LEARNING TOGETHER: The Story of America
To be a Slave Nation or Not to be a Slave Nation That is the Question
In 1820 America, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states. And no surprise here, the anti-slavery states were in the North and the pro-slavery states were in the South. Are there any redeeming qualities about the South? The Blues and Barbecue maybe.
As new states joined the Union, slavery (already a hotly debated political issue) became an explosive question without a clear answer. But not because of the harm that the institution of slavery had on the slaves, you know the buying and selling humans on the auction block. Sure, there were those, like the slaves themselves and abolitionists, who saw the evils of slavery, but at the end of the day, power (and money) was what was truly at play here. Who gets to control this young freedom loving nation (how ironic) called the United States of America?
Now here comes Missouri, the Show Me State, also a slave state (which is nothing to brag about or show) wishing to join the Union. If a pro-slavery state like Missouri was allowed into the Union, there would be seismic shift in power. The South would rise, and we can’t have that happen, ever. So, what’s this new democracy to do? How does a nation that has promoted itself as free, hip, and progressive keep its brand image from appearing like…false advertisement? Well, here’s an idea, let’s allow Missouri in our Union as a slave state and let’s allow Maine (which recently decided to split from Massachusetts) in our Union as a free state. Pat on the back, we’ll just keep this up, one slave state and one free state. Thus, we have the Missouri Compromise.
And to prove that we, Americans, are seriously working on our brand of freedom (not equality) for all, we won’t let the rest of the Louisiana Purchase areas north of latitude 36º 30’, an invisible line join us as slave states.
This pinky promise between the North and South lasted about 30 years. Then came the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 which was supposed to ease some of the rising tension over America’s slavery issue. You see the “you get a free state and now you get a slave state” wasn’t working.
Once again, our newbie nation had to ponder what to do. The debate over slavery was literally tearing the country apart (sounds like some issues today). Politicians wishing to get something done, had to appease the pro-slavery South. Here’s an idea, how about popular sovereignty? Each new state would vote on whether it wanted to be a slave state or a free state. Sounds fair, (as long as you can overlook the horrors of slavery) but Southerners hated this idea, not the horrors of slavery, but free states period.
There was no way that Southerners (pro-slavers) were going to allow this large piece of land via the Louisiana Purchase to become free states just because they say so. Even if there was big money to be made from building a railroad across the nation which a Northern developer wanted to do. Slavery was also big business, no one should be allowed to stop the expansion of slavery, and no one should be allowed to tamper with the Southern way of life even if it meant oppressing an entire race of people. Southerners via their politicians demanded that the Missouri Compromise be repealed, and it was.
Northerners and abolitionists were not happy and felt that America was a sellout by giving in to Southern demands (thus giving more power to the South). Now you have major fights breaking out between pro-slavery supporters and anti-slavery supporters, aka Bleeding Kansas. The issue of what to do about enslaved people and who controls America was headed for a major war.
This hot mess became an even bigger hot mess when our Supreme Court got involved in 1857. The Justices decided that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. It happened all because this Black man named Dred Scott felt that he shouldn’t be a slave. Scott’s master moved his slaves from a slave state to a free state. So, Scott felt that by law (Since, we are a nation ruled by laws, not kings nor slaveowners.) if he lived in a free state then he should be free. Sounds reasonable to me. However, the geniuses (not) of our Supreme Court in a 7-2 ruling basically said once a slave always a slave no matter what part of the country your master drags your butt to. They used the 5th Amendment which stated that no person (slavers) could be deprived of life, liberty, or property (slaves), without due process of law. It would take a Civil War, a bit of a conscious (Reconstruction before America gave slaveholders a pass by returning their land to them and allowing Jim Crow laws to flourish for generations), and the passing of the 14th Amendment to undo this hot mess…sorta.
Centuries later, who gets to control America continues to be up for debate. Will this experiment in democracy be a free nation for all its citizens or a slave nation of dictators and oppressors forcing their religious beliefs upon its people?
Noteworthy Fact(s):
In 1850, California, a free state, was admitted to the Union on the condition that it would have one pro-slavery senator. This was to preserve the balance of power. Think about that for a moment.
OUR HISTORY MATTERS
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