Slavery was combated by the northern states with the use of nullification. State nullification is the act of nullifying or voiding an act from the federal government. Nullification is also a way for the states to protect their citizens from the federal government. Nullification is essentially of the people of the states or the states themselves saying no. This is a form of civil disobedience sanctioned by the state. There is a lot of talk and speculation on if nullification is constitutional, legal, or moral. Nullification is legal under the constitution and the states are duty bound to interpose between the federal government and the people. Nullification is the rightful remedy for the states when they want to preserve the union rather than secede. To understand nullification one must understand how the states came together. The separate states came together under the constitution. The constitution is a federative compact by the several states. The states delegated certain powers to the federal government and retained the vast majority of unenumerated powers to themselves. Within the federative compact the states are superior to the federal government. Many argue that the Supreme court is last arbiter on what is constitutional and what is not. This is a fallacy. With it being within the federal government it cannot have the the final say on the compact. It is said within the United States that the people are the sovereign. If the people are the sovereign and allot a portion of that sovereignty to the states, then the states are subordinate to the people. The states then appropriated a portion of sovereignty to form a general government to function in a very limited capacity. The people and the states retain the right to exe... ... middle of paper ... ...ong and interesting history in this country. The crux of using nullification is to allow the states and the people govern themselves. Nullification is a perfect tool to use against the federal government to keep them from usurping the rights of the states and the people. The use of nullification has been used in the past to keep the federal government out of certain spheres that they do not belong. Nullification should be used more often to stop the over reaching hand of the government from not only spying on us but taking control of entire portions of our economy as well as what one puts into their own bodies. The increased use of nullification would bring about decentralization of our government and allow more freedom and liberty. Taking all of the evidence into account, nullification is the rightful remedy to check federal power while still preserving the Union.
In Apostles of Disunion, Dew presents compelling documentation that the issue of slavery was indeed the ultimate cause for the Civil War. This book provided a great deal of insight as to why the South feared the abolition of slavery as they did. In reading the letters and speeches of the secession commissioners, it was clear that each of them were making passionate pleas to all of the slave states in an effort to put a stop to the North’s, and specifically Lincoln’s, push for the abolishment of slavery. There should be no question that slavery had everything to do with being the cause for the Civil War. In the words of Dew, “To put it quite simply, slavery and race were absolutely critical elements in the coming of the war” (81). This was an excellent book, easy to read, and very enlightening.
The North had a very different opinion of the American way and made it exceedingly clear with the formation of numerous abolition societies, effectively abolishing slavery across the northern region and allowing blacks to live as productive members society, rather than its the property. Even one of the most prominent slave holders of that time was forced to rethink the legitimacy of slavery. “Seeing free black soldiers in action undermined [George] Washington’s racial prejudice and ultimately his support for slavery itself” (Finkelman 18). The productivity, societal and political benefits, and military empowerment made available by freed slaves challenged the South’s sense of racial supremacy, thus they began to establish a defense against the complete abolition of
In other words, the states will have all the powers that are not appointed to the national government, by the Articles of Confederation. According to Article 9, “The national congress will have the power to declare war, negotiate foreign treaties, settle disputes between states, regulate currency, direct the operations of land and naval forces, borrow money from the states.” (Williamsburg, 2009) An elaboration of this is that, the national government is limited to the powers, that are stated above, and has no control of anything else. Since the national government had little to no control over any of the states, laws that were past inside of these states became unjust and faced little repercussions from the national government, because of the limitations that were put into place by the articles of confederation.
Following the success of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in the early16th century, the Spaniards, French and Europeans alike made it their number one priority to sail the open seas of the Atlantic with hopes of catching a glimpse of the new territory. Once there, they immediately fell in love the land, the Americas would be the one place in the world where a poor man would be able to come and create a wealthy living for himself despite his upbringing. Its rich grounds were perfect for farming popular crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton. However, there was only one problem; it would require an abundant amount of manpower to work these vast lands but the funding for these farming projects was very scarce in fact it was just about nonexistent. In order to combat this issue commoners back in Europe developed a system of trade, the Triangle Trade, a trade route that began in Europe and ended in the Americas. Ships leaving Europe first stopped in West Africa where they traded weapons, metal, liquor, and cloth in exchange for captives that were imprisoned as a result of war. The ships then traveled to America, where the slaves themselves were exchanged for goods such as, sugar, rum and salt. The ships returned home loaded with products popular with the European people, and ready to begin their journey again.
Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a ‘peculiar institution’ during these times. Although it may have seemed that the worst was over when it came to slavery, it had just begun. The time gap within 1800 and 1860 had slavery at an all time high from what it looks like. As soon as the cotton production had become a long staple trade source it gave more reason for slavery to exist. Varieties of slavery were instituted as well, especially once international slave trading was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going – which they did. Nonetheless, slavery in the American South had never declined; it may have just come to a halt for a long while, but during this time between 1800 and 1860, it shows it could have been at an all time high.
Slavery was abolished in the North when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This proclamation upset the southern states and they decided to sever their ties with the rest of the country. In the textbook it says, "Northerners saw the South as a slave power, determined to foist the slave system on free labor throughout the land. Southerners saw the North as full of black republicanism, determined to destroy their way of life" ...
"The American constitution recognized slavery as a local constitution within the legal rights of the individual states. But in the North slavery was not adaptable to the local economy, and to many, it contradicted the vision of the founding fathers for a nation in which all men are to be free. The South considered slavery as a necessary institution for the plantation economy. It was linked to the local culture and society. As the United states expanded, the North worried that the South would introduce slavery into the new territories. Slavery had become both a moral issue and a question of political power." (Kral p61)
The US constitution was written with great vision to create strong nation. The bill of right were written, it provide all humans with rights. The writers of the constitution we hypocrites, they didn’t abide by what they preached. Thomas Jefferson wrote himself “ all men are created equal” but he owned slaves. The founding father didn’t look or even think about slavery when they wrote the constitution. They were pre-occupied in getting the southern state to join the union and sign the new constitution. They southern states believed that the federal government shouldn’t mess with the issue on slavery because slavery was a state issue.
Slavery was a political, economic, social and moral issue that divided the citizens of the United States. Sectionalism is “loyalty or support of a particular region or section of the nation, rather than the United States as a whole” (“Sectionalism and Slavery). Slavery was a main factor of the sectional issue, dividing the country into North and South to the extent that it led to the Civil War; the main conflict was that southerners supported slavery and northerners opposed it. Because of the differences in history, economics, etc. in the states slavery was a main factor in the sectionalism between the North and South. The questions were whether rights of slave owners would be protected throughout the country, whether new territories would
Political unrest within the advocating for Nullification virtually declares the United States Constitution nonexistent. To propel, and support secession is radical and creates separate entities trying to coexist amongst each other while avoiding the issue. In the matters of the government, constitutional propriety should be enforced and upheld with the upmost respect. However, when the driving force behind promoting constitutional propriety has a hidden agenda that is repugnant in nature then there is bound to be disputes. The Nullification Crisis was a result of the Tariff of 1828 and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were the result of the Alien and Sedition Acts. The similarities between the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Tariff of 1828, is that both on the surface, seemingly were actions implemented by Congress because of war. These parallel actions also were induced by political parties seizing an opportunity to publically discredit, embarrass, and fluster the opposing party. Much like today, of one political party attempting to dominate Congress, the passing of the Alien and Sedition Acts by the Federalist controlled congress was an attempt to weaken the Jeffersonian Republicans. The passing of the Tariff of 1828 was to economically protect industries in the north, which weaken the southern states. This further aggravated the intensely growing animosity between the Northern and Southern States. Unilaterally, the Tariff of 1828 favored the northern industries and caused the southern states especially South Carolina to pay higher prices on goods that they were unable to produce.
The opposing argument serves as a perfect gateway to the topic of relationship between Federal and State government. In the United States, the Supremacy Clause serves...
The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict of the north and south. Other problems existed that led to this succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery, but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the south running. When the south seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that “ a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” Because slavery formed two opposing societies and slavery could never be abolished, the civil war was inevitable. These were all the reasons why the south seceded from the union, this succession was eminent and there was no plausible way to avoid it.
After the American Revolution, slavery began to decrease in the North, just as it was becoming more popular in the South. By the turn of the century, seven of the most Northern states had abolished slavery. During this time, a surge of democratic reform swept the North to the West, and there were demands for political equality, economic and social advances for all Americans. Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person and when new territories became available i...
...hern states but trying to encompass the preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African-Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis when the US took over the Louisiana Territory). In a freedom suit that went from Missouri to the US Supreme Court, slavery of Native Americans was finally ended in 1836.The institutionalization of slavery under US territorial law in the Louisiana Territory contributed to the American Civil War a half century later. As states organized within the territory, the status of slavery in each state became a matter of contention in Congress, as southern states wanted slavery extended to the west, and northern states just as strongly opposed new states being admitted as slave states. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a temporary solution.
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).