Slavery in the territories

A detailed Summary of Slavery in the territories

It has been said that the institution of slavery caused The Civil War. In the years leading up to America's bloodiest war, the new territories the United States acquired began to get enough citizens so that they may become states. The question that ripped Congress and this country apart was whether or not these new states would be admitted as free or slave states. You see, until these states appeared there was a fragile balance of fourteen slave states and fourteen free ones. Admitting a state either way would cause a shift in power in the Senate, and who ever won could basically run the country.

The first position to be discussed is that of the South. The South obviously believed that it was their right to take slaves into the new territories. As John C. Calhoun said it, "there could be no compromise on the territorial issue." (67). The South felt that not being able to bring slaves into the colonies deprived them of their equality with the other states, the North in particular. They felt that the North was trying to dominate them, almost making the Southern whites slaves, "The North is determined to convert all the southern population into slaves...The North and South are now completely sep

As is seen by that quote, the South felt justified in their use of slaves. They saw it protected by the Constitution, a document written by possibly the most respected men in American history, and a document held nearly in the same light as the bible. Then they go on to believe that slavery is justified in the most holy book, the Bible. Therefore slavery in the new territories, to the South, was not only justified by the Constitution, but also by their religion.

"What could be fairer?" (144), asked Douglas. American society was based on the idea of self-government, so there was no reason to change that that now. There was no better example of freedom then by letting Americans vote on whether or not they wanted slavery where they live.

While the citizens in the South basically had the similar thoughts regarding slavery in the new territories, those in the North had a couple of different ideas. One was that congress had the ability and should ban slavery in the new territories. The other was the notion of Popular Sovereignty, or the people should vote on the issue of slavery in their new colonies, not Congress.

The last group to look at are those who supported Popular Sovereignty. This group's idea for the new territories was to allow the citizens to decide their own "fate" if you will. Stephen A. Douglas thought that Popular Sovereignty "embodies the great principle of self-government." (144).

The argument that Lincoln put up against the idea of Popu

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Approximate Word count = 994
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History