Slavery and Factors that Led to the Occurrence of Civil War

Assignment 2.1
Liberty Challenged in Nineteenth Century America
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Assignment 2.1
Liberty Challenged in Nineteenth Century America
Introduction
Before the passing of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, tension was rising between sides that supported slavery and those that wanted abolition. Tension rose across the U.S. and more particularly within Congress. Missouri’s intention to enter the Union in 1819 as a state that supports slavery made the tension to reach extreme levels (History.com Editors, 2019a). Such a move almost undermined the balance that existed between the proslavery and anti-slavery states. To maintain peace and avoid conflict, Congress developed a conciliation that involved admitting Missouri into the Union as a slave state, while Maine joined as a free state. Second, a policy was passed creating a boundary that separated the Louisiana Territory. Slave region and free area were separated by the boundary, and the policy was upheld until it was abolished by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This paper examines various aspects of slavery and other factors that led to the occurrence of the Civil War.
I.   The Result of the 3/5 Compromise
A.  Treatment of Slaves
The 3/5ths Compromise specified the approach of counting slaves. The aim of the compromise was to consider slaves as part of the population, including how to tax them and represent them the legislature (Philbrick, 2018). The process involved counting 3 out of 5 slaves, and this was agreed by the representatives of the free and slave states. The main objective was to establish the total population of a state for taxation and legislative purposes.
B. The status of Southern States during the Slave Period
The states in the south considered slaves as property during the slavery period. Although the states in the south wanted to be regarded as part of the population for legislative representation, they did not want the federal government to tax them. The 1787 Constitutional Convention dictated the number of individuals who will be in the legislature and those who will participate in electoral voting depending on the amount of the population (Philbrick, 2018). The intention of the states in the south was to count all slaves, but this would have led to a significant increase in Congress representatives.
II. Missouri Compromise of 1820
A. Missouri Joins the Union
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had various outcomes. First, Missouri joined the Union as a slave state. However, it was agreed that slavery would be barred from the northern section of Louisiana territory. James Tallmadge passed a policy to eradicate slavery in the state of Missouri. However, the bill passed by the New York Representative failed to pass (History.com Editors, 2019a). Nevertheless, the amendment passed the second time, and joined the Union as a slave state. At the same time, Maine joined the Union as a free state.B. Reduce Political Rivalry
The Missouri Compromise minimized cases of political and partisan rivalries between the states in the north and the south. Before the compromise, the U.S. contained 22 states which were divided by half between pro-slave and anti-slave states (History.com Editors, 2019a). Furthermore, the states in the north believed that Congress could ban slavery. On the other hand, the states in the south believed that they had powers to allow slavery as they wanted.
III. Compromise of 1850
A. Slave StateThe Compromise of 1850 led to the implementation of a fugitive state law that required northern states to return escapee slaves. This controversial law required slaves to be returned in accordance to the penalty of law. Furthermore, the 1850 compromise passed since most of the resolutions did not please the pro-slave and anti-slave groups (Finkelman, 2011).B. How Votes changed Decisions for Certain statesThe Compromise of 1850 transformed the way various states made decisions. For instance, California joined the North as a state that does not support slavery, while Washington D.C. was prohibited from engaging in slavery. Texas and New Mexico were in boundary dispute which the former lost (Finkelman, 2011). New Mexico territory removed restrictions on slavery, the states in the south implemented the fugitive slave law.
IV. Kansas-Nebraska Act
A. Changes implemented by the Political Parties
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was implemented by the Congress on May 1854, and this law is considered as one of the main factors that contributed to the occurrence of the Civil War. The Act allowed individuals in the two territories to decide if slave trade will be practiced within their boundaries (History.com Editors, 2019a). The political parties and law makers from the states in the south failed to allow Nebraska to be regarded as a territory since slavery had been banned by the Missouri Compromise.B. Impact on Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was effectively repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, yet it had outlawed slavery in the northern part of Louisiana. The states in the north became angry after the Act was passed since the Missouri Compromi...