Brief History of States Brief History of States RightsRights

Prelude to confrontationPrelude to confrontation

Issue of NATIONALISM v. SECTIONALISMIssue of NATIONALISM v. SECTIONALISM

WAS A CONFLICT BETWEEN WAS A CONFLICT BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH INEVITABLE?NORTH AND SOUTH INEVITABLE?

DOES THE CIVIL WAR REPRESENT DOES THE CIVIL WAR REPRESENT A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES?A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES?

WHAT IS YOUR OWN POSITION ON WHAT IS YOUR OWN POSITION ON THE ISSUE TODAY – STATE THE ISSUE TODAY – STATE INDEPENDENCE, FEDERAL INDEPENDENCE, FEDERAL DOMINATION – OR DOMINATION – OR COMBINATIONCOMBINATION

Articles of Confederation Articles of Confederation 17811781

• All but powerless Federal Government– Can not regulate trade– Can not create an Army & Navy

• Daniel Shays Rebellion • Weak and ineffective government – not what the

founders intended• In immediate danger of failing after ONLY 8 years

– Consequence of failure is that an experiment in LIBERTY would signal that representative democracies can not succeed.

1787 Philadelphia Convention

• New Document Written• New Government Created

•Constitution of the United States

•Ratified 1789

Northwest Ordinance 1787Northwest Ordinance 1787• NO STATE northwest of the Ohio

River could be a slave state

–Not to benefit blacks but to prevent a shift in the balance of power in the Senate from northern dominance to southern dominance

–Issue is one of politics NOT morality

Factors that united the statesFactors that united the states

• 2 Party Political System

• Market Economy– buying & selling

• Interstate Commerce

• Marshall Court decisions strengthened the federal government

Federalists (Whigs) v. Anti-Federalists (Whigs) v. Anti-Federalists (Democrats)Federalists (Democrats)

• Federalists – Alexander Hamilton – Government by the elite

• Anti-Federalists aka Jeffersonian Republicans – government by the little people

Market economy and Industrial Market economy and Industrial Revolution is changing the U.S.Revolution is changing the U.S.

• Market economy increases economic growth

• Change: household system to factory system

• Banks provide $$ for investment

• S. & W. crops exchanged for N. manufactured goods

Transportation RevolutionTransportation Revolution

• Roads – Cumberland Road• Erie Canal – Buffalo & Lake Erie connected to NYC • Railroads – B &O is nations first• Steam Power – Fulton’s “Clermont”

Alien & Sedition ActsAlien & Sedition Acts17981798

• Passed by Adams and the Federalists• Mostly dealt with immigrants but…• One part of the act said that anyone who

criticized the government could be fined or jailed• President has power to imprison or deport

foreigners• Illegal to publish “false or malicious” writings

about the United States

Who decided what you CAN and Who decided what you CAN and CAN NOT say?CAN NOT say?

• Does this put the idea of “free Speech” and the first amendment at risk?

• Is the NATIONAL / FEDERAL government becoming TOO POWERFUL?

• Republicans were outraged, said that it violates the first amendment

Virginia & Kentucky ResolutionsVirginia & Kentucky Resolutions17981798

• State laws – states have the right to decide if Federal Laws exceed agreement between state and Federal government

• Claimed that if states decided that the Federal Govt. had exceeded its authority the state could ignore the law

Virginia & KentuckyVirginia & KentuckyResolutionsResolutions

• These 2 Resolutions become the basis upon which the “STATES RIGHTS” movement rests.

• The state and NOT the federal government will have the most control and the final word!

Missouri CompromiseMissouri Compromise1820 1820 (compromise of 1820)(compromise of 1820)

• To preserve balance of power between north and south in the Senate: Maine is admitted as a free state and Missouri is admitted as a slave state.

• It prohibited slavery in the former LOUISIANA TERRITORY north of the parallel 36*30” except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri

Tariff of AbominationsTariff of Abominations18281828

• High tariff proposed to protect Northern Industrialists and Western interests.

• Non-industrial South heavily reliant on European manufactures is opposed.

• Debate continues for 2 years

• Seen as an attempt by the NORTH to impose its will on the SOUTH.

““Nullification Crisis”Nullification Crisis”18321832

• John C. Calhoun – tariff will be declared void in South Carolina

• President Andrew Jackson – asks for “Force Bill” – would allow him to use military against state of South Carolina

• Represents clash – President = Federal Power vs. State sovereignty

America in 1849 - 1850America in 1849 - 1850

Compromise of 1850Compromise of 1850

Provisions of Compromise of 1850Provisions of Compromise of 1850• Texas gives up claims to New Mexico in

exchange for U.S. taking over its STATE debt.• California is admitted to the U.S. as a FREE

STATE in exchange for…• STRONG FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT

– States had a duty to arrest anyone suspected of being a fugitive slave on no more evidence than a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership.

– The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was to be subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.

– Slave trade banned in Washington D.C. (embarrassment internationally)

President Millard FillmorePresident Millard Fillmore

Great StatesmenGreat Statesmenof the pre Civil War periodof the pre Civil War periodWebster, Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Clay, Calhoun,