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Disadvantages of the Missouri compromise
Political effects of the Missouri compromise
Disadvantages of the Missouri compromise
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While both black and white people fought over segregation versus desegregation, black people defended their freedom and civil rights while white people focused on isolating black people and treating them as under classed. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 banned slavery in some states and allowed slavery in other states. With the Missouri Compromise, Maine entered as a free state while Missouri entered as a slave state. The Missouri Compromise also drew a line across the United States that split the nation in half. States to the south of the line were slave states while states north of the line were Free states. This kind of separation between the North and the South was the beginning of the upcoming Civil War. This important change in the United …show more content…
States took part in the Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. Dred Scott was an African American slave from Missouri who was taken by his master to the north of the Missouri Compromise line where slavery was banned.
He was taken to the free state of Illinois and then to the free Territory of Wisconsin. Between 1834 and 1838, Dred Scott lived on free land while remaining enslaved by John Sanford. John Sanford was the slave owner of Dred Scott. Dred Scott sued John Sanford for his freedom while in the free land. Dred Scott argued that since he had lived several years in a free state and several years in a free territory, he should be free. With the help of abolitionists, Dred Scott’s case reached the Supreme Court. At this time, Roger B. Taney was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled against Dred Scott, and in favor of John Sanford. The Court stated that temporary residence in a Free State or territory did not make Dred Scott free. It is said that Dred Scott was John Sanford’s property, not a citizen, and therefore had no right to sue in the Court. It is further reasoned that no African American could be a citizen. The Court also ruled that Congress does not have the power to ban slavery from any territory because doing so would take away slave owners' property. Therefore in this case, the Missouri Compromise was considered
unconstitutional. Southerners and Northerners had completely different reactions to the decision. While southerners celebrated the decision and applauded the Court for defending their rights to hold slaves, northerners viewed the decision with distress. Republicans wanted to block the spread of slavery, but their hope was drained from the result of the case. Some people believed the North should secede from the Union. Other people insisted that the members of the Supreme Court should be impeached. Abraham Lincoln thought that the Court would next force slavery onto the North. The leader of the black abolitionists, Frederick Douglass, predicted that this case was one the many to help overthrow the slave system.
Congress was put in a tough position when Missouri applied for statehood, for they couldn’t have an uneven number of states. If they didn’t have an even number, they would have to come up with another idea to make slave states and free states equal, such as adding a state or neutralizing an existing slave state. Instead of making one of the existing twenty-two states neutral to slavery they accepted Maine as free state. The acceptance of Maine as it’s own state did not occur until 1820, but the addition of it did even the amount of slave states and free states to twelve and twelve. The Missouri Compromise did not only ban slavery from Maine and allow s...
The Missouri Compromise was a law passed in 1820 to allow Missouri, a slave owning state, and Maine, a free state, to become a part of the United States. This law had prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory, with Missouri as an exception. This law was deemed necessary by the North in order to preserve the unstable balance between the Free and Slave states. Though this does not seem like it would affect history that much, aside from adding to the land of the U.S., this law, or rather the repeal of this law, would only cause the North and South to drift further apart causing a feud that would eventually lead up to the Civil War. In 1817, the Territory of Missouri applied for statehood, which was considered by Congress in 1819.
First, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 established the slavery line that allowed slavery below it and forbid slavery above it. It also gave the South another slave state in Missouri and the north a free state in Maine. Although each region gained a state in the Senate, the south benefited most from the acquisition because Missouri was in such a pivotal position in the country, right on the border. Later on with the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, Missouri had a big role in getting Kansas to vote south because many proslavery Missourians crossed the border into Kansas to vote slavery. The Missouri Compromise also helped slavery because the line that was formed to limit slavery had more land below the line than above it. Therefore, slavery was given more land to be slave and therefore more power in the Senate, when the territories became state. In effect, the north got the short end of the stick and the south was given the first hint of being able to push around the north. The interesting thing is, the north agreed to all these provisions that would clearly benefit the south.
It is also possible that his original lawyer Samuel Mansfield Bay saw opportunities for a large reward due to his services to Scott, and initiated litigation. For example, some feel that Bay’s “object was to pave the way for a suit against the Emerson estate for the twelve years’ wages to which Scott would be entitled to,” (Herda, 29) should he win the case. This shows that, money could have been the driving force behind this case. This also shows that Scott may have been persuadable to another person’s reasons for pursuing the case. In addition, if this was true and Scott “had been illegally held as a slave since 1834.” (Herda, 30) This shows that, he would have the right to compensation, and therefore be entitled to what would be a lot of money. This also shows, how a mistake by a master in his traveling...
As the country began to grow and expand we continued to see disagreements between the North and South; the Missouri Territory applied for statehood; the South wanted them admitted as a slave state and the North as a free state. Henry Clay eventually came up with the Missouri Compromise, making Missouri a slave state and making Maine it’s own state, entering the union as a free state. After this compromise, any state admitted to the union south of the 36° 30’ latitude would be a slave state and a state north of it would be free. The country was very much sectionalized during this time. Thomas Jefferson felt this was a threat to the Union.
The state constitution in 1819, was what began of this compromise when James Tallmadge, a representative from New York attempted to add a anti- slavery amendment to the legislation. This gave a ugly and conflicted debate over slavery and the governments rights to restrict slavery. This Tallmadge amendment restricted all further introduction of slaves into Missouri and provided setting free once they reached the age of 25.This legislation was not passed, as the House of Representatives which was controlled by the North passed the idea, but it failed in the Senate which was equally divided between the North and the South. Although the legislation didn’t pass it led to Henry Clay taking it on when Maine became a free state.
Correspondly, the senate passed the Missouri Compromise in February 1820, which allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine to enter as a free state, making the free and slave states balanced once again. Another amendment was passed to prohibit slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern border of Missouri. This event envisioned a possible threat to the relationship between the North and South. Moreover, the United States began to believe in a manifest destiny, a god-given right to expand its territory until it had absorbed all of North America, including Canada and Mexico.... ...
Among the many things that lead to the American civil war, the Dread Scott case seems to be the cause of much uproar in the states. Dread Scott was a slave who was taken to the Missouri territory in 1820 by his owner at the time. Keep in mind that Missouri was a slave state per the Missouri Compromise. Sometime afterward, his owner moved him and his family to the Wisconsin territory which was a free state (Missouri Compromise 1820). He and his family would continue to live in free territory as slaves for quite some time. After some time had passed, Scott found himself back in slave territory and was told that he was going to remain a slave despite living in free territory for an extended period of time. With the help of some abolitionists, Scott’s case made it all the way to the supreme court where they ruled that African Americans are not citizens of the United States and therefore, Scott had no rights to defend as the right only pertained to the citizens of America. The case also ruled the Missouri
They did not know what it was to read or write because they never were afforded the opportunity to do so, legally. Historically, the facts are clear—the longer the slaves remained uneducated, uninformed and illiterate; they made for better slaves—a more cooperative source of free labor. They were purchased and offered up for sale. The Supreme Court decision of 1857 in Dred Scott v. Sandford added to the controversy. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney's decision said that slaves were "so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to
On April 6,1846, Dred and Harriet Scott had each filed separate petitions in the Circuit Court of St.Louis so they could gain their freedom from Irene Emerson. Francis Murdock happened to be their lawyer, he was unable to read or write, He relied on advice from the Blow family, which he had renewed contact since he had returned to St.Louis. Harriet Scott had knew John Anderson, which was the minister of the Second African Baptist Church, that had helped all of the other slaves file their petitions for their freedom in the Missouri Courts. It was definitely very uncommon for the slaves to sue for freedom if they were living in free states for that period of time. He had lived in a free territory for the past decade, so it definitely had seemed as though his case would have a positive outcome. With all the financial and all the legal help of the Blow brothers, Henry and Taylor, and all their friends, Dred and Harriet’s cases were both dismissed on technicality. Their lawyer’s had quickly moved for a new trial. Irene Emerson quickly made several arrangements for the Scott’s to be put under the charge of the St.Louis County Sheriff. Almost Ten years, from March 17,1848, to March 18,1857, He and his family would be in the sheriffs custody. The sheriff was in total control for hiring out the Scotts and for collecting and for keeping all of
Compromise over the issue of slavery in Missouri. Missouri would be admitted as a slave state while Maine would be admitted as a free state and all states north of the 36°30′ line would be free, the states southward would be slave.
Dred and his owner had traveled to a free state, a state where slavery is illegal and is run by the North, and Scott argued that the time they spent there made him a free man. He went to court to fight for his rights, but was denied. History.com stated that “... the court decided that no black, free or slave, could claim U.S. citizenship, and therefore blacks were unable to petition the court for their freedom.” This meant that Scott couldn’t even go to court on behalf of himself because he was not a citizen. Also, it is said that property can not be taken from the owner, and since Scott was a slave, he was identified as property. An American document made during those times states "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes”, but still Scott was not freed after his time in a free state (drbronsontours.com). Dred Scott’s case was dismissed and he was still forced into slavery. If America was a free land, hy would not force people into slavery in general, but surely wouldn’t go against previous documents just t make sure an African-American was still
In this year of 2015, many people think racism is non existent. The President Barack Obama is black. There are black musicians such as, Beyonce and Jay Z dominating the charts. Some may even say there is no reason for The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Times have changed in many ways however, the presumption that racism ended is completely wrong. The presumption that America is an equal and accepting country is false. In American history, there have been triumphs against inequality. With these triumphs the country has gone into a slumber. The thought of change is the thought of ignorance.
Did you know that it takes about 1 hour for 3 people to scrape gum in 1 classroom? Well, there are 3 reasons this gum policy: costly gum removal, parents complain about gum on their children’s shoes, clothes, and hair and the parents are not happy about the cleaning bills. There was a questionnaire given to one class in grades 5-8 and 3 of the questions were: how often do you chew gum at school, how do you discard your used gum, and why do you think students put gum under chairs and desks? Do I agree with this ban? No, I don’t agree with this policy because there was never a time when gum was allowed at school so the ban is based on guesswork. The guesswork was that if gum was allowed, kids would put it on desks and chairs.
Have you ever wondered what the benefits of exercise were besides a healthy body? Well exercising helps the brain, decreases stress, and even increases your memory. The article “Exercise Builds Brawn--and Brains” by Esther Landhuis is about exercising just 20 minutes a day to improve your memory and brain skills. The second article “Strong Body helps The MInd” by Stephen Ornes is about exercising for longer periods of time and less frequently to decreases stress and depression. Though long strenuous exercise can build muscle and fight stress and depression, shorter and less frequent exercise is better to help the brain in memory and stress.