Social Discord In The United States

Social Discord within the United States The Constitution of The United States of America was intended to be a source of national unity; however it never fully clarified the issue of slavery. By the 1850’s there were many different interpretations of the Constitution that led to much social discord within the country. Much of this social discord came from different opinions of whether the Constitution promoted unity or ultimately would lead to secession. Constitutional add-ons such as the 3/5 Compromise and popular sovereignty were used to promote unity, while events such as the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas- Nebraska Act and poor leadership from Presidents Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan led to secession in 1861.
First, the 3/5 Compromise was introduced in 1787 when the Constitution was up for ratification. The 3/5 Compromise stated that three- fifths of the slave population in each state to be counted for congressional representation. This was important to the southern states because a great majority of their population was slaves. The compromise gave the South more votes in the House of Representatives and in the Electoral College. The compromise was added because southern states such as South Carolina and Georgia threatened secession. Second, popular sovereignty became a popular way of solving the slavery issue in new states and territories. Popular sovereignty meant that the citizens in each state or territory would vote to determine if that state or territory would allow slavery or not. This idea was made famous by Stephen A Douglas, Senator from IL, who believed that democracy would solve the slavery issue. Popular sovereignty was used in the Compromise of 1850 by allowing the citizens in the newly formed territories of Utah and New Mexico to decide if slavery would be allowed or not (Doc
The compromise led to social discord because not everyone agreed with every part of the compromise. Northerners, for example did not agree with the new Fugitive Slave Law, which could turn the North into one big hunting ground because the new law targeted recent fugitives and those who have left the South years earlier. Many northerners tried to warn fugitive slaves about the slave catchers (Doc C). Northerners did this because they believed that the new law was immoral. As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated in his address on the Fugitive Slave Law “An immoral law makes it a man’s duty to break it...” (Doc D). The South, however, did not like that California was admitted to the Union as a free state. This is because there was now an imbalance of Slave states (15) and Free states (16) in the country. (Doc A) This would give Free states the majority in Congress which could possibly mean that slavery could be prevented from expanding or could possibly be abolished completely. The second event that led to much social discord was the Kansas- Nebraska Act. The main goal of the Kansa-Nebraska Act was to make for railroad that