Dbq Slavery

Slavery was an American fixture ever since the colonial days of the American continent. However, it was believed by the founding fathers that slavery was a necessary instrument of the times and would slowly die out due to less importance, (Lecture). This feeling kept the republic united during the early years, but with migration westward over the continent slavery still remained a fixture of the South while northern states began the process of emancipation. With the newfound “Cotton Belt” and the growth of cotton production as explained earlier, the slave population saw a resurgence in necessity that had been missing during the decades before 1830. In 1810 the slave population in the South was 2.3 million, but coinciding with the “Cotton Revolution”

As expected these people did not get along together and the tension led to fighting between antislavery “Jayhawks” and proslavery Missouri “Ruffians” known as “Bleeding Kansas” (Lecture). The sacking of free-state settlements in Kansas included forced evacuation of the town of Leavenworth and the burning of the small city of Lawrence (Napier, 28). All of these debates over slavery during 19th century, whether in Missouri, Texas, or Kansas were the result of westward expansion by the United States and were showing that compromise was becoming harder and harder and that violence was bound to erupt over the idea of slavery. This violence culminated into the Civil War which saw the debate over slavery ended with America’s bloodiest conflict. While it is undoubted that the main cause of the Civil War was slavery, the expansion westward brought the question of slavery’s expansion to a nation debate and can be seen as a dramatic shifter in the course of American

New economic opportunities were opened up to the country nation west of the Appalachians in the form of iron and cotton which made the United States economy boon into an example of success for the rest of the world. Transportation also served as the backbone to the new frontier and connected the old and new continent by a tether of economic growth. Finally, the expansion of slavery caused by settlers west of the Mississippi River forced the country to deal with the moral question of slavery, and ultimately led to America’s learning that their declaration of all men were created equal was starting to come true. Westward migration can be seen as a search by pioneers. While each settler searched for something different, whether it be for land, gold, or an escape, combined they formed a nation moving westward in search for one common goal; World