The Compromise Of The Declaration Of Independence Essay

The U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are two very important documents in the founding of our nation. This essay compares how these two documents are linked together, but also how they are clearly different. Though both documents were created near the same time, the Declaration of Independence was actually written first. It was written by Thomas Jefferson and was adopted by congress on July 4, 1776, what we know today as Independence Day. The U.S constitution though, was not adopted until eleven years later in 1787. After these two documents were written, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1801.

The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson was made in order to give the colonists a way to break free from the shackles of King George. This document has affected the building blocks of the United States and is one of the most important documents in U.S. history. The Declaration of Independance was the foundation of what this country was based on. However, what Jefferson and the other signers might not have expected is the strech, the firm words, would have across the world. The document made such an impression because it was a new and differnet way of dealing with political issues, and they weren't asking for anyones permission. It was the first document unlike anything in American

“The incorporation of new western territories into the United States made slavery an explicit concern of national politics. Interests of the slave and free states played a role of designing the federal government at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The crucial compromise sacrificed the rights of African Americans in favor of a stronger union among the states exploded once more in 1819 when Missouri petitioned to join the United States as a slave state.” (The Missouri Compromise) In 1819, the nation contained a balance of eleven slave states and eleven free states, therefore the balance would be overthrown due to Missouri wanting to come in as a slave state which would give more rights to the slave states rather than the free states. “First, Missouri would be admitted to the union as a slave state, but would be balanced by the admission of Maine, a free state, that had long wanted to be separated from Massachusetts. Second, slavery was to be excluded from all new states in the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri. People on both sides of the controversy saw the compromise as deeply flawed.” (The Missouri Compromise)

During the year 1820, the Missouri Compromise was established in the USA. Missouri was a slave state to start with but the North wanted to push it towards a free state. Although the North outnumbered the South in population and in the House of Representatives (105-81), and the ratio between states were 11:11, no new legislation could be made. If the state of Missouri became a free state, the ratio between free states and slave states would be 12:10 which would mean that the North could pass any legislation without fear of it being blocked. Vice versa with the South because it would give the South more political power. There was much controversy surrounding this issue and someone had to try and fix it. The man who first try and fix the problem was James Tallmadge who wanted to get rid of slavery in Missouri which outraged the South into blocking it. A man named Henry Clay proposed that Missouri would be a slave-holding state, Maine would now be a free state (23 state added), and there would be no slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of latitude 36°30'

Since Missouri’s population was composed of 16 percent slaves, it would be admitted as a slave state therefore upsetting the balance in favor of the south. Northerners didn’t like this because Missouri was at the same latitude as the free states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and because of this they feared that it would set a precedent for slave states coming more north. The north and south continued to argue and argue over the issue of slavery. The north accused the south of trying to extend the institution of slavery and the south said that the north was conspiring to destroy the Union and end slavery. To resolve this crisis, congress passed a series of agreements that became known as the Missouri Compromise, which smoothed over the crisis. In 1820, Congress admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state in order to balance the number of free and slave states and to keep order between the north and south. Also, it prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri. This compromise soon fell apart after it was passed. Missouri drafted its own Constitution saying that free blacks were prohibited from entering their territory. Because of this provision, which was against the federal Constitution stating that citizens of one state were entitled to the same rights as citizens of other states, antislavery northerners

The Declaration of Independence, completed and signed in July of 1776, marked the official separation between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. An armed struggle between the colonies and Britain had begun just over a year before, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The formal declaration of independence established the new American revolutionary government and officially declared war against Great Britain. The primary purpose of the declaration was to assist the Second Continental Congress in obtaining aid from foreign countries. The document also clearly outlines the history of abuses the colonists had suffered under British rule since the end of the French

The Missouri Compromise, one of the most known agreements in American history, was an attempt presented by Henry Clay in calming sectional division between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery. While the Missouri Compromise found a temporary solution in regards to representation resulting in twelve free states and twelve slave states(G), it also, however, ignited the strong feelings, opinions, and justifications of two opposing sides and "heralded" the future unsuccess of the Union. No longer could our forefathers postpone such an imminent issue as was done during the infancy of the United States government. The Missouri Compromise was a success in a sense, not merely

When our founding fathers agreed on seceding from Great Britain, the goal was to let loose from the leash that King George III had the colonies tied to. The initial goal of separation was accomplished, and with it came the Declaration of Independence formally stating that the United States was then its own new country. However, soon after, they realized that by becoming a new country and although a president had already been appointed, there was much power to distribute if they wanted to avoid having the new government become a replica of what they had experienced with Great Britain. They viewed King George III as a tyrant because he implemented heavy taxation, laws, and acts that negatively affected the populous; therefore, to avoid this,

In order for one to understand American Constitutional law, one must first look to the Constitution; and therefore, look to the federal government established in the Constitution. The federal government is purposefully divided into three branches: the legislative branch that makes the laws, the judicial branch that interprets the laws, and the executive branch that puts the laws into effect. Article VI, Clause 2, sets up the Constitution as “the supreme Law of the Land;” and therefore, legislators, judges, and presidents must comply with the standards set in the Constitution. Judges, then, have the function to interpret what the Constitution means and have the responsibility to ensure laws adhere to the Constitution. Thereby, the

In 1819, the Union existed in a precarious balance of eleven free states and eleven slave states, with western expansion threatening to upset it. Although the Northwest Ordinance did not define an explicit line of demarcation between future slave and free states, the generally lateral nature of westward expansion mitigated the need for one. However, when the territory of Missouri applied for admission to the Union as a slave state, crisis ensued. Representative James Tallmadge, Jr. incited chaos when he proposed an amendment to the bill for Missouri’s admission that would prohibit the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and mandate the gradual end of slavery. After the amendment was struck down in the senate, several northern reform groups began protesting. Former Federalists jumped on the opportunity to return to politics. Southerners were equally aggravated because, as they viewed it, slavery was a property issue, and therefore a state issue, not a federal one. Only through ‘The Great Compromiser’, Henry Clay’s uncanny ability to settle disputes, was the Missouri Compromise reached by deciding that Maine’s application for statehood would retain balance. To prevent further confusion the southern border of Missouri, the 36º30' parallel, was established as the demarcating line. The Compromise only temporarily cooled tensions between the

The Missouri Compromise was made in 1820, and it was a settlement trying to regulate the expansion of slavery. This controversy had occured when the state Missouri had applied for admission into the union, but had been rejected as the current states in the union had already achieved a balance in the number of slave and free states. If Missouri was accepted it would ruin the balance in the Senate to the slave states' advantage. To prevent their disadvantage in power, northerners accepted to admit Missouri into the union in one condition: they had to admit Maine as a free state. The admission of Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state would once again return to the balance, preventing and issues against the north and the south. The settlement was made stating that Missouri would be admitted as a slave state and

In 1820, the Missouri compromise was enforced, which sparked the clash between all of the states. The Missouri Compromise stated that Maine was a free state, Missouri was a slave state, and the rest of the Louisiana Territory was split into two halves; one free and one slave. Some people believed that because of this, the problem of slavery would finally be resolved, but Missouri threw a curveball when they required that free African American citizens could not cross Missouri borders. “Missouri’s restrictionist policy obviously denied African American citizens the constitutional right to move from one state to any other state” (193). But the Compromise was soon salvaged, and white southerners began to realize that in the eyes of the Union, they were a political minority because they could not even pass the Missouri Compromise.

In 1820, the Congress of the United States passed The “Missouri Compromise”. This compromise went over the sectional differences the states had at the time, but was able to maintain the balance between states who favored slavery, and those who were against it and banned it in their respective state. But how this was achieved? After the “War of 1812”, the American people started to contemplate the idea of expansion more thoroughly, which led to the “Era of Good Feeling”, from 1817 to 1823. This ideas, however, were delayed because of the “Panic of 1819”, which was the aftermath result of the “War of 1812”. On top of that, from 1819 to 1821, a national crisis known as the “Missouri Crisis” stroke. This “crisis” consisted that the nations had to confront the question: If America keeps expanding west, should the southern slavery system expand as well? This “Missouri Question” eventually led to the “Missouri Compromise”, but what circumstances propelled the United States Congress to enable this compromise? According to the documents provided, the circumstances that led up to the “Missouri Compromise” were that of an attempt to regulate slavery, a response to the migrations west of the Appalachians, and the belief of the American people in the “Manifest Destiny”.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was made for compromise and it created a geographical line that divided slave states from non-slaveholding states. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in all remaining territories above the 36’30’ parallel and allowed slavery below the line. (Pg. 16). This division of the states still brought disruption between the Union and the Confederacy and by allowing this “compromise” not only brought the states farther apart but the birth of the Abolition Movement and concerns from both sides became public. “Southern complaints struck a sympathetic chord with conservative northerners,” May adds, “who worried abolitionist provocations would estrange slaveholders from the Union, causing its dissolution.”

Thomas Jefferson was the author of The Declaration of Independence, and according to Bellis, Jefferson was also a jurist, a diplomat, a writer, an inventor, a philosopher, an architect, a gardener, a negotiator of Louisiana Purchase, but he only requested three of his many accomplishments to be noted on his tomb. (2005). Thomas Jefferson was a very smart politician and he knew what to say to whom in order to enhance their support. This essay will be an analytical paper discussing Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence. It will also clarify the basic ideas contained in The Declaration of Independence; the influence of the Declaration upon American War of Independence,