DBQ essays

DBQ essays By 1860 the Union had grown to over 36 states. Much of the population had moved its center from farmland to large cities. With the invention of the cotton gin the South ushered in a whole new era of profitable slave labor. In Virginia in 1831 and 1832, the legislation defeated numerous gradual emancipation proposals. After this the state and those surrounding it tightened slave codes and strengthened runaway slave laws. In the North the abolitionist voice was growing stronger through men like Frederick Douglas (a former slave) and William Lloyd Garrison as was the voice for women and human rights. Recent religious and cultural revivals changed brought to stage injustices and cruelty towards other human beings. Though these two sections were a union, protected and defined by the constitution, disagreements over this document had begun to create sectional discord and tension. Ultimately this tension and discord led to the failure of the union it had created. The Compromise of 1850 sparked much controversy in the North and the South. With the admittance of California as a free state, the South was no longer equal in the senate. The territories that were taken from Mexico, New Mexico and Utah, were set to have slavery decided through popular sovereignty (see map Document A). Though they were Southerly territories, it was unlikely that they would decide slave for the sole reason that it was not profitable without much fertile land. In the District of Columbia, slave trade was abolished (but not slavery). The only part of the Compromise that benefited the South at all was the Fugitive slave law (Document C). This allowed Southern slave owners to cross state lines to regain their slaves. It also stated that Slaves could not testify against themselves in court or be on trial by a jury. Both of the parts of the law were constitutional but that is where the problem begins. The constitution does not strictly forbid slavery nor does it recogniz. ..