Growing Opposition To Slavery In The United States From 1776 To 1852

Throughout American History, slavery has always posed as a problem in the United States from 1776 to 1852. Slavery grew dramatically when the country acquired new territory as a result of foreign wars, like the Mexican War. Even though there are many reasons why there was a growing opposition to slavery in the United States from 1776 to 1852, the growing opposition of slavery was caused by the country gaining new land as a result of wars and events like the Compromise of 1850 and the Second- Great Awakening which led to the development of new books and newspaper articles.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Land Ordinance of 1787 set forth how the government of the United States would measure, divide, and distribute the land it had

A). In April of 1846, President James K. Polk had an idea to expand the U.S from coast to coast and after Mexico denied selling land to Polk because they had Texas, Polk declared war on Mexico because they were weaker and would give more land. As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S acquired a lot of land. This acquisition of new land soon posed as a problem regarding slavery. The United States government did not know if slaves should or should not be allowed in the new land. Some members of the congress like, David Wilmot, believed that slaves should not be allowed on the new territory that was won from the Mexican War. This belief made Wilmot plan the “Wilmot Provision”, which said that slavery was not allowed in any of the land annexed from Mexico and the Mexican War (Doc. H). This historical context on this

The Second Great Awakening happened seventy years after the first great awakening and urged people to reach a personal and emotional understanding with God. Women like Angelina Grinkè, urged other women to use their domestic influence to push social reform for women’s suffrage, in Grinkè’s case, it was about abolition(Doc. F). The purpose of this document is that Grinkè encourages activism by Christian women against slavery. Harriet Beecher Stowe was perhaps one of the most important abolitionist in American History. Stowe was an American writer and one of her most famous books is Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was about the blackness of American slavery and became a very popular book that sold many copies(Doc. J). The book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, furthered the abolitionist movement but was also one of the causes of the Civil