Introduction: Slavery Was The Overriding Issue In The Countr ✓ Solved

Introduction Slavery Was The Overriding Issue In The Country

Slavery was the overriding issue in the country between 1812 and the 1850s. While the North developed its own culture, built on railroads and new communications technology, the South depended almost entirely on cotton, which was dependent on slaves. Still, there were some Americans who, for religious or secular reasons, fought for abolition. Their story marks one of the great social movements in American history.

The question of slavery was the most important issue of the first half of the 19th century. Even foreign travelers saw the discrepancy between the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the reality. The fact is that slavery had to first be defined by law, as it was not present in English common law until the 1650s. At first slaves were considered indentured servants, and in fact, a handful of Irish were enslaved, but the lack of strong nation-states in Africa, along with the conviction that Africans as non-Christians were uncivilized, contributed to the African slave trade. By 1650, the status of Africans as slaves was solidified by law. Gradually, the North abolished slavery while the South solidified it as a permanent institution.

The invention of the cotton gin made it possible to grow cotton more cheaply, and by 1820, it was a valuable export to England. The southern frontier moved west and "cotton capitalists," as they came to be known, cut themselves off from the principles of Jeffersonian democracy. The abolitionist movement combined two threads of American life: the secular enlightened tradition that dated back to the 18th century and the evangelical Christian, which had its roots in the Great Awakenings. Abolitionists believed that slavery could be quickly abolished but often disagreed on other reforms (woman's suffrage, temperance, etc.). The movement split in the 1840s over tactics, with the more moderate faction favoring moral persuasion and the radicals favoring rebellion.

Abolitionists continued their efforts after the Civil War and pushed the Republican Party to pass the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The abolitionist movement is one of the great social movements in United States history.

Henry Clay, at the age of seventy-three, initiated his last compromise to keep the Union together. Clay urged that the North and South make concessions and that the South yield to a more reasonable fugitive slave law. Calhoun argued to leave the peculiar institution alone, return runaway slaves, and restore the political balance of power. Upon the death of Henry Clay, Senator Daniel Webster took up the debate of the compromise.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and author. Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) energized anti-slavery forces in the U.S. and England. Political and social tensions were even more strained by the 1852 literary classic Uncle Tom's Cabin. Many young men who read Uncle Tom's Cabin would enlist as Union soldiers to fight against the atrocities of the institution of slavery.

The Dred Scott case in 1857 came to the forefront as the Supreme Court integrated the heated debate over the slave issue into a complex political tool. Popular Sovereignty became part of the Democratic political platform in the election of 1848 until the 1860 election. Abraham Lincoln challenged the incumbent Stephen Douglas to a series of debates in 1858.

After the Civil War ended, one of the most important issues was deciding the political fate of the Confederate states. The Constitution provided no guidance on this matter, and it was not clear whether the Congress or the President should take the lead on Reconstruction. President Lincoln called for reunification and issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was constructed to deal with the sudden emancipation. By representing African Americans in the courts, the Bureau established a precedent that black citizens had legal rights. By the time the Bureau disbanded in 1872, more than 250,000 students had attended Freedmen's schools, and over 1 million people had received needed medical assistance.

The events that led up to the Civil War began in the 1850s. Scholars note that this was one of the most important decades in American history, alongside the 1780s, 1930s, and 1960s.

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The issue of slavery was undoubtedly the most contentious and divisive issue in America from 1812 until the Civil War. The growing divide between the North and South created a complex socio-political landscape that involved economic interests, moral dilemmas, and political maneuvering. At the core of this debate lay the abolitionist movement, which gained momentum throughout the early to mid-19th century, marking a pivotal era in American history.

As the North industrialized, its economy became less reliant on slave labor, while the South's economy increasingly depended on agriculture, particularly cotton, which was labor-intensive and required a significant enslaved workforce. The invention of the cotton gin improved the efficiency of cotton production, making it a profitable cash crop and further entrenching the institution of slavery in Southern society (Oakes, 1998). This economic dependence perpetuated a way of life that was increasingly at odds with Northern values and ideals of freedom and self-determination.

The abolitionist movement itself rose from two prominent ideological streams: Enlightenment rationalism and evangelical Christianity. Leaders like Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Sojourner Truth emerged, advocating for the immediate abolition of slavery, illustrating not just a call for legal changes but a deep moral awakening (Blight, 2001). Despite their passionate appeals, the abolitionist movement faced considerable opposition, leading to internal divisions over strategy: the radicals pursued confrontational tactics, while moderates advocated for moral persuasion (McPherson, 1988).

One seminal work that significantly swayed public opinion against slavery was Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Published in 1852, the novel heightened awareness of the brutal realities of slavery, galvanizing anti-slavery sentiments in both the North and Europe (Stowe, 2014). Lincoln famously remarked that Stowe's work helped ignite the war, underscoring literature's power in shaping political discourse and humanizing the plight of enslaved people.

The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857 exacerbated sectional tensions when the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, free or enslaved, could not be American citizens and that Congress had no authority to regulate slavery in the territories (Levinson, 2014). This ruling effectively nullified legislative compromises aimed at maintaining the balance of power between free and slave states, leading to intensified disputes over the issue of popular sovereignty, particularly illustrated by the Kansas-Nebraska Act (Holt, 2004).

Abraham Lincoln's emergence as a national figure was partly catalyzed by his opposition to this decision. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, Lincoln argued for a cohesive nation where slavery’s expansion was unacceptable, appealing to a moral framework that underscored the illegitimacy of the institution (Lincoln, 1858). His arguments represented a political strategy to unify those opposed to the extension of slavery into new territories.

Following the Civil War, the focus shifted to how to integrate the newly freed African Americans into the social and political fabric of the nation. President Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction aimed at healing the nation and promoting a swift integration of Southern states back into the Union. However, Lincoln's assassination in 1865 complicated these efforts and allowed for more punitive measures against Southern states, as Radical Republicans sought to impose stricter requirements for reintegration (Foner, 2011).

The Freedmen's Bureau was established to address the immediate needs of freed slaves, providing education, legal representation, and various forms of assistance to those impacted by the repercussions of slavery (Du Bois, 1935). Despite these efforts, the South's eventual implementation of Black Codes demonstrated a reluctance to fully embrace the consequences of emancipation, showcasing the enduring legacy of racism and inequality (Litwack, 1979).

By the end of the 1860s, the struggle to reconcile the profound societal changes initiated by the abolition of slavery and the reality of systemic racism and oppression illustrated that the fight for true equality was far from over. The foundation laid during this tumultuous period served as a crucial precursor for future civil rights movements, emphasizing that the battle against entrenched societal norms, whether through legal, social, or literary means, is an arduous yet essential effort in the ongoing quest for equality.

References

• Blight, D. W. (2001). Abolitionist. Oxford University Press.
• Du Bois, W. E. B. (1935). Black Reconstruction in America. Harper & Brothers.
• Foner, E. (2011). Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. HarperCollins.
• Holt, M. F. (2004). Forum on the Kansas-Nebraska Act. American Historical Association.
• Levinson, S. (2014). Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance. Oxford University Press.
• Litwack, L. F. (1979). North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860. University of Chicago Press.
• Lincoln, A. (1858). Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Retrieved from National Park Service.
• McPherson, J. M. (1988). Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford University Press.
• Oakes, J. (1998). Slavery and Freedom: An Interpretation of the Old South. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Stowe, H. B. (2014). Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Open Road Media.