Debates About Slavery - 1156 Words

Debates Over Slavery In 1787, delegates arrived in Philadelphia to begin work on revising the Articles of Confederation. Most states agreed that the Articles had not provided the country with the type of guidelines that it needed to run smoothly. There were many things missing, and many issues that needed further consideration. One of the most controversial topics at the Constitutional Convention was figuring out the country s policy towards slavery. When all was said and done, slavery was still legal after the Convention because the southern economy depended on it and because most people decided that this was an issue that should be decided by each individual state, rather than the country as a whole. The issue of slavery was taken†¦show more content†¦However, the south was very different from this since it relied heavily on plantations as a means of driving the economy. By immediately taking away their work force, there would be no one left to pick the cotton, their main crop at the time. Without cotton, the northern factories would have nothing to produce their textiles from. This chain reaction would basically collapse the entire US economy, so they proposed many different ideas, such as slowly getting rid of slavery and not dealing with the issue again until 1808 (Edel 24). This is exactly what the Convention finally agreed on. The next reason why slavery was not abolished during the Constitutional Convention was because many people saw slavery as an issue that should be decided by individual states, rather than the national government. Oliver Ellsworth argued at the Convention by saying, Let every state import what it pleases. The morality or wisdom of slavery are considerations belonging to the states themselves. What enriches a part enriches the whole, and the states are the best judges of their particular interest (Peters 165). Before his death in 1790, Benjamin Franklin wrote a memorial to Congress asking for the abolition of slavery. Congress responded by saying that they could not interfere in the internal affairs of the states (Peters 241). People such as Roger Sherman pointed out thatShow MoreRelated Debates About Slavery Essay example1161 Words   |  5 Pages Debates Over Slavery In 1787, delegates arrived in Philadelphia to begin work on revising the Articles of Confederation. Most states agreed that the Articles had not provided the country with the type of guidelines that it needed to run smoothly. There were many things missing, and many issues that needed further consideration. One of the most controversial topics at the Constitutional Convention was figuring out the countrys policy towards slavery. When all was said and done, slavery was stillRead MoreSlavery or Sovereignty: Analyzing Lincolns Priorities972 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Slavery or Sovereignty: Lincolns Priorities One of the most useful things about the debate between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas in 1858 is that it was held in a time prior to the advent of television. As such, there is a significantly greater emphasis on speech, rhetoric, and verbiage thatncurrently is found in contemporary debates regarding presidential elections, in which candidates can rely upon looks and other superficialities not related to pertinent issues to sway an audience. WhenRead MoreLincoln and Douglas Debates1171 Words   |  5 Pagesand Douglas Debates The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the republican candidate, and the incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, a Democratic Party candidate, for a seat in the United States Senate. 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The seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas that took place in 1858 had extreme importance in Illinois that created effects that decided the presidential election of 1860. The Lincoln Douglas debates were a series of several debates that took place all over the state of Illinois. In these debates, two men argued in order to express their beliefs and standpoints on certain issues, primarily slavery, in an attemptRead MoreThe Annexation Of Texas And The United States928 Words   |  4 Pagesdiffering opinions on the topic of Texas. The debate over Texas acquiring statehood was representative of the divide between North and South that led to Civil War in the U.S. In the North, many people didn’t want Texas to become a state, therefore were against Annexation. Benjamin Lundy Argued against the Annexation of Texas in his 1836 piece The War in Texas. Lundy argued that the Southern states simply wanted to Annex Texas to â€Å"reestablish the system of slavery†. 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Movements were made, protests held, but what no one was expecting was a short white lady by the name of Harriet Beecher Stowe to make the change that no one had yet achievedRead MoreThe Wilmot Proviso And The Civil War1614 Words   |  7 Pages1846. Because Mexico now forbade slavery, Wilmot declared that if any new territory were to be acquired from Mexico, there should be no slavery or involuntary servitude there. His Proviso sparked new political conflict and debate over the extension of slavery and tested the Missouri Compromise that had protected both slave states and free states and not permitting it in newly admitted states. With newly acquired territory from the Mexican War, the national debate continued and in 1846, the HouseRead MoreSlavery During The 19th Century895 Words   |  4 PagesDuring the 1800’s to 1850’s, slavery was undergoing a huge development in which helped the nation to grow into what it is today. The United States was split into two sections, the north and south, over the dispute of slavery. The south sought to further slavery while the north was in favor of abolishing slavery. Around 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, two politicians with completely different views on slavery fought each other with politicians trying to win the presidency election of 1860