Slavery was a legal institution in the United States that involved the enslavement of individuals that were of the Africans and African American decent. Slavery existed in the United States from the start of the nation to the year 1965 after the passage of the thirteenth amendment. Slavery was a highly debated topic as the nation was divided with the North observing that slavery should be abolished while the South claiming that slavery was to be maintained as legal. The differences in opinion resulted in the constitution being changed several times through different compromises. This resulted in multiple tensions and protests that ultimately led to the Civil War. Slavery contributed substantially to inciting the civil war even though it called for different reactions.
Outcomes of Different Legislation
The 3 /5ths Compromise
The 3/5ths compromise was a compromise that was arrived at by state delates regarding how slaves would be counted. The compromise involved counting three out of five of every slave as people. It had been important that the slaves would be counted so as to determine the total population of a state for taxation purposes and legislative representation. With the slaves being counted, the South was given more authority than they previously had. The Southern states had more slaves and they thus had more than a third more seats in Congress and a third more electoral votes compared to when the slaves had been ignored. The Southern states thus benefited as they could further reinforce the institution of slavery.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Missouri Compromise of 1820
The Missouri Comprise of 1820 involved the admission of Missouri to the Union as a slave state while Maine was admitted as a free state. Additionally, slavery was banned from Louisiana lands that were situated to the North of the 36º 30’ parallel. During that time, there had been 11 free states and 10 slave states. The Southerners had feared that having Missouri as a free state was going to upset the balance of power that had been established between the North and the South. The North outpaced the South in terms of population and it had more representatives. The Missouri compromise also resulted in keeping the Union together for several years afterwards as it established a system where a state would be regarded as a free state.
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 involved allowing the United States to expand its territory through the acceptance of California as a state. California was a territory that was rich in agricultural products, gold, and several other natural resources. These resources were going to create wealth and to enrich the country. The compromise of 1850 also resulted in the establishment of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 that made it possible for citizens to apprehend runway slaves and slaves were denied from having a jury trial (Hamilton, 2015). Slave masters thus acquired weapons that would be used to capture runaway slaves even in the free states.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the United States Congress in the year 1854. It allowed for people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to be able to decide by themselves whether they should allow slavery or not within its borders. The act was created by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas who had the aim of opening the new settlement (Miller, 2019). Before then, the region had been recognized as a territory and settlers were not able to make a legal claim of the land. Congressmen in the Southern states did not find the land favorable because it was located to the North of the 36°30' parallel. The act was thus aimed to develop the new Nebraska and Kansas regions through building a transcontinental railroad. This would enable the country to carry larger quantity of goods from the west to the east (Miller, 2019). However, the act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that had previously prohibited slavery at the north of latitude 36°30´.
Dred Scott Decision
The Dredd Scott Decision involved a legal case in the United States Supreme Court in 1857. The verdict of the case was that Dredd Scott, a man that had resided in a free state and territory where slavery had been prohibited, was not regarded as a citizen. This meant that African Americans were not and could never be declared as United States citizens. Additionally, the ruling was against the Missouri Compromise in 1820. It declared that all the previous free territories at the west of Missouri and latitude 36°30′ as being unconstitutional. This meant that congress was denied the authority to stop slavery. The declaration of the 36 degrees North latitude as unlawful also resulted in having a shared monarchy.
Reasons Why Slavery Was and is Incompatible with Our Political and Economic System
Slavery prevented the expansion of southern capitalism. Slaver owners focused more on showing off their number of slaves and immeasurable properties rather than their gains. Capitalism is based on the concept that wage labor, contracts, markets, and the rule of the law is more important. Additionally, capitalism moves towards the maximization of human freedom. Slavery is thus opposed to the concept of capitalism as it focuses on showing of the number of slaves rather than gain in the markets.
Economies using slavery were disadvantages. The declaration of independence spoke freedom to slaves leading to the collapse of economies supported by slavery. Economies that were run by slavery had high costs when slaves die and should thus be replaced. Supervision of slaves also required additional costs. The productivity of slaves was also limited as they had poor working conditions and were not adequately protected against environmental challenges. Slaves were also confrontational with their owners and strived to escape and rebelled to their owners making it difficult to sustain the economy through slavery.
Slavery was incompatible with the political system because it posed fear of the unity of all humans and liberation and the influence they would have on politics. Human beings desire liberation and freedom for the political system to work effectively. Human beings want equality in all areas of their lives and it is expected that the political system should grant such a freedom. Slavery was also a hotly debated political issue and this necessitated that the constitution goes through multiple changes. Slaves would always fight for their political freedom and this indicated that slavery was not an institution that could be successfully supported by the political system.
Driving Forces That Led to the Civil War
The Abolitionist Movement was one of the main driving forces that led to the Civil War. The abolitionist movement was an effort to end slavery and it was based on the value of human freedom and the belief that all men have been created equal. Abolitionists grew to be more aggressive in their demands so as to end the practice of slavery. The abolitionists campaign started in the 1830s and they were involved in heated debates and engaged in violent and sometimes deadly confrontations that ultimately led to the Civil War.
The Missouri Compromise was one of the legislative movements which indicated that the North were more aggressive in their anti-slavery views. The Missouri Compromise initially aimed to create a balance between the non-slave and slave states. However, this only served to postpone the Civil War which had been inevitable. The Missouri Compromise brought a temporary peace and when it was repealed through the Kansas-Nebraska Act only resulted in more tensions that eventually led to the Civil War.
The division between the Slave and non-Slave states also largely contributed to the Civil War. While America had established itself as a Union, the country remained largely divided between the slave and free states. There were several debates and arguments regarding which state would be labeled as free or not. Such a division of the country in terms of free and slave states eventually resulted in the Civil War.
The Harper’s Ferry Raid was an unsuccessful attempt of John Brown in 1859 to cause the Civil War. John Brown led 21 men to Harpers Ferry with a plan of taking down the town’s armory and thus ignite a nation uprising against slavery. While the raid was not successful, it showed that those that were against slavery were ready to go at lengths to fight slavery (Newman, 2014). The Southerners thus became increasingly fearful of anti-slavery movements as they knew that they would stop at nothing to stop the slavery institution.
The Dred Scott Decision further outraged abolitionists who saw that the ruling of the Supreme Court was going to stop the debate about slavery in the different territories. The decision thus further increased tensions around the issue of slavery as many individuals that had supported the abolitionist movement were infuriated (Newman, 2014). The decision further added fuel to the sectional controversy regarding slavery and this drove the country closer to the Civil War.
Conclusion
Even though the Northern and Southern states had contrasting views about slavery and the abolition movement, several other acts facilitated Civil War. There were different legislations that were put into place in order to create an understanding between the Northern and Southern States on the issue of slavery. While some of those legislations created peace by having some states being labeled free and others as slave states, it only postponed the issue of slavery ultimately leading to the Civil War. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act and this caused more tensions. The Dred Scott Decision also fueled slavery as it hampered progress made by the abolitionists in making slavery illegal. This created further tensions that ultimately led to the Civil War.
References
Hamilton, H. (2015). Prologue to Conflict: The Crisis and Compromise of 1850. University Press of Kentucky.
Miller, R. M. (2019). The F Street Mess: How Southern Senators Rewrote the Kansas Nebraska Act. Civil War Book Review, 21(2), 9.
Newman, E. (2014). Understanding Civil Wars: Continuity and Change In Intrastate Conflict.
