In the 19th century, slavery was a topic with tension between the North and the South. The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1850 heightened tension between the North and the South, when the law required all people to help with the capture and return of runaway slave, and the abolitionists wouldn’t help, until ultimately a war was started. The Fugitive Slave Acts were key factors to the Civil War because the laws were so controversial, and the acts caused a lot of tension between the North and South. The North and the South had already been fighting for years on the issue of slavery, but the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1850 pushed the Abolitionists and the Southerners to want a war.
Article IV of the Constitution, or the Fugitive Slave Clause, orders states
In 1850, the Compromise was formed as a way of preventing the southerners from withdrawing from the Union. Part of this law, was the Fugitive Slave act, which aroused many reactions from the public that it ultimately led to the civil war. This Fugitive Slave Act stated that the southerners were still owners of these slaves that had escaped to the north and that the Northerners had to abide to it, even though most of their states had illegalized slavery. This law also made it hard for the blacks to have a fair trial as they were not able to prove whether they were free or not. This led to the blacks in the northern states freeing to Canada in fear of being returned to slavery and because they did not feel as safe anymore. The Compromise, to keep the southerners in the Union, made these laws on slaves to favor them. However unexpectedly it made the Abolitionists
Though initially considered to be a ‘compromise’ and intended to lessen the tensions between the North and South, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ultimately served as a vehicle to fight against slavery. Common citizens rebelled against their supposed responsibilities to return slaves to their masters, and resisted the punishments handed down. By polarizing the nation in such a way,
The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon.
The Civil War is something almost everyone has a general idea about. It is more than a huge part of America’s history and is the central event in America 's historical consciousness. This war, unlike the American Revolution which created the first American states, determined what kind of nation it would be. Though there are many reasons for the cause of the American Civil War, one of the main reasons is the different attitudes the North and the South had toward slavery. In January of 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation was
This period lead to the Civil War, tensions were high due to four main factors; slavery, constitutional disputes, economic disputes, and political mistakes. Slavery grew as an issue due to the new territories; many wanted to admit them as free states but much of the South did not agree. A compromise was put into place with some territories free and others the right to vote on it, but many in the North and South still did not approve, leading to deepened feelings about slavery. The Fugitive Slave law was passed, its purpose to track down slaves who had run away and bring them back to their owners, and it lead to the creation of the Underground Railroad and many books on slavery, one about a slave
The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, was mainly caused by the diverging society between the North and the South. The North and the South had different goals. There were many factors that led to the war and the chief ones were political and economic differences between the North and the South. The North’s aggression to control the South had led to the point where it was intolerable. The issue on slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War. Slavery and slave trades had become a big part of the South’s economy. The slaves were needed to work on plantations which helped the South prospered. During the 19th Century, the North worked hard on abolishing slavery, which they thought was a disgrace to the Union.
The Fugitive Slave Acts were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway slaves within the territory of the United States.the first was the fugitive slave law of 1793 this law required judges to award possession of an escaped slave upon any formal request by a master or his representative. during this time accused runaways were denied trial by jury.Free black were denied the legal protections that the bill of rights guaranteed them as citizens.
Fugitive slaves are admire for their intense drive to pursue a life of freedom. However, many believe, mostly southerners, that fugitive slaves are escaped property that should be returned to their masters. This conflict introduced political sides such as Anti- Slavery, mostly northerners, and Pro- Slavery, mostly southerners. Abolitionist faced many obstacle when helping fugitive slaves earn their freedom. One of those many issues was The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, a law that allows slave catchers to enter free states and acquire past slave fugitives. It was one of the five bills pass in the compromise of 1850 in the attempt to avoid civil war. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 affected many changes in the country, resulting too many famous political cases and was the many factors that caused the civil war.
The Fugitive Slave Act states that all northern citizens would be fined $1000 if caught assisting a slave on the run. Another reason is because the South tried to secede from Union. They tried to secede because they didn’t feel they had as much power as the north. They also wanted independence to support their own beliefs such as their belief that the state governments should be more powerful than the federal government. The Civil War was just
The question of slavery and the rights of states to decide on the matter for themselves completely controlled politics in the years prior to the Civil War. Laws were passed, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it so any slaves that escaped were to be sent back to their owners. Not only would these runaway slaves be punished severely, but anybody who aided them in escape would also be subject to harsh punishment. These desperate men, women, and children had no protection in the legal system and were left with no options in life other than escape. Many of these escapees had to watch friends and family be beaten, sold, or even killed and were expected to work just as hard, like nothing had happened. After losing everything, it
In the early years of the 19th century, slavery was more than ever turning into a sectional concern, such that the nation had essentially become divided along regional lines. Based on economic or moral reasoning, people of the Northern states were increasingly in support of opposition to slavery, all the while Southerners became united to defend the institution of slavery. Brought on by profound changes including regional differences in the pattern of slavery in the upper and lower South, as well as the movement of abolitionism in the North, slavery in America had transformed from an issue of politics into a moral campaign during the period of 1815-1860, ultimately polarizing the North and the South to the point in which threats of a Southern disunion would mark the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 (Goldfield et. al, The American Journey, p. 281).
During the time of the Civil War there were many battles going on off of the battlefield that placed the United States of America in great turmoil. While the literal war was being fought throughout the country there were still political, ethical and emotional battles taking place. A big question of the Civil War was about its origins and if there was more than just one cause for the rebellion of the South. Many issues at hand during this time are: slavery, westward expansion, and states’ rights. Westward expansion and states’ rights tend to be two sides of the same coin while slavery is a big issue in and of itself.
In 1861, the American Civil War commenced after many years of tension building between the Northern and Southern states. The main reason of the tension was said to be the debate of slavery between the North and South, and although some documents support this claim, it is false. The war had been brewing since 1607, before slavery was even introduced to the colonies that would become the United States of America. The debate of slavery did play a major part in the civil war; however it did so in supporting the true cause of the civil war. The main cause of the American Civil War was not the debate of slavery, but rather Europe’s role in the American economy.
During the 1850s, slavery had become a topic of great discussion, especially when it came to the organization of new territories, and whether slavery should be allowed or prohibited in these new territories. Some argued that slavery was right, while others though it was not and should be ended, causing fear and anger between the free-states in the North and the Southern Slave states. This would lead to many problems for the nation. These problems not only created a division between the northern and southern states, it caused blood to be spilled and led to beginning of the American Civil War. Within these events, four significant ones created the spark needed to start the Civil War. These events were the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Bleeding Kansas, Harper’s Ferry Raid, and the Secession of the South from the Union, which created a division between northern and southern states and made the American Civil War inevitable.
I agree with Patrick on the fact that one of the most important provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act was the provision that allowed the bounty hunting of slaves from free states. It allowed many to kidnap free blacks from free states and transport them across state lines to the slave states. They were allowed to inhumanely transport free human beings, which were seen as property in slave states, back into the barbaric enterprise of