The issue of slavery in the United States is one of the most controversial topics, especially on how it affected social lives and economic growth. Slavery has been cited as the origin of racial discrimination in the US since most slaves were Black Americans, Latinos, and other minority races. Enslavement raised many moral issues that led to its abolishment. The birth of the constitutional republic of the United States was instrumental in shaping Americans' way of life. After the formation of the Constitution in 1787, the social, economic, and political lives of slaves changed as they struggled to gain equality.
Describe Two (2) Outcomes of the 3/5ths Compromise, Missouri Compromise of 1820, Compromise Of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott Decision .
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3/5 th compromise was an agreement of 1787 reached between northern and southern states during the American Constitutional Convention. The outcome of the agreement was the formation of representatives and direct taxes appointed among the north and south states within the union per their respected members ( Burlingame, 2019) . The political status of the south increased, leading to illegal breeding of slaves. The other outcome was an incommensurable representation of slave states in the House of Representatives with the free states until the American Civil War. Missouri Compromise of 1820 led to the formation of Missouri as a slave state and Maine as an anti-slavery state as a way of maintaining a balance of power (History.com, n.d.). Another outcome was dividing of Louisiana territory into separate regions, slavery and anti-slavery regions using imaginary lines. Compromise of 1850 led to the formation of 5 bills by the Congress which helped in diffusing tension between slaves' states and free states. The compromise led to the enaction of Stricter Fugitive Slave Law, which required northern to return slaves who run away to their owners. Another outcome was admission of California as the 16 th free state. Kansas-Nebraska Act caused division of the United States contributing to civil wars ( Burlingame, 2019) . The agreement gave citizens of Nebraska territory the freedom to decide on matters of slavery and anti-slavery. Lastly, the Dred Scott Decision of 1857 led to more tension on the issue of slave trade and slavery after the ruling of the Supreme Court that Scott would remain a slave territory (Brinkley, 2005). The decision led to the determination of slaves as property of their own and unrecognized by the US constitution. The decision of the Supreme Court inflamed the region for four years before exploding into civil war.
Reasons Why Slavery Was, and is, Incompatible With our Political and Economic System.
Slavery in the United States began many years ago and intensified during industrialization. The southern states were not seeking to gain profit from the slave trade and were thus incompatible with the economic and political system (Randall & Donald, 2016). The southern capitalists who owned large plantations and many slaves used them as show off instead of focusing on gaining economic profit and expanding investment. Instead of growing, capitalism in the south was hindered. Another cause of incompatible resulted from the conflict between the south and north caused by slavery. The tension between these two regions led to the separation, which later escalated into violence. Lastly, slavery, especially in the south, forced planters to diversify economic activities. The southern state found it challenging to develop manufacturing industries hence dependent on the imports of the Northern states leading to suppression of economic growth in their region.
List Three to Five (3-5) Driving Forces that Led to The Civil War.
Continuous unrest between the Northern and Southern states for several years led to the Civil War. Slavery was the primary driving force that led to tension between the South and North states due to unbalance in the union. Also, anti-slavery forces used containment strategy to stop the expansion of slavery, and with time slavery began extinction (Weeks, 2013). States' rights versus federal rights were the other driving forces of civil war. The Northern and Southern states differed on the rights to leave the union. While the south argued that each state had the power to leave the union, the south opposed the notion (Huntington, 2009). The election of Lincoln, as the president of the US, contributed to the explosion of civil war. The southern states were against the Lincoln election and argued that he would cause a halt to the expansion of slavery.
References
Brinkley, A. (2015). The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, Volume I (Vol. 11 , p. 7271). McGraw-Hill.
Burlingame, M. (2019). Making an Antislavery Nation: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Battle over Freedom by Graham A. Peck. Middle West Review , 5 (2), 155-157.
History.com. (n.d.). Dred Scott Case - Black History. Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case
Huntington, T. (2009). "Civil War Chronicles: Abolitionist John Doy", American Heritage .
Randall, J. G., & Donald, D. (2016). The Civil War and Reconstruction . Pickle Partners Publishing.
Weeks, William E. (2013). The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-00590-7.
