History of US

History of US

Kansas Nebraska Act

This act was passed on May 30 1854 by the United States Congress. This Act allowed people from Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether to allow or not to allow slavery in their territories. The Act also aimed at repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which did not allow slavery north of latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes (Hoeflich & Skepnek, 2016).  The Act was strongly supported by the pro-slavery South. The Kansas-Nebraska ultimately led to the Civil War.

John Brown

John Brown was an American anti-slavery fighter (abolitionist). He advocated for the use of armed insurrection as a means of opposing the institution of slavery in the US. John took part in the Underground Railroad and gave land to free African Americans. He also formed the League of Gileadites, a group that protected black citizens from slave hunters. Brown was involved in the 1856 conflict after the passing of the Kansas Nebraska Act. Brown believed in using violent means to end slavery. He intended to inspire a slave insurrection but unsuccessfully led a raid on the Harpers Ferry federal armory. He died from execution in 1859 (DuBois, 2015).

Thomas Durant

Thomas Clark Durant was an American financier and railroad promoter. He served as the vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869. He built many railroads in the Midwest. He played a big role in developing the first railway spanning the Western United States. He, however, ended his career with disgrace after being involved in a scandal having enriched himself with public money.

Homestead Acts of 1862 and 1864

In 1962, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act that granted Americans 160-acre plots of public land for price a small filing fee. This Act encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land. Those who wished to apply for the Homestead Act paid a filing fee of $18-$10. The homesteaders were also expected to reside in the land for a continuous five years, build on the land, farm the land, and make improvements.

Black codes

These are laws enacted after the American Civil War, which ensured the continuity of the white supremacy.  These laws, which were ratified in 1865 and 1866, were meant to replace the Thirteenth Amendment had removed the social controls of slavery. The black codes were intended to secure a steady supply of labor.

Question 2

Slavery in the United States started in 1619 when 20 African slaves were brought to the British colony of Jamestown in Virginia. During the whole 17^th century, European settlers in North America used African slaves as a source of cheap labor. It is estimated that 6 to 7 million Africans were imported to America in the 18^th century alone (Hutchinson, 2019). As a result, the African continent was deprived of its healthiest men and women. The slaves mainly worked in the tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations of the southern coast. At the declaration of independence, slavery was being practiced and legal in all thirteen colonies and British America. The declaration of independence in 1776 promoted equality among all men that all men were endowed with certain inalienable rights did not extend this right to Africans or slaves (Hutchinson, 2019).

One of the arguments in defense of slavery was that the trade was essential to the success of wealth in Britain. The pro-slavery lobbyists argued that if the slave trade were abolished, it would ruin the economy of the United States. Abandonment of the slave trade would have made the economy of the US to collapse. Another argument in defense of slavery was that Africa was already involved in slavery. The enslavers argued that Africans enslaved each other. The enslavers believed that they were engaging in a good trade because they were helping people captured in African wars and who may otherwise have been executed. Thirdly, the enslavers believed that slavery was accepted in the Bible. They argued that the slave trade was tolerated and approved by God during the days of Abraham.

Opposition for the slave trade was triggered by anti-slavery lobbyists who believed in humanity. One of the anti-slavery campaigners was Anthony Benezet, who believed that Africans were equal to other people. He did not think that Africa was in any way inferior (Murdock, 2019)

Moral arguments for slavery include that slaves cannot run their own lives and are therefore in a better condition when others control their lives. Other people believe that some people are naturally born to be slaves as part of God’s plan. It is, therefore, wrong to interfere with God’s plan by abolishing slavery. Others argue that slavery is a useful form of punishment. Although this can be a valid argument, it can only cover a tiny fraction of cases and would not justify slavery in general. Another argument for in favor of slavery asserts that free men should be allowed to become slaves if they want to. This encompasses the principle of autonomy, which gives all men to choose what they deem to be right for them. Therefore, slavery is not slavery unless it is out of coercion. Usually, men should be free to choose what happens to their lives. People are, however, not concerned about the ethics of voluntary slavery. The principle of the beneficence of requires people not to harm others. This principle can lead to the abolishment of slavery. Religious arguments are more used against slavery. Using the Golden Rule, slavery is wrong because of humankind and brotherhood. Natural rights also justify the abolition of slavery (Murdock, 2019).

The factions in the fight against antislavery were between the northerners and southerners. White southerners were for the institution of slavery. They argued that black people were unable to care for themselves. They believed that by enslaving them, they were acting out of benevolence. The majority of the northerners believed that black people were inferior to whites.

Question 3

The American Civil War was a civil war fought between the United States and 11 Southern states that seceded from the union to form the Confederates of America. The battle was fought between 1861 and 1865. The leading cause of the war was the controversy surrounding the enslavement of black people. Shortly after the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln in 1861, secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. These forces faced secessionists from the Confederate States from the south who advocated for the rights of states to uphold slavery. These southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so that they could abolish federal laws that they did not support. One of the laws was that of keeping slaves and taking them wherever they wanted.

The dispute could not be settled legislatively because the southern states wanted to secede and form their government. After Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1861, he vowed to keep slavery out of the territories seven states in the south seceded to create a new government called the Confederate States of America. The Lincoln administration did not recognize the legitimacy of the secession. These differences could not allow the dispute to be solved legislatively.

One of the economic causes of the civil war was the conflict between industry and farming. Many people in the North lived and worked in cities like Philadelphia and New York. On the other hand, the southern states maintained a large farming economy based on slave labor. The northern states did not need the slaves while the southerners were in dire need of the slaves since they relied on them for labor. This led to the conflict between the south and the North, which escalated to civil. The southern plantations required labor to work in the farms. Another economic cause of the civil war was tariffs. Alexander Hamilton proposed the first tariff in 1790, and it was deemed to benefit the North than the South. The North was industrialized while the South was committed to cotton cultivation. The dispute over the tariffs was, therefore, a cause of the civil war as it remained a bone of contention between North and South. The South was angered by the taxes, which prompted the secession debate.

The south wanted to secede so that they could have freedom of recruiting slaves to their plantations. They wanted the federal government to abolish federal laws that they did not support, especially the laws that interfered with the South’s right to keep slaves. The South did not want the national government to interfere with their quest to recruit slaves (DeRosa, 2018). They question the federal government’s authority to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states.

Abraham Lincoln became the first elected Republican president of America in 1860. He was a significant figure in the genesis of the civil war. His election triggered secession. The southern states feared that Lincoln would stop the expansion of slavery and bring it to an end. The southern states had already become a minority in the House of Representatives and were fearing that they would become the perpetual minority. The south, therefore, considered secession as the only alternative left for them, which directly led to war.

After the northern victory, the stage was set for economic expansion of the US. Lincoln’s administration instituted the first national banking system and national currency. It also collected taxes on income and imposed the first highly protective tariffs. It also laid the foundation for the first transcontinental railroad. All these actions led to the economic expansion of the US after the civil war (DeRosa, 2018).

References

DeRosa, M. (2018). The Politics of Dissolution: Quest for a National Identity and the American Civil War. Routledge.

DuBois, W. E. B. (2015). John Brown. Routledge.

Hoeflich, M. H., & Skepnek, W. (2016). Claims for Loss in Territorial Kansas. U. Kan. L. Rev., 65, 711.

Hutchinson, T. (2019). LibGuides: Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law: Overview.

Murdock, D. (2019). Slavery in America. Network Journal, 26(1), 42-42.