Ending Slavery through Disunion
“Missouri Compromise” http://www.history.com/topics/missouri-compromise
This is one of the articles that shed light on the aspects behind the Missouri Compromise of 1820. How it addresses the tensions that rose amid the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions across the US and especially with the Congress indicates how peace was realized. This also reflects on how a request for an admission of Missouri as a slave state to the union threatened the delicate balance amid the Free states and the slave states. The article collaborates the fact that in order to keep the peace, the Congress had to orchestrate a compromise in two-part to create a platform for granting Missouri the request and in the other hand admits Maine as a free state. The process also saw the passing of an amendment which history has proven relevant to the establishment of a boundary to link the Free states and slave regions. This is after it remained the law until the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act facilitated a negation process.
The article demonstrates with clarity how Missouri Compromise proven to be a significant effort by the Congress. This is in defusing the political and sectional rivalries that were triggered through the Missouri admission request in 1819 as a state meant to encourage slavery. It also highlights how the admission of Missouri could have been upset to the balance and set a congressional acquiescence precedent in slavery expansion process. The article concludes that the Missouri Compromise later was subjected to tense criticized by the majority of the southerners following the establishment of the principle that was meant to enable congress make slavery related laws.
“Fugitive Slave Act” http://www.history.com/topics/fugitive-slave-acts
The article highlights the Fugitive Slave Acts as the pair of federal laws created to enable the capture and return of slaves who ran away within the United States territory. Upon its first enactment in 1793, the provisions of the Act gave the local governments the power to seize and return the slaves who escaped from their owners. It also authorized heavy penalties on the escapees and the people who may aid in their flight. The article also noted how the acts were among the laws with controversies during the early 19th century. This saw special legislation passed by the northern states in an effort to circumvent its provisions. The laws were repealed through an act of the congress formally in 1864.
The article elaborates how the passing of the Fugitive Slave Acts led to the illegal capture and selling of free blacks in large numbers. It also notes that when the US had a constitution convention during the year 1789, the majority of the states such as Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts had already abolished the aspect of slavery. The article concludes through an elaboration on how the act repeal process happened through an act of congress in June 1864.
“The Emancipation Proclamation” http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/transcript.html
The article is a transcription of a proclamation of a President Abraham Lincoln in January 1, 1863 as the nation approached a civil war. The proclamation sets the platform for the release of every slave within the states that were rebellious free. There were significant reasons behind the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. Based on the article, the proclamation indicates cases of limitations in significant ways since it only applies to the states, which had seceded from the union. The proclamation also exempts some parts of the Confederacy, which by then was already under the control of the Northern region. The most significant concept is that the freedom highlighted in its provisions heavily relied on the Union military victory. Although the president’s proclamation did not end slavery, it managed to capture the imagination and hearts of Americans in the millions and transformed war character fundamentally.