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The Fugitive Slave Act Essay
Compare and contrast viewpoints about the fugitive slave act
Fugitive slave act of 1850 daniel webster
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The American Civil war was a war between the North and South of the United States over issues that had divided the nation for many years. The fighting broke out in April of 1861, and the war ended in May of 1865 (HistoryNet.com). However, the North and South had been disagreeing for many years before. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book written in the years leading up to the Civil War showed a new perspective on slavery to many Northern citizens (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the events that pushed the two sides over the edge into war. The Fugitive Slave Act also strengthened the divide between the Northern and Southern states. But, the attack on Fort Sumter, was first time the Confederate (Southern) and Union (Northern) …show more content…
armies fought in battle (History.com staff). In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book that showed the horrors of slavery through a collection of narratives following a slave, Uncle Tom (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
The book sold around 300,000 copies in the United States alone, and also became very popular in Great Britain (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Many Northerners that read the novel gained new knowledge of how truly awful slaves’ lives were, and they understood on a deeper level how wrong slavery was (ushistory.org). This only worsened Northern views of the South and further strained the relationship between the North and South. Those who read the book in the North felt so strongly about freeing the slaves that lived those harsh realities, so much that the Fugitive Slave Acts could hardly be enforced (ushistory.org). The readers in Great Britain were also so moved by Stowe’s writing that the British government could not easily support the Confederacy in the war later on …show more content…
(ushistory.org). The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an act that led up to the Civil War by dividing political parties and causing more violations of the Compromise of 1850 (ushistory.org). Stephen A. Douglas proposed a bill that the Kansas and Nebraska Territories should be made into states with their slave status determined by popular sovereignty (History.com staff). The bill passed congress and became the Kansas-Nebraska Act (History.com staff). The Act violated the Missouri Compromise, so many people began to ignore the Compromise of 1850, thinking that was acceptable too (ushistory.org). The Compromise Line of the Missouri Compromise had kept the Union at peace for more than 30 years, but the popular sovereignty caused debates within the states (ushistory.org) . The Whig Party was divided into Republicans and Democrats, the Republicans being anti-slavery and Democrats being pro-slavery (ushistory.org). The Northern republicans leaned towards free states, while the Southern democrats wanted the Kansas and Nebraska territories to become slave states (History.com staff). After voting, the further North state of Nebraska became a free state, and Kansas became a slave state (History.com Staff). The relationship between the North and the South worsened, and Southern States continued seceding from the Union (History.com staff). The Fugitive Slave Acts also contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
The first Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1793 (History.com staff). It allowed the capture and return of any runaway slaves on American soil, and it stated that any person who aided in the escape of a slave would be fined $500 (History.com staff). Many Northerners and abolitionists ignored this act and strengthened their efforts to help runaway slaves (History.com staff). So, in 1850, the second Fugitive Slave Act was passed. It also allowed the capture and return of runaway slaves on American soil, but it increased the punishment for aiding in the escape of a slave to a $1000 fine and 6 months in jail (History.com staff). Again, abolitionists fought this act and increased their efforts to help slaves escape even more (History.com staff). In this time, the Underground Railroad became very popular as many slaves tried to reach Canada, where they would be off of American soil (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Many Northern States also created and adopted their own laws that attempted to invalidate the Fugitive Slave Acts (History.com staff). These acts opened many more debates between pro and anti-slavery states, and South Carolina referred to the laws passed in the Northern States regarding the Fugitive Slave Act as a part of their rationale for seceding from the Union (History.com
staff). Five days after South Carolina seceded from the Union in December of 1860, Confederate troops in Charleston attacked an island in Charleston Harbor, causing the first official battle of the American Civil War (ushistory.org). The island was Fort Sumter, land that both the Union and the Confederacy believed belonged to them (ushistory.org). The Union Commander at Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson, was being blocked from reinforcement and supplies by 6,000 South Carolina militia (ushistory.org). Once Jefferson Davis was elected as the leader of the Confederate States, and Abraham Lincoln of the Union, the two leaders had to decide who was going to make the first move on the fort. Abraham Lincoln did not want to make an aggressive and encourage other states to secede from the Union, but he needed supplies to reach the fort (ushistory.org). Jefferson Davis would not allow new supplies to reach the Fort, so, after Anderson refused to surrender the Fort, the Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter (History.com staff). It took only three and a half days for Anderson to surrender the fort (ushistory.org). After this, the war between the Confederacy and the Union had officially begun (TeachTCI editors 304). Once in control of the Confederacy, Fort Sumter served as a defensive position for Charleston Harbor and as a “...valuable hole in the Union blockade of the Atlantic seaboard” (History.com staff). The American Civil War was fought for just four years, but the nation was divided for many years before on several issues, slavery being just one of them. Many different events occurred and laws were passed that led to the eventual outbreak of war. Each one of these things furthered the divide between the North and the South until many Southern states began to secede from the Union and form the Confederacy. The book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, depicted the horrible reality of plantation slavery, convincing many Northerners that of how important it was for slavery in the South to be dealt with. The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused many debates between the supporters of slavery and opposers of it, and it also encouraged violations of the compromises that had previously kept the Union at peace. Another act that caused more turmoil between the Northern and Southern states was the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act led to an increase in use of the Underground Railroad. It also faced opposition by Northern states which gave reason for the secession of South Carolina. The fighting of the war broke out when Confederate troops attacked the Union defending Fort Sumter, a fort that both the Union and Confederacy wanted to claim. The Union surrendered the fort after a few days of fighting, and the Civil War officially began.
The Civil War, beginning in 1861 and ending in 1865, was a notorious event in American history for many influential reasons. Among them was the war 's conclusive role in determining a united or divided American nation, its efforts to successfully abolish the slavery institution and bring victory to the northern states. This Civil War was first inspired by the unsettling differences that divided the northern and southern states over the power that resided in the hands of the national government to constrain slavery from taking place within the territories. There was only one victor in the Civil War. Due to the lack of resources, plethora of weaknesses, and disorganized leadership the Southern States possessed in comparison to the Northern States,
When Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he said, “So, this is the little lady who made this big war”(“History.com Staff”2). After Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin, there was a rumor that this book led to the Civil War. Uncle Tom’s Cabin turned a lot of people in the North against slavery. The people in the North wanted slavery to end which caused them to fight the South. The most important topic of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is that slavery was worse in the South than in the North. Slavery was worse in the South than in the North because of the hard labor, the freedom policy, and the treatment of the slaves.
The American Civil War was fought between the North (The Union) and the South (The Confederates), because of the South wanting to secede from the North. Lincoln's election as president in 1860, triggered southerners' decision to secede believing Lincoln would restrict their rights to own slaves. Lincoln stated that secession was "legally void" and had no intentions of invading the Southern states, but would use force to maintain possession of federal property. Despite his pleas for the restorations of the bonds of union, the South fired upon the federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter, in Charlestown, Virginia. This was the event that decided the eventual beginning of the Civil War. Despite the advantages of Northerners, their victory in the ...
The Civil War was when the United States split because of the injustice of slavery. The North insisted to free the slaves, but the South refused (Wulf et al). After four years of fighting, the south surrendered at the Appomattox court house on April 9, 1865. By that time, over 680,000 americans had died. Even though the war was over, there was still tension between the North and the South, and their anger was directed at Abraham Lincoln, which eventually lead to a story that changed the United States forever (O’Reilly and Zimmerman 33-37).
The original Fugitive Slave Act was made in 1793. One of the things this stated was that slave owners were allowed to search for their escaped slaves in states that didn’t believe in slavery. When a slave (or a person suspected of being a slave) was caught, the people (or person) went to court to get the slave returned to it’s owner. If enough evidence was provided, the slaves were returned to their owners. This act also made it so that anyone who helped slaves in anyway, such as hiding them, were to face a $500 fee. Many people, especially those from northern states, disagreed with this act. The people of the northern states felt as if their land was being used by bounty hunters. They also disliked how, with people taking free African Americans as slaves, it felt as if the act was leading up to the legalization of kidnapping. Certain people who disagreed with this act created groups to help save slaves, and even created housing for them that would be safe for them to escape to areas where slavery was illegal.
“As it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is on one scale, and self-preservation in the other.” This quote said by Thomas Jefferson accurately depicted the political, economic, and social issues that were presented in the 1800s. The novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe created a massive awareness politically and socially for the abolitionist movement. Throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin Stowe paints the picture of the cruel and unjust treatment of slaves on large plantations in the 1850s. Although Uncle Tom’s Cabin shows that large scale plantations showed empathy towards their slaves after the 1830s; however, Uncle Tom’s Cabin accurately depicts the lives of slaves after
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a classic novel that some people claimed evoked the American Civil War. Stowe motivated people to take sides over the issue of slavery by discussing the issue and showing the cruel aspects of it. The main focus of the novel was to show whites that African American’s have souls and feelings like any other human; it was common for whites at the time to view blacks as cattle. Families were separated, and the white people’s reasoning was that blacks did not feel the loss the same way a white person would. Stowe’s basic argument is that it is wrong to mistreat blacks because they suffer just as much as whites.
The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of 1850. This act required that authorities in the North had to assist southern slave catchers to retrieve and return slaves to their owners. Southerners favored this act because they saw no slavery in the territories to the west, by the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act it would help preserve slavery in the south. This act allowed southern slave owners to get their slaves back when they escaped to the North that is why this act was important and critical to southern survival. The view of this act by the North was the opposite, especially from those who were black, they feared this act. The blacks in the North were terrified that this act would make it so they could be ushered back to the south even if they were innocent. This led to the creation of resistance groups in the North.
Uncle Tom's Cabin is said to have been a book that tells the truths of slavery. It does this by telling the actual things that happened to many slaves. By publishing this book, Stowe made those who knew nothing of the evils of slavery realize how cruel it really was, and by doing this she made the South angry. She made the North so angry at the South that the two began to fight over slavery. This is truly one of the reasons why the Civil war began.
The American Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, or simply the Civil War in the United States, was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865, after seven Southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America . The states that remained in the Union were known as the "Union" or the "North". The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. Foreign powers did not intervene. After four years of bloody combat that left over 600,000 soldiers dead and destroyed much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and the difficult Reconstruction process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began.
In 1850, a document called the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Primarily, this document dealt with the reclaiming of runaway slaves. This law allowed southerners to call upon the federal government to capture runaway slaves who had fled the South and may be living in the North. The Fugitive Slave Act and the laws that went with it only caused controversy in the North. This split the North and South. In reaction to this, some northern states passed laws forbidding state officials to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, which only angered the southern states. Northerners had become aware of the hypocrisy of slavery and became resolved to end slavery. Many abolitionists started to take action to help slaves escape. This major controversy over the runaway slaves sparked the beginning of the Civil War.
The popularity of Uncle Tom’s Cabin during the 1850’s, contributed to the growing strength of anti-slavery in general. By turns sentimental and realistic, Harriet’s story appealed strongly to 19th-century readers. As stated by McGuire, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the first book by an American author to have its main protagonist as an African American. How was this tiny novel so well-known? “Stowe knew how to appeal to a wide audience. She skillfully used images from virtually every realm of culture--including religion, sensational pulp fiction, and popular entertainment--and brought them together in memorable characters and two compelling anti-slavery plot lines” (Reynolds). Perhaps these were the reasons why the book sold more than 300,000 copies in its first year, as stated by McGuire. By 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin broke all previous sales records for American novels (Goldner). As soon as word got out about this new, upcoming story, almost every anti-slavery supporter wanted to read it! In 1852 the Literacy ...
... I could only visualize the hardships that slave families had to endure. I was saddened by the fact that these things really did happen, and the worst part was that they happened all the time. I would have been just as devastated if my family was ripped from my arms and traded like livestock. Stowe painted a vivid picture of the lives of slaves. Stowe may have had a bias opinion on
The title Uncle Tom’s Cabin is significant because it inspires hope in the people and the readers. Slavery was a huge thing in the 1800’s, and the story takes place in the Southern parts of America where the slave problem was the worst. Uncle Tom was a person that the Shelby’s plantation looked up to because he had such great faith in God that never dwindled, wanted the best for everyone, and he wasn’t afraid to risk his life to make someone else's better. First, when Tom had to deal with the fact that his Master St. Clare died and he would have to go to Legree’s plantation, after already moving from Mr. Shelby’s, he accepted his fate. Since he was raised as a Christian,Tom continued to put a lot of faith in God, mainly during the years he
Uncle Tom’s cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The story is about Mr. Shelby selling Tom and Harry, the son of Eliza, to Haley. Eliza warns Tom and that they should leave, but Tom stays while Eliza and Harry leave. Then Eliza and Harry go to Canada and met up with Eliza’s husband, George. Tom on the other hand, gets sold to St Clare and befriends a little girl, Eva . After two years Eva dies, and St Clare’s wife, Marie sells him to Legree. Tom helps another slave, Cassy to escape. Legree whips Tom until Tom talks, but Tom doesn’t talk. Legree whips Tom to near death, then Mr. Shelby comes to buy Tom, but it was too late. A little after Mr. Shelby gets there Tom dies. Cassy and another slave met up with Eliza. Cassy finds out that she is the daughter of Eliza and then go to France. In France they decide to go to Liberia, and they live there.