the North and South even more.…
Document H, President Davis’s message to southern confederate shows that the constitution doesn’t include information on the idea of separate and independent states, and is unable to prevent “the rise and growth” of states. Due to this reason and many others, there was nothing in the Constitution that was unable to stop the southern states from succeeding from the union. Furthermore, the constitution also contains amendments that gives states powers not explicitly expressed in the constitution, contributing to their succession and the justification of slavery. Document H is bias because President Davis is the president of the southern states that succeeded from the union, therefore is pro-slavery and a states rights advocate. Additionally, in Document I, Lincoln’s message to congress shows that the succession was done in logical order and there is not much in the constition that provides Lincoln with the power to prevent the succession. However, there is nothing that gives the southern states greater power than the northern states, especially the power to “lawfully destroy the union itself.” Lincoln’s message is bias towards the southern states because he was a president elected on anti-slavery in the new territories and many views, contrary to those of the south, which cause him to condemn their act of succession. Lastly, Document B, Emerson’s address on The Fugitive Slave Act blatantly asserted that the union is unable to remain unified, if an immoral law is enacted. This statement truly shows that the constitution became a source of sectional discord and tension, contributing to the failure of the…
When the Compromise of 1850 was made, the South wasn’t very fond of the idea. “If the agitation goes on, the same force, acting with increased intensity, as has been shown, will finally snap every cord, when nothing will be left to bind the States together except force.” (Document A) This shows the North’s control of the government and constant pressure on the South for their beliefs. Also it shows that if nothing is done to relieve the constantly growing pressure on the country, that it will fall apart. If the North continues to fail to form some sort of measures to please the South, the Union will not stay together. The North was also not happy with a lot of the compromises that were made and benefitted the South. One of these was the Fugitive Slave Law. They believed that the law was immoral and shouldn’t be followed. The North believe the law was “suicidal,” and that “the Union is at an end as soon as an immoral law is enacted.” (Document B) They thought that if this law were to be effective it would destroy the Union. There was very much discontentment within the states. So much that at one point, a man was beaten unconscious with a cane after delivering a speech to the House. (Document F) The people of the South did not agree with the North on many…
As part of the compromise of 1850, the Fugitive slave act was passed (The North to return runaway slaves to the south); in response the north established personal freedom laws. Essentially the North gets more from the compromise of 1850, and by not complying with the Fugitive slave law made it even more of a Northern victory. Northerners saw laws that endorse slavery as contrary to Gods law and therefore invalid, this unfairness in the Union caused a split to occur, a split that may not be mended. The election of a new president would finish the split between the North and South and lead to a…
It can be argued that the Industrial Revolution was the beginning of Modern America. However, it wasn’t until the 1920’s where America brought new sense of fashion (Doc I), started building and expanding from a great change in technology (Doc G), and excelled economically in the mass production of automobiles (Doc H). Therefore, the 1920’s was the beginning of Modern America.…
The Compromise of 1850 was drafted by Henry Clay whose idea was from a Senator from Illinois by the name Stephen A. Douglas. The Compromise was passed by the US Congress on September 1850, mostly to pacify the issue of slavery and territorial boundaries between the North and South. Issues around slavery increased between the North and South. Consequently, ten years after the Compromise of 1850, the American Civil War began.…
Following the First World War, the United States went in search of a, “return to normalcy,” which many agreed was exactly what it needed. However, to the dismay of many, all the United States could find was a significant amount of tension that had developed between, “Old America,” and, “New America.” All in all, this tension that arose between old and new traditions and ideas did so in the form of religion, conflicts within society, and cultural values.…
A little after the Manifest Destiny, the U.S. faced a series of troubles of sectional balances over whether or not the land acquired should be free or slavery states. The Compromise of 1850, proposed by Senator Henry Clay, included measures that dealt with the land acquired specifically from the Mexican War.…
The south grew more dependant on ‘king cotton’ and slavery kept on going. More northeners believed that the south had an unfair advantage because the south had little to no labour costs as to the north they had to emply free people that cost money because of the no slave rule in their land. In 1873, texas joined the union as a slave holding state. This threatened to ruin the balance in congress achieved by thr Missouri compromise. James Polk became president in 1844. He pushed to get texas included as a slave holding state for cheap cotton production in 1846, but oregan (British owned) was added as a free state that same year. This is known as the texas compromise. Polk declared war on mexico falsly claiming that Mexicans had attacked and killed US citizenz on American soil. The Mexican war ended in 1848 with the treaty of Acudelupe Hidalgo which added more than 1 million square miles to the US. (more than he Louisiana…
After the Nullification Crisis, America proved victorious in the Mexican War of 1848, which meant the acquisition of even more land. Next, Henry Clay developed another key compromise, the Compromise of 1850 which provided yet another distinction between the American North and South. Under the compromise, Utah and New Mexico could now operate under popular sovereignty. In the North, no states could operate under popular sovereignty. With this, the North and South could be compared to two different, independent countries as both had significantly different government structures and cultures. Four years later, in 1854, the tensions reached a tipping point with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which stated that these two states could also operate under popular sovereignty. This led to “Bleeding Kansas” as violence ensued, and people travelled from all over America to voice opinions on a relatively small but gory war. Now, a civil war loomed large in America as both entities expressed widely divergent views and compromises had…
The first big controversy was the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise was a package of five bills that the United States made when we won the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Texas surrendered its claim to New Mexico, which it had threatened war over, as well as its claims north of the Missouri Compromise Line. This brought up a lot of controversy as did California trying to become a state. In the Congress (Senate), the North and South were even between representation, but with California coming in, the parties would be uneven because California wanted to join the United States as a free state which created an argument throughout the country because slavery would then be allowed to spread west because of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 created the 36 30’ line which stated that all land under the 36 30’ line was slave land and above, slavery was banned. Same with the new Texas territory, people didn’t want the expansion of slavery to that land.…
During the Mexican war, it was a very large concern that the new land acquired during the war would become slave states. In reaction to this concern, David Wilmot, a congressman from Pennsylvania proposed a bill that stated that any lands picked up through the duration of the war would become free states. The bill was never passed, however it politicized finally and definitively ever since the Missouri Compromise. The Northerners wanted a president who would abolish slavery and the South clearly did not, so when Lincoln, a “Black Republican”, became presidential candidate South Carolina threatened to and eventually did secede from the union.…
The Constitution played a major role in causing the Civil War. One of its biggest impacts on America was creating a division between the states. This dissolution between the states is largely due to varying opinions on the legality and morality of slavery. It was impossible for the nation’s founders to know all of the major issues their nation would face in the future, so the Constitution, therefore, does not address certain topics that would lead to great dispute later on in the country such as whether or not slaves should be considered people or property. The Constitution was also vague or able to be interpreted in multiple ways in some areas about that, therefore, lead to debates, some so large that states began to secede. In addition to…
The 1920’s were a period of tension between new and changing attitudes on the one hand and traditional values and nostalgia on the other. What led to the tension between old and new AND in what ways was the tension manifested?…