Slave Power Conspiracy

While the North tried to stop the South from withdrawing their spot in the Union, the North also denied the Southern states rights. Sectional groups assembled in the North regarding the “unnatural feeling and hostility” to slavery in the South. “ By consolidating their strength, they have placed the strength... no avail in protecting Southern rights (Document I). The Northerners believed that slavery is not right, and also that “the demand of African slavery throughout the confederacy” is unheard of.

For several decades slavery ran ramped in the United States, and by the 1850s-1860s there were different opinions about whether to keep it, abolish it, or contain it where it is. Most understand that the south was pro-slavery, their further intentions were to expand into the new territories the US had purchased from Mexico and from the Louisiana Purchase. Then, there was a small minority group in the north that wished to abolish slavery from the entire US, and this group was disliked by both northerners and southerners. The majority of the north, however, didn’t mind keeping slavery in the south where it already existed, but they did not want it to expand into the new states Congress was carving out of the purchased territories. Each of this groups disliked one

Gabriels Conspiracy Back in the 1800’s being a slave was very hard. Do you think you would survive? Well there are many who survived slavery and there are some that took a stand and fought it. These people were leaders and influenced others to take a stand and give it there all in order to abolish slavery.

He wanted to move west and get as much land as possible. He was not looking to go to war for what he wanted, but it also didn’t stop him. As mentioned, Polk was a slave holder he was very for slavery. When he took office bills were being passed for Texas to be a slave state. The votes were barely passed in the Senate, but a landslide in the House.

As a result of this, racist organizations were founded to wreaked havoc on former slaves. Secret societies in the southern united states, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia used violence against the blacks. Their goal was often to keep blacks out of politics. Our textbook states, “In other states, where blacks were a majority or where the populations of the two races were almost equal, whites used outright intimidation and violence to undermine the Reconstruction regimes” (Brinkley 368). The people involved in such organizations were using violence to take away the fifteenth amendment right from the former slaves.

Before the Emancipation Proclamation the main focus of the Civil War in the North was that they believed that they had to fight to preserve the Union. At the beginning of the war, abolishing slavery was not a main goal of the North. Southerners believed that they had the right to leave the Union (secede). Southerners wanted independence so that they could keep their traditional way of life, including the having and keeping of slavery. With the issuance of the new Emancipation Proclamation freedom for slaves now became the new goal for the north, while the South wanted to defend

These three of the many causes for the growing opposition to slavery show the rift in ideals in the United States. In document A there is an example of an

Westward expansion in the 19th century sparked the controversial question of slavery with respect to the progress of American development. Certainly, determination and sovereignty attracted people to move westward, but countless people were forced into slavery in this supposed new land of liberties. The institution of slavery considerably slowed down, or even reversed, the nation’s progress. Opponents of slavery stood by the ideals of democracy. That is to say, “in the name of liberty that is fettered” (Douglass) they stood by the ideal that slavery violated fundamental rights.

INTRODUCTION Throughout the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 there were different disputes, mainly centered on the issues of slavery and tariffs. These disputes finally lead to a compromise reached by the delegates present. The northern economy was primarily centered around industrialization. In contrast, the southern economy was mostly agricultural, and widely relied on slaves, as they were the cheapest form of labor accessible.

However, that only further benefited Slave states. Slavery was disputed again when Northern states wanted the government to have complete power over trade with the other nations. Southern states depended heavily on trade and feared that the North would get enough votes to interfere with their slave and agricultural

After the Mexican-American war, America claimed an expanse of land in the west. The question of whether this new land would be slave-states or free soil, was a hot topic and highly controversial and was in fact, the main cause of the Civil War. Even some of the other issues that may have led to the war can relate back to slavery. For instance: The south wanted to succeed from the union and have less control from the federal government, because they were trying to outlaw slavery not only in the southern states, but also keep the newly acquired land slave-free. Lincoln, in the beginning of his presidential campaign attempted to tone down slavery position and said the war was to “preserve the union” which was part of the cause of the war, however,

Keene, Jennifer D., Saul Cornell, and Edward T. O’Donnell. Visions of America: A History of the United States. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2013. Trott, S. “A Pro Slavery Letter by S. Trott.” Edited by TeachUSHistory.org.

‘Slavery was the root cause of secession’. ‘November 6 1860, Lincoln was elected president of America which resulted in panic emerging in the South’ . The election of Lincoln as president who was a Republican leader meant that ideologies, movements and values from the North would be implemented in the South which meant the abolition of slavery. Slavery was a huge characteristic of the South as the economy; politics; social status and psychological mind-sets were influenced by the process of slavery. The southern white population then derived the idea of secession which meant the South would gain independence from Northern aggression .

The thesis of Gabriel’s Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802, is to allow the reader to learn in detail about Gabriel’s rebellion. The author Douglas R. Egerton makes this clear throughout the whole book and used many sources to support his thesis and writing. He explains in great detail about the events that led up to the rebellion, during the rebellion, and after the rebellion. He did a great job with writing this book and allowing it to flow together.

In South, torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues raised, and white Southerners grew more and more defensive. They argued that black people were incapable of caring for themselves. They said that slavery was a benevolent institution that kept them fed, clothed, and occupied. Most Northerners did not doubt that black people being inferior to whites, but they did doubt the benevolence of slavery. The Civil War changed the future of the United States.