Slavery

The United States of America started off being a nation known for its ability to compromise and work together to get a solution that pleased everybody. One such example of this was the Missouri Compromise.

In 1820 Missouri requested Congress' permission to be admitted to the United States as a slave state. The North was upset because at this time there was an equal number of slave and free states, there were eleven slave states and eleven free states at this time. In 1820 Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise. In this compromise, Missouri was entered into the United States as a slave state and Maine was entered into the United States as a free state. Although slavery was allowed in Missouri, it would be prohibited in the rest of the territories that were gained through the Louisiana Purchase, north of the 36 30 line. But the ability for the United States to make compromises was short lived when the issue of slavery came up.

By the 1830's slavery was raising its head and the blame was often laid on politicians. During one of the seven Lincoln ~ Douglas Debates Abraham Lincoln addressed these accusations. Lincoln pointed out that the issue of slavery was showing up everywhere; in churches, in literature, in morals, and the basics of everyday life. Therefore, how could the blame for the slavery dispute be put solely on politicians? [DOC G]

The majority of the Northern states wanted to abolish slavery. One of the most outspoken Northern abolitionist was William Lloyd Garrison. In 1831 garrison published his first edition of The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper. Some of the articles that were published in the newspaper started a 30-year war of words. A group of people following Garrison started the American Anti-Slavery Society. The American Anti-Slavery Society felt that anybody that owned a slave was immoral. The society also felt that all slaves should be immediately set free. They believed all laws on the rights of slavery