In the early 1800s the most divisive and controversial subject and topic of discussion was by far Slavery. After the Revolution most of the states, which were north of Maryland, were starting to pass anti-slavery laws. While in the early decades of the 1800s most of the slave holding and pro-slavery states were in the South. There were three major compromises, which attempted to be the solution to deal with the problem of slavery however none of them were fully successful in their motives on the subject.
The first of the compromises, which attempted to be the solution to slavery, which I would like to cover, is The Missouri Compromise, which was passed in 1820. Basically the Missouri Compromise was the agreement between the North and the South passed by congress in 1820, which allowed Missouri to become the 24th state. Basically in 1819 this was proposed but it was not agreed upon because at the time there was 22 states in the United States evenly split between slave and free state and since Missouri was going to be admitted as a slave state the North opposed because then there wou...
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Show MoreTempers raged and arguments started because of the Missouri Compromise. The simple act caused many fatal events because of what was changed within the United States. It may not seem like a big thing now, but before slavery had been abolished, the topic of slavery was an idea that could set off fights. The Missouri Compromise all started in late in 1819 when the Missouri Territory applied to the Union to become a slave state. The problem Congress had with accepting Missouri as a slave state was the new uneven count of free states and slave states. With proslavery states and antislavery states already getting into arguments, having a dominant number of either slave or free states would just ignite the flame even more. Many representatives from the north, such as James Tallmadge of New York, had already tried to pass another amendment that would abolish slavery everywhere. Along with other tries to eliminate slavery, his effort was soon shot down. The fact that people couldn’t agree on whether or not slavery should be legalized made trying to compose and pass a law nearly impossible.
The Missouri Compromise and the Nullification Crisis were both very noteworthy events in American history. The significance of the two not only laid in the events themselves, but also the time period in which they occurred and what they foreshadowed. In short, the Missouri Compromise was an act of Congress passed in 1820 between the two faction of United States Congress, that is, the pro-slavery faction and the anti-slavery factions. The compromise primarily involved the regulation of slavery in the western territories of the United States. Although it prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Purchase Territory north of the 36 30 degree latitude, it carved out an exception for Missouri.
There are two mind paths to choose when considering the statement that the compromises of the 1800s were not really compromises, but sectional sellouts by the North, that continually gave in to the South's wishes. The first is that the compromises really were compromises, and the second is that the compromises were modes of the North selling out. Really, there is only one correct mind path of these two, and that is that the North sold out during these compromises and gave the South what it wanted for minimal returns. The three main compromises of the 19th century, the compromises of 1820 (Missouri) and 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 each were ways for the south to gain more power so that eventually, it could secede.
Underneath the talk of states’ rights, expansion, tariffs, and railroads there was always slaves, toiling on southern plantations and growing in number each day. As the country entered the nineteenth century, politicians found the unanswered issue of slavery demanded attention. This attention was necessary not only because of the expanding country, welcoming new states into the fold, but because of the slaves themselves and their actions. Despite talk of other political issues crucial to politicians as the years crept toward the Civil War, slavery was constantly an undertone in each debate. The presence of slaves and free blacks throughout the United States of America influenced both northern and southern politicians to create legislation that
The Compromise of 1850 was the last compromise between Northern and Southern political factions before the civil war. Although Steven Douglass, the man instrumental in getting the bill to pass Congress, designed it to ease sectional tensions, it led the way for a series of political events that would change America’s history. The acceptance of popular sovereignty which was a key component of the 1850 Compromise open the interpretation of former compromises, specify the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which stated that all states over the 36-30 line would be considered free. Northern Democratic senator Steven Douglass took the acceptance of the Compromise of 1850 as an acceptance of popular sovereignty and applied it to his Kansas- Nebraska Act in a scheme to help build his transcontinental railroad. The introduction of the Kansas- Nebraska Act in 1854 was the start of the violent sectional conflicts that plague the union during the 1850s. Once the time of compromise ended in American politics the next step that sectional factions took was violence. Sectional tensions escalated so quickly into physical violence because Northerners and Southerners felt that each opposing group was not only attacking their financial institutions but social and culture institutions as well.
Throughout the period of Antebellum there were many compromises made regarding slavery: The ⅗ compromise in 1787, the Missouri Compromise in 1820, the Tariff of 1833, and finally the compromise. With so many agreements made between the North and the South, why was america not able to make a compromise in 1861 when the secession crisis was happening? What happened between 1787 to 1861 causing the United States to change from a country of compromising opponents to a country of fighting enemies? The answer answer is not so simple.There are a myriad of factors which resulted in the ultimate failure of compromise, but the most important ones are as follows: The imbalance of power between the North and South made it incapable for the two sides to make a compromise that would be in the southerners own self interest, disillusionment with the nature of compromisation made neither the North nor the South want to work it out, and finally the growing divide between the two regions, along with clashing political beliefs caused an animosity between them that could not be reconciled by mere compromise.
Slavery was a problem that had been solved by the end of the Civil War . Slavery abused black people and forced them to work. The Northerners didn’t like this and constantly criticized Southerners causing a fight. On January 1, 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Lincoln to free all the slaves in the border states . “...All persons held as slaves within said designated states, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free…” (Lincoln 1862). In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed which abolished slavery (Thirteenth Amendment 1865).
In 1819, the territory of Missouri applied for statehood. It was the first new state to be taken from the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. The issue of Missouri attempting to become a state sparked much debate and controversy. The debate in Congress was mainly about sectional power and not whether slavery was right or wrong. The people from the North disagreed with the added representation in Congress and in the Electoral College. Since Missouri would be a slave state, they would be able to count three-fifths of their slave population towards representation. The three-fifths rule had already added significant power to the South. In 1790, the South controlled 47 percent of Congress while only having 40 percent of the white population. The crisis brought the commitment of slavery and the resentment of Southern political power to a heated collision. The North vowed to give up no more land to slavery, while the South began talks of dissolving the union and civil war.
The compromise of 1850 was one of the most important compromise made involving land and slavery, it was very important to the new following states. did the compromise help separate the tension of new coming states to the Union during the Mexican-American war, it also to help give more power to the South with acts. The compromise of 1850 ended war which helped resolve many disputes between the Southerns and Northerns by introducing the Popular Sovereignty, ending slave trade in Washington D.C. and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, was the most effective solution at its time. This three bills were very important to the new territory, did this bills help settle doubt and dispute it also helped keep control and order in the new states it also
The spirit of compromise, which had helped the nation avoid civil war in earlier crisis, totally broke down by 1860. A series of events and movements aggravated the debate on slavery to the breaking point. First came the Compromise of 1850, a package of bills which established five very controversial points that would eventually divide the nation. One part of this plan included turning the rest of the Mexican Cession into federal land, in which slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty. This infuriated the North, as the decision allowed slavery to spread throughout the country. Secondly, as a result of this compromise, the Fugitive Slave Act was put into action. It made helping runaway slaves a crime and allowed officials to arrest fugitives in free states. Not only does this law make the North physically involved and culpable, it also challenges their beliefs and morals. By law, it became the Northerners’ duty to capture runaway slaves so they could be returned to their masters. In addition, antislavery literature had a huge effect over the debate regarding slavery. Novels suc...
These compromises are found in four main places within the Constitution. The first is the three-fifths compromise, which detailed how slaves would influence the population of each state for the purpose of determining representation and taxation. Located in Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution the compromise states that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for enumeration purposes (Dolbeare, 71). This compromise was important for the Southern states, whose populations consisted of large numbers of slaves, because without it they would have a significant smaller number of representatives in the House. Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution prohibit...
In 1819 Missouri requested to join the United States as a slave state. This caused the beginning of a division between the people, and offices, of America. This division was a result of the issue of slavery, and a fear that the delicate balance between states that allowed slavery and states that did not allow slavery would be broken. Half of the country believed slavery was fine, and half believed it was wrong. In an attempt to keep peace between the South and the North, the Missouri Compromise was passed. The compromise would allow Missouri to enter the union as a slave state, and Maine as a free state; keeping the number of states pro-slavery and anti-slavery even. However, the compromise did not accomplish everything that congress had hoped. The Missouri Compromise was a poor attempt to end the dispute over slavery in America because it did not please the Southern or Northern states, was unconstitutional, and contributed to the civil war.
The problems between the North and South go way back when in 1787. What causes these problems to intensify is the manifest destiny. Manifest destiny is the belief to expand westward. The agreements and compromises that are made to keep these two parties together is the Missouri compromise in 1820, the compromise of 1850, and the kansas nebraska act. The successfulness of these compromises kept on for forty long years.
A compromise is when two or more parties in disagreement reach an agreement that does not give all sides exactly what they want, but enough of what they want so that they can be happy. Compromise is the best possible solution to a conflict however it does not always work. One needs only to look at situations such as the Bosnia-Herzegovina to see that. During the events prior to the American Civil War, many different compromises were made in an attempt to impede the growing disagreements. However this merely prolonged the inevitable. The differences between North and South were far to great and compromise did not stand a chance at preventing the impending conflict. This was most clearly shown in the ways in which the three main compromises, the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, failed.
The compromise of 1850 was very similar to the Missouri compromise of 1820 in that they both succeeded in bringing together the North and the South. In the early 18th century, there was division in America as result of slavery. At that particular point, the North and South were already in tension due to issue of slavery. Slavery was not widely spread in the North however, businessmen enriched themselves through slave trade in the south. Both Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850 both aimed at restoring peace between the North and South slave sated and between the Free and the Slave states.