Assignment 2.2: Liberty Challenged in Nineteenth Century America Final Paper

Liberty Challenged in Nineteenth Century America Final Paper

Due Week 10 and worth 140 points

Thesis Statement: Slavery was one major cause of the Civil War occurring.

You have already developed a thesis statement and an outline in which you explored the peculiar institution known as slavery. Now you will develop the final paper in which you explore your main points in detail.

1.     Introduce your paper with your previously crafted thesis statement.

2.     Describe two (2) outcomes of the 3/5ths Compromise, Missouri Compromise of 1820, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott Decision. Note: Be sure to provide two (2) outcomes for each legislation.

3.     Suggest three (3) reasons why slavery was, and is, incompatible with our political and economic system.

4.     List three to five (3-5) driving forces that led to the Civil War.

5.     Use at least three (3) academic references besides or in addition to the textbook. Note: Wikipedia and other similar websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

·This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation for details.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

·Recognize the main factors that led to America’s early development.

·Identify and discuss the different ways that the heritages of slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction have shaped America's history.

·Summarize and discuss the ways that formal policies of government have influenced the direction of historical and social development in the United States.

·Examine how changes in social and economic conditions and technology can cause corresponding changes in the attitudes of the people and policies of the government.

·Specify ways that women and minorities have responded to challenges and made contributions to American culture.

·Use technology and information resources to research issues in American History to 1865.

·Write clearly and concisely about American History to 1865 using proper writing mechanics.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Liberty Challenges in the 19th Century: Slavery and the Civil War

The major event in the 19th century was the Civil War. The impact of the war was enormous that it ended up being a huge factor in shaping the history of America. The time was a period that led to many changes in legislation that also contributed to the war directly or indirectly. Some of these legislations included the 3/5th compromise Act, the Missouri compromise, Dred Scot Act, among others. Slavery and its effects were one of the major causes of the war that the paper will be addressed alongside the impacts of the different legislations and lastly other causes of the war.

Legislations and Effects in the 19th Century

The 3/5th Compromise

The 3/5th compromise was reached upon in the 1787 Constitutional Convection for the purpose of determining how slaves would be counted as a way of determining the number of people in a state. Only three slaves were to be counted for every five slaves (Forest, 2019). There are several outcomes due to compromise.

One of the impacts is the there was an illegal increase in the population in the south as a way of enhancing her status. There was an increased rate of illegal slave acquisition and breeding (Forest, 2019).

Additionally, there was a disproportionate representation of slaves in states that freed their slaves compared to those that had not. This was the reason for southern states having more seats compared to northern states (Forest, 2019).

Missouri Compromise of 1820

The Compromises was enacted to create the needed balance in Congress between free and slave state. The lack of balance was due to the adoption of the 3/5th Compromise (Forbes, 2009).

One of the effects of the compromise was Missouri was accepted as a free state. One the other hand, Maine was received as a slave state (Forbes, 2009).

More to this, there was a prohibition of slavery in the Louisiana Territory. The 36° 30´ latitude line was adopted as the mark for this territory (Forbes, 2009).

Compromise of 1850

The Compromise of 1850 was an outcome measure aimed towards reducing the tension resulting from the Missouri Compromise. There was growing hostility between the free and slave states (Nofi, 2017).

There were a number of outcomes of the compromise. The Fugitive Slave Act was adopted. The act was selected to punish slaves that ran away from their masters (Nofi, 2017).

Additionally, it is worth noting that California became a free state as a result of the compromise (Nofi, 2017). It became the 16th Free State.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1850

The Act was developed for opening territories of Kansa and Nebraska for settler activity includes the development of railroads in this territory. The Act was therefore aimed towards the abolishing of recognizing slave and free state territories through latitudes (Etcheson, 2004).

One of the impacts of the act was an increase in armed conflicts among states. The Compromise and the Missouri Compromise were essential in ensuring states were not at worm. The Act of 1850 compromised them leading to a series of armed conflicts (Etcheson, 2004).

Additionally, the Act led to a growth in many southerners in the Kansas region. In the process of wanting to get more from the act, they ended up voting for the expansion of slavery (Etcheson, 2004).      

Dred Scott Decision

The decision of 1857 was adopted as an outcome of supreme court ruling against Dred Scott, who was found as being a slave regardless of the fact that he came from free states. More to this is that the verdict identified African Americans as not being American citizens (Maltz, 2007).

One of the effects of the decision was the nullification of the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. These ended up bring America much closer to the Civil War (Maltz, 2007).

 Additionally, the powers of slave owners were enhanced. The decision identified slaves as property and not people, and therefore they did not have the right to sue.

Economic and Political Reason behind anti-slavery Campaigns

Both political and economic reasons led to the fight against slavery. One of the reason was that slavery denied the slaves their rights and liberties as citizens. There was a need for slaves to be accorded the freedom of movement, expression, and association. This could not be possible if the institution of slavery still prevailed (Fede, 2012).

More to this is that slavery was a form of forced labor. In the economic perspective, forced labor did not yield better outcomes than unforced labor (Fede, 2012). To boost the economy growth of America in terms of agriculture, there was a need for slavery to stop and be replaced with voluntary labor for pay.

Lastly, there was a need for equality. Slavery subjected the slaves to brutality in the hands of their masters (Fede, 2012). This was because slaves were not viewed as citizens of America. With equality, these slaves would be accepted as free citizens of America and therefore freed from any form of brutality.

Factors Leading to the Civil War

Slavery was among the top reasons leading to the Civil War. The free north states were against slavery which was part and parcel of the economy of the southern slave states. The growing of cotton was the leading source of income in the south, and this growth was made possible through slavery (Nofi, 2017). The conflict between the northerners and southerners ended up leading to the war.

Politics was also a leading reason for the war. There was no defined law regarding the rights and powers of the Federal Government and the State Governments. Most of the rules were conflicting. A good example was on slavery. The slave owners identified slavery as a state issue while on the other hand the Federal government wanted to intervene (Nofi, 2017). This ended up causing the war.

Lastly, Bleeding Kansas ended up leading directly to the war. The Kansas-Nebraska Act abolished Missouri compromise which elaborated on the use of latitudes to define a state as being free or a slave state. This abolition led to a series of armed conflicts which paved way for the Civil War (Etcheson, 2004).

Conclusion

The Civil War was a famous landmark for the US. The starting of the war was due to several laws and compromises enacted during the19th century that affected the economics and politics of the country. More to this is that slavery was a significant debate during this period. The increased indifferences between the northern and southern states on political issues and slavery led to the Civil War.

References

Etcheson, N. (2004). Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era (p. 33455791). Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Fede, A. (2012). People Without Rights (Routledge Revivals): An Interpretation of the Fundamentals of the Law of Slavery in the US South. Routledge.

Forbes, R. P. (2009). The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America. Univ of North Carolina Press.

Forest, B. (2019). Reforming the US Senate: Original Intent and Representational Inequality.

Maltz, E. M. (2007). Dred Scott and the Politics of Slavery (pp. 2-3). Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas.

Nofi, A. (2017). The Blue & Gray Almanac: The Civil War in Facts and Figures, Recipes and Slang. Casemate Publishers.