ipl-logo

Matthew Mason, Slavery And Politics In The Early Republic

1347 Words6 Pages

Matthew Mason, Slavery & Politics in the Early American Republic, focus on political debates about slavery during the early republic. Mason provides insight on slavery and politics and their involvement in the nation creation. He used rhetorical devices on political opponents throughout the national debates. Mason also observed the conflict between the Northern and southern states and the political influence of African Americans. He uses political speeches, newspaper editorials, and pamphlet to provide a clear image of slavery in public discussions. He also goes into detail about the major events that involved the issue of slavery. Mason delivers different viewpoints from politicians, abolitionist, and pro-slavery supporters. Mason believes …show more content…

The New England Federalist argued that the slave representation given to southerners resulted in the Embargo Act. During the war, British aided runaway slaves and promised them freedom. America feared that slaves would be an endangerment to them, so they strengthen the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 in 1818. After the war, America wanted compensation of the slaves which increased tension on the issue of slavery. Manson claims that American saw the “bonds of their still-fragile Union attenuated by their disagreements over slavery” (105). African Americans held a significant role in the politics of slavery because of their opposition to slavery and racism. Mason highlights the influence African American had on making slavery a political issue. African Americans participated in rebellious behaviors that the Southern tried to control which led to rising tension between North and South. Mason states that the “African American Struggle for freedom and equality, contributed to the divergence between America’s emergent sections” (129). The political pursuit of free blacks in North and South encouraged protest in the slave …show more content…

The compromise authorized Missouri to have no restrictions on slavery, but self-proclaimed the free state of Maine. It created a line through the remanding Louisiana Purchase and restricted slavery above line but allowed it below. The Missouri crisis complex the level of political debate over slavery. Mason believes that the “legacy of a decade’s worth of political combat involving slavery was on display” (179). The purpose was to make Missouri into a slave state and Maine a free state. The Missouri debates concerned the Northerners because they were not reassured their distance from slavery. Along with the fear of their own liberties in the Missouri constitution. The anxiety of Northerner’s distance from the South led them to oppose all slavery expansion. The Missouri Crisis had given a new clearness in the sectional politics of the United States and guided each section towards consistency on the issue of slavery. The Missouri Compromises brought awareness to the sectional nations, but it was a new beginning that would lead to civil war. Mason states that Missouri and the conflicts in the antebellum era “pushed Americans in new directions, creating extremists on both sides”

Show More
Related
800 Words | 4 Pages

According to the source merriam webster, the definition of a slavery(n) is the submission to a dominating influence. Slavery in America spurred various arguments, quarrels, but mainly a civil war fought against the Southern Confederacy and the Northern Union. In the book Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis, Chapter 3: The Silence examines the problems of slavery and the disagreements which had led up to a plethora of problems. Slavery dates back all the way to 1619 to Jamestown, America’s first colony. Here slaves aided in the production of tobacco, slaves endured countless hours of labor on places called plantations.

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

The Missouri Compromise came as a two part solution to the admission problem. First, Missouri gained admission to the Union as a slave state, with a provision that portions of

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

This makes the reader easy to understand the point of the American Revolution or slave trade. The author also mentioned that he thinks that the slavery is the reason what made America a united country. The author also mentions that the slavery helped the constitution of United States get into shape. This book explains that the south people were afraid that north would let go off slavery.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Slavery, the “peculiar institution” of the United States, has been a heated subject for many years. Even though slavery remained in some parts of the world, opposition to it grew. The leading argument was that slavery was immoral and that it violated the constitution. Three main reasons for opposition to slavery were social issues, the press, and political views.

Read More
766 Words | 4 Pages

From 1776 to 1852 slavery was growing in the United States, as certain events happened opposition grew from those who were not slaves. The underlying reasons came from the North who never endorsed this idea of slavery anyways, from Southerners who began to see the injustice slaves were suffering from, and multiple events which came about periodically starting the route to freedom. These events such as the three fifths compromise and the Declaration of Independence started opening the eyes of those who did not see the benefit of slavery. Northern people never endorsed slaves from the beginning because they were more industrial based rather than farm based. Document H is from a speech in Congress in 1847.

Read More
218 Words | 1 Pages

In this paper I will be discussing the major importance’s of William Lloyd Garrison and his calls for immediate abolition. Garrison also known as “The Liberator”, was the voice of abolitionism. He was originally a supporter of colonization, but he changed his view and became the leader of an emerging anti-slavery movement. I will also be discussing the importance of Fredrick Douglass’s speech “The meaning of July Fourth to the Negro”. His speech starts out by praising what the founding fathers did for this country, but it quickly turns into a denunciation of the American’s attitude towards slavery.

Read More
876 Words | 4 Pages

DBQ on opposition to slavery 1776-1852 The years from 1776-1852 was period of growth and change for the newly established United States and one thing that seemed determine to change was slavery. The establishment of slavery had existed in America for longer than the country itself and up to this point in history the question of slavery had been avoided but the economy shifting towards industrialization and a political climate that was becoming increasingly stratified primed society for a confrontation of the issue. Though eventually abolished through the civil war, slavery would leave marks on the country that still influence modern society. The opposition to slavery that would lead to this revolution of sorts began to grow because of increasing religious fervor, ethical awareness promoted by those advocating human rights, as well as political motivation.

Read More
1121 Words | 5 Pages

The issue the compromise was about was whether there should be slavery in the western territories. Maine wanted to be added to the Union, however, slavery was banned there. If Maine were to be added to the Union, it would upset the balance between free and slave states in the nation and the Senate. So, the Missouri Compromise, proposed by Senator Henry Clay, allowed Maine to enter the Union as a free state, and allowed Missouri to be entered into the Union as a slave state.

Read More
202 Words | 1 Pages

Slavery in America has become an important part of the country’s history and development over the past few centuries. The greatest driving factor for slavery in the English colonies was the development of the new plantation economy that was developed to grow highly demanded crops for both the Old and New World, though there were slaves and indentured servants before plantations became the driving factor of the colony’s economy. The reason why slavery became so popular in the colonies was the need for inexpensive labor to do the taxing physical work on the plantations that the colonists did not have the numbers nor the will to do. The life of a slave was far from easy and incredibly unequal, but the first policies on slavery were not as harsh

Read More
889 Words | 4 Pages

During the 19th century most political controversies focused on the issue of slavery, many believed this issue was wicked and cruel and strongly disagreed with the idea of slavery, being active and acceptable. Owning the fact that many disagreed with slavery, the Republican Party announced a speech- all territories of the United States were said to be free and they were entitled to deny anyone who gives any legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States (Document A). Many important figures in the Republican Party did not agree with nor supported anyone or anything that advocated for slavery. Slavery meant men, women, and even innocent children had to be treated unfairly and taken advantage of. All of this controversy

Read More
1314 Words | 6 Pages

The institution of slavery had been in place in the United States long before the country had even been established. By the time a war erupted over the issue, the practice had been in place for nearly 250 years, was deeply ingrained in the country’s economy and social structure, and had strongly influenced the way different regions had developed. Due to this longevity and deep-rootedness in many aspects of the country, many were unwilling to let it die. Opposition to slavery, nevertheless, developed on the basis of moral and ethical ideals. The accounts of former slaves would help to encourage the push towards abolition, as they exposed the cruelties they had experienced firsthand.

Read More
770 Words | 4 Pages

During the 1808-1861, the slavery in America is a really big issue that cause many problem that come afterward. I believed that every men and women are born equally from god. We should have our own life, liberties, and opportunities to live in a better life. However, when the slavery started to appear into our society, many controversy and conflict also come as a result of slavery. In the book, “The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery in America” of Alice Dana Adams, he wrote an interesting quote from David Benedict, saying that “The existence of slavery in a country is calculated to awaken all the propensities of human nature, whether good or bad.”

Read More
2270 Words | 10 Pages

“Considering the natural lust for power so inherent in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people” (Mason). These words, spoken by George Mason at the Virginia Ratifying Convention of 1788, touch right at the core of the most troubling problem ever seen in the history of the United States. With this sentence Mason, perhaps unknowingly, points out the main incentive for the establishment of the institution of slavery: a lust for power. Slavery is not, as many people understandably believe, motivated by racial conceptions. In fact, slavery long predates racism.

Read More
1829 Words | 8 Pages

American slavery has indeed caused some hardships in the past. Some viewed slavery negatively while yet other used believed that if you just obeyed your masters everything will be just fine. In the article’s that I will feature in this paper, “An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York” by Jupiter Hammon and “Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World” by David Walker, show two very different men who hold two very different views towards slavery. One suggests slaves to respect and obey their masters, never to rebel, and learn how to read, while the other pushes the issue about equality between whites and black, and suggests that slaves become rebellious towards their masters, while also making references to Thomas Jefferson’s “Notes

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.

Read More

More about Matthew Mason, Slavery And Politics In The Early Republic

Open Document