Essay On How The Compromise That Led Up To The Civil War

As time went on, the United States continually grew, economically, socially, politically, whatever it may be. The reasons behind these changes varied, but the most significant and controversial of the bunch would be the entire institution of slavery and the effect it had on the economy of this country. While the idea of slavery and everything it stood for was vile and abhorrent, the profound effect it had on the United States is undeniable. It is responsible for the large African American population we have now, it was a major factor in the Civil War, and it basically ruled American politics until it was outlawed. This is all due to the extremely rapid growth of the entire establishment of slavery, which swept over the South at an alarming

rate. Within years of being introduced, slavery was a hot topic that plagued everybody’s minds, many questioned it’s legality and justifications, while others defended it to the grave. Despite all of this, slavery expanded immensely in the Union and kept the Southern economy alive. The growth of slavery in the United States can be attributed to the dependence on tobacco, the Missouri Compromise, and most importantly, the Dred Scott Decision in 1857.

Jamestown as a town was a failing society, until tobacco renewed their economy and brought back the spirit into the people. This was all due to John Rolfe’s wise decision to bring tobacco into the town which ended up saving the town completely and revolutionizing the United States’s economy and the entire institution of slavery. Tobacco quickly became one of the United States’s first commercially viable products, it was kickstarted when John Rolfe brought it into Jamestown and completely rebooted the town with this new agricultural item. It rapidly rose to be one of, if not the most popular crop in the United States, so a larger work force was a necessity to meet the ever increasing demand. This one man, John Rolfe, is nearly solely responsible for the extent that slavery reached in the country at this time. Mr. Rolfe’s decision is responsible for the forceful displacement of hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of Africans. This event, along with many others, is responsible for the rapid expansion of the institution of slavery in the United States of America.

With new land came a new dispute on the free or slave status of that territory once it gets admitted to the Union.

One of the biggest issues over this was the admission of Missouri and its status as a slave state. Of course people in the South wanted another slave state admitted, but people in the North wanted it to become a free state. With this conflict something had to happen, so Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise. This compromise proposed the admission of Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state and also restricted slavery north of the 36 30’ latitude. This kept the balance of the free and slave states, but appeased the people for the time being. This compromise was a victory for both sides and helped keep the institution of slavery alive and well. Slavery was able to grow and spread slightly up to the north with the Missouri Compromise eventually getting repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This allowed for more slave states past the previously established line which gave power to the anti-abolitionists. The Missouri Compromise and its eventual repeal allowed the growth of the institution of slavery to occur at a rapid pace due to the power it gave back to the people in the

South.

The most important and influential factor in the institution of slavery was the Dred Scott decision in 1857.

This single court case changed the course of slavery and how people felt about it forever. Dred Scott was a slave whose owner had spent time in Illinois, which was of course a free state, but they normally lived in Missouri. Scott believed that since he had spent so much time in a free state where slavery was against the law then he should have his freedom, so he sued for it. This court case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where they declined him of his freedom. They claimed his residence in a free territory did not constitute his freedom, that Congress did not have the right to prohibit slavery in any territory or state, which invalidated the Missouri Compromise, and that Mr. Dred Scott did not even have the right to sue anybody because he was not a citizen. This extremely controversial decision quite possibly altered the course of American history forever. Sectionalism was worse now than ever and the Supreme Court basically just endorsed slavery, which highly encouraged anti-abolitionists. Slavery was now an issue of secession in the South, which worried the North because of how young the country was. Overall, this court case did little to quell the issue of slavery in the United States, it just created more tension in the country, which eventually exploded four years after. The institution of slavery and its supporters in the United States grew immensely

due to the contentious Dred Scott decision.

Due to the introduction of tobacco to Jamestown and the United States overall, the Missouri Compromise, and the Dred Scott decision the institution of slavery grew tremendously, which eventually helped split the country. Without the introduction of the large cash crop to Jamestown by John Rolfe the town would not have survived, nor would slavery have began as early as it did. With such large demand and a small amount of laborers a new work source was necessary, so the abuse and misuse of Africans began in the United States. The Missouri Compromise did nothing but add fuel to the already large fire of slavery. With this decision allowed slavery to grow more north, especially once it was repealed, and really just appeased anti-abolitionists who felt slavery needed to spread. Finally, the Dred Scott decision, the straw that broke the camel’s back. This highly debateable court case just, once again, added fuel to the fire, this time, the fire is about the engulf the entire country. It may have changed the entire country’s future due to how it split everybody in the country and practically justified slavery. The growth of slavery from 1607 to 1865 occurred due to the introduction of tobacco to Jamestown, the controversial Missouri Compromise and its eventual repeal, and the highly divisive Dred Scott decision, which split the country beyond repair and was the turning point for slavery as a whole.