Rising Tensions
Declaration of Independence
The foundation of the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence stated
"that all men are created equal...with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…," . This gave fuel to the anti-slavery movement.
"that all men are created equal...with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…," . This gave fuel to the anti-slavery movement.
Missouri Compromise-1820
"The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. At the time, the United States contained twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free. Admission of Missouri as a slave state would upset that balance; it would also set a precedent for congressional acquiescence in the expansion of slavery…" (Source: Missouri Compromise)
Rising Tensions in the North and South
North
Whites in the North not only supported the freedom of slaves because it was the right thing to do, but were also getting weary of the political power that Southerners held by exploiting slavery into making them rich and powerful.
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South
"Defenders of slavery argued that slavery had existed throughout history and was the natural state of mankind. The Greeks had slaves, the Romans had slaves, and the English had slavery until very recently. Defenders of slavery noted that in the Bible, Abraham had slaves. They point to the Ten Commandments, noting that "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ... nor his manservant, nor his maidservant." In the New Testament, Paul returned a runaway slave, Philemon, to his master, and, although slavery was widespread throughout the Roman world, Jesus never spoke out against it." (Source: Southern) |
Mexican War: 1846-1848
"In the Mexican-American War the United States decisively defeated the Republic of Mexico and acquired over five hundred thousand square miles of new territory that today comprises much of the nation's Southwest. This development also exacerbated the growing sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery." (Source: VandeCreek)
Compromise of 1850
"Fugitive Slave Act authorized local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight. ...The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 added further provisions regarding runaways and levied even harsher punishments for interfering in their capture." (Source: History Channel)
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"In glaring violation of justice, in shameless disregard of the forms of administering law, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenseless, and in diabolical intent, this Fugitive Slave Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe, having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select." ~Frederick Douglass from his speech, 'What to the Slave is the 4th of July?' (Source: Basker, Anti-slavery)
Kansas-Nebraska Act- 1854
"The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an 1854 bill that mandated “popular sovereignty”–allowing settlers of a territory to decide whether slavery would be allowed within a new state’s borders… The conflicts that arose between pro-slavery and anti-slavevry settlers in the aftermath of the act's passage led to the period of violence known as Bleeding Kansas, and helped pave the way for the American Civil War (1861-1865)" (Source: Kansas-Nebraska Act)