Question

In the early nineteenth century, Americans strove to resolve their political disputes through compromise, yet by 1860 compromise no longer seemed possible. Why not? What changed during the years between 1820 and 1860?

Answer 1

• Throughout U.S. history politicians have always come to compromises in order to resolve problems, however, in the time period roughly between 1820-1860 this became an increasingly hard task and there began a separation of power and struggle over the topic of slavery. Although slavery was the main factor in the end of compromise there were also other underlying factors that led to this split in communication.
• The first significant sign of this divide in government was the Missouri compromise of 1820; this stated that everything north of Missouri would be free of slavery including Missouri, while everything south would be open to slavery.
• The Compromise of 1850 included both pro slavery and anti-slavery parts. The Fugitive slave act and other clauses satisfied the pro slavery proponents’ .For anti-slavery proponents (abolitionists) it stated that Texas would be brought into the union, and the new territories would be able to decide whether or not they would enter the union as a free or slave state. This idea was dubbed “popular sovereignty” and would cause even more of a gap between parties.
• This new gap in societies would be exemplified in an incident called “bleeding Kansas”. This was a proxy war between abolitionists and pro slavery activists, as Kansas came to vote on whether it would be slave or a free state, flocks of these activists border hopped into Kansas to sway the vote. This eventually led to battles and skirmishes from abolitionists fighting with proslavery activists.
• . Bleeding Kansas Reopened many sealed wounds in that it enraged both the south and the north on the views on their respective opposites. This event was also accompanied by “Bleeding Sumter” where Preston Brooks attacked Charles Sumter with a cane and beat him nearly to death showing that not only the common populations of activists were resulting to violence but the politicians as well. These two events furthered the separation between the two emerging parties not just on a political standpoint but social as well.
• As politics and new compromises were sought the social balance of the U.S. also began to shift as well, often due to the emergence of new abolitionists and continued ideas based upon social society. . One notable form of pro abolitionist social propaganda was the emergence of American literature. Books like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, opened the eyes of many northerners and divided the gap between north and south.
• Another example is Nat turner’s rebellion which was directly influenced by abolitionist movements and the idea of freedom. This rebellion involving the deaths of 55 slaves and 56 white’s both scared and angered the south which in turn, led to a serious of laws restricting the rights of slaves to almost nothing.
• This breach of rights angered the northern abolitionists and led to a campaign to stop slavery with the use of the judicial branch, resulting in the court case of Dred Scott v. Stanford. The court ruled against Scott stating that a slave was not a person but property and therefore had no case. This outraged abolitionists but gave speed to proslavery activists.
• All these social and political factors contributed to the increasing gap between the south and north, this rift would further the inability to compromise between north and south.