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The Slavery Of The United States

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Ranging from a necessary evil to a positive good, the perception of slavery proved to be a polarizing issue. Many northern citizens were indifferent to the idea of slavery, while southern plantation owners relied on slavery to support their economies. After the Second Great Awakening, the abolition movement was introduced and opposition to slavery began to receive attention. Due to political ideals, acquisition of new American territories, and religious influences, opposition to slavery grew rapidly in the United States from 1776 to 1852. Natural rights of life and liberty fought for during the American Revolution were extended to slaves in the North. One of the Articles of Confederation government’s greatest achievements was in passing the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which marked an early effort to contain slavery by prohibiting it in the Old Northwest. (Document A) The doctrine of slavery holds Africans in perpetual slavery as animals. The Massachusetts Supreme Court decision in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Nathaniel Jennison upholds the abolition of slavery. The natural rights of life and liberty are protected for all citizens in the Massachusetts Commonwealth. It was stated that all men, regardless of race or physical attributes, are equal. The American Revolution created a sense of egalitarianism and a new ideal of government grounded in liberty and the natural rights of man. The legal system of Massachusetts codified an opposition to slavery. A growing

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