3/5 Compromise In The Civil War Essay

Improved Essays
The Civil War is one of the most written about occurrences in American history. The sectional conflict grew from a rift between the North and South about various issues. The most important of these issues was the subject of slavery. This issue was not one that sprang up between the North and South though. The issue of slavery for a long period of time created a growing dispute between the two sides. One side was a slaving society, a society that needed slaves in order to operate, and the other was a society with slaves, a society that had slaves but they were not a necessity. The contrasting ideologies between the free-labor North and the pro-slavery South split the country in two and shaped the course of American society in the nineteenth …show more content…
The 3/5 compromise was made over a debate on how slaves would be counted into a state’s population. This was a significant conversation because the higher total population a state had, the more delegates it would receive in the House of Representatives. Naturally Southern states with large slave populations wanted slaves to be counted while the North said that they shouldn’t. An agreement would be reached that each slave would account for 3/5 of a total person. This was extremely significant because it gave the South more power over the government in the time before the Civil War. This power shift is one that the North resented and would be a factor in their fight to end the spread of …show more content…
This began with the Missouri Compromise in 1820. The Missouri Compromise was decided in a fight between the North and South on whether the new state of Missouri would be allowed to own slaves or not. After a long debate it was decided that the new state of Missouri could have slaves but no slaves could practice slavery from that point on north of the 36°30′ parallel. This act was repealed in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed allowing the two new states to vote on whether they could or could not allow slavery. The dispute between the North and South over the institution of slavery continued onto the election of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Missouri Compromise Dbq

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Prior to the time of the Missouri compromise, there were an equal number of slave states to free states thus there was an equal balance of power in congress. Once Missouri had applied for admission into the union there was instant disapproval from the northern territories for they had thought that the south already had a substantial amount of power. The Missouri compromise was a way to balance congress of free and slave states. The compromise itself was passed in 1820 giving Missouri the title of a slave state and Maine the title of a free state. Therefore it settled a rising dispute between the slave and free territories.…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In and before 1820, tensions were high in the North and the South because of slave states vs. free states. The free states were afraid that the slave states would have too much power in the Senate. Therefore, the Missouri Compromise was born. Missouri became a slave state, and Maine joined as a free state. They chose which parts of the Louisiana Purchase would become slave territory and which parts would not.…

    • 96 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached by the 1787 Constitutional Convention that determined how slaves would be counted in order to settle state representation and taxation for the federal government. Large-slave states, predominantly in the south, wanted black slaves to be counted as full persons along with the free whites in the population. The South craved power; however, it did not want to be taxed on the slaves which were considered property. Meanwhile, northern states opposed counting slaves because it would take away from their representation in the House.…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In an era where slavery was viewed as a profitable and reputable source of wealth, income, power, and an economic driving force, divisions amongst opinions added fuel to the flame for an unavoidable conflict to ignite. The Missouri Compromise came about for views, even within a time with which like-mindedness was prized and raised to the highest of glories on a pedestal, vastly varied on the issue of slavery and its seemingly rather loosely tied boundaries. With two opposing sides, the North for the removal of slavery and the South in favor of its continued existence -- territorial issues were heavy on the mind. Though often revered as being a more verbal form of compromise that laid out specific boundaries within the states, or two states…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Missouri Compromise was created by Congress in 1819 in order to solve the sectional and political rivalries between the Northern and Southern states. Maine was added as a free state in the North and Missouri was added as a slave state in the South. As a result of this Compromise, there were 22 states in America, divided equally between the two regions. Congress’s intentions was that by each region having 11 states, there would be equal representation in the Senate from the North and South. By dividing the North and South, this made political relations even worse because it completely separated the country.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Missouri Compromise was and effort by the congress to keep the country unified. The compromise dictated that Missouri could enter the country as a slave state but that Maine could split off from Massachusetts as a free state. It also impacted the Louisiana purchase by prohibiting slavery above the Northern latitude of 36 degrees 30’N EXCEPT for Missouri. This compromise was necessary because at the time that Missouri applied for admittance to the US, there was an even number of slave states and free states.…

    • 166 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1850 Compromise

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Southerners find themselves troubled by the 1850 compromise , but they also had a favor in the fugitive law act which granted them the right to catch escaped slaves in the north, the south and the north felt that it needed to overpower the other, with the repeal of the 1850 compromise, came the Kansas-nebraska act. This act allowed the people to decide whether the territory should be “free state” or a “slave state.” this provoked both the north and the south to send mass people to the territories in order to dominate the votes,…

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Missouri Compromise took place in 1820 and consisted of Missouri applying to become a slave state, which threatened to upset the balance between slave states and free states. This resulted in Missouri becoming a slave state and Maine becoming a free state. In 1849 California asked permission to become a free state, which had the possibility to upset the balance between free and slave states in the senate, so Henry Clay introduced what would become known as the compromise of 1850, which allowed California to become a free state and lifted all slavery restrictions on the Utah and New Mexico territories> Texas lost a boundary dispute with the New Mexico territory and was paid 10 million dollars. Slave trade in washington D.C. was forbidden,…

    • 129 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These disagreements over power and the balance of free and slave states would lead to the formation of the Missouri Compromise. The compromise was formed in 1820, as an act to resolve the conflict that was going on in the country. At this time, James Monroe was president and noticed he needed to find way to settle the disagreements between the North and the South. Monroe had a mutual view on slavery he was neither for nor against it. In the end, he viewed slavery as an issue but he believed that the states had the right to make their own governmental decisions.…

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Slavery was the underlying cause of the American Civil War. After the Republican and abolitionist Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1861, southern states became afraid of his political believes. His election caused major discussion in the southern states, that depended on slavery. States were preparing for secession because of the new president’s future actions. These states were very dependent on agriculture and abolishing slavery would certainly hurt them.…

    • 1799 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Was the Civil War predictable? Did any events indefinitely cause the South to desire a split from the North? The North and the South had a growing tension between them for many reasons, and the northern abolitionists encouraged a Civil War through their actions of protest. Although many Americans were affected minimally by the changes of the nation, abolitionists inevitably foresaw a Civil War because the growing tensions between the North and the South became apparent in political and social changes, slavery issues, and the growing occurrence of rebellions. Political and social changes occurred in many ways, including The Second Great Awakening, Lincoln’s presidential election to office, the way the North and the South dealt with one another,…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Missouri compromise was passed in 1820, which regulated slavery in the western states that were gained through the Louisiana purchase. This compromise contributed to the division between the north and south regarding the issue of slavery. Slavery was not allowed in anywhere north of the 36:30 parallel, but the state of Missouri allowed slavery. Fortunately, the compromise made many Americans happy and without the compromise the inevitable civil war would have occurred sooner. But unfortunately, the happiness of the country was ruined when the Missouri compromise got repealed.…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Slavery is an important aspect of American history; it has shaped our country into what it is today. The civil war took place from 1861-1865. Without slavery, the civil war would not have occurred. Slavery divided the north and south, the differing opinions on things especially slavery is what led to the American civil war. The south expressed how slavery was beneficial for the whole nation because everyone depended on the southern economy and slavery was key to the prosperity of our nation.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The existence of slavery has long been viewed as the primary cause of the American Civil War. However, slavery is only a portion of the conflict that caused the Civil War. The four developments that contributed to the Civil War were the sectional dispute over the extension of slavery into the western territories, the breakdown of the political party system, the growing cultural differences in the views and lifestyles of southerners and northerners and the intensifying emotional and ideological polarization between the regions over losing their way of life and sacred republican rights at the hands of the other. Slavery was not the only issue culminating in the Civil War but is widely accepted, though superficial. Territorial expansion in the…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Civil War had a positive impact on the way the United States views Liberty and Equality. There were many major events during the Civil War that had a major impact on the amount of rights given to African Americans after the War. African American slaves had little to no rights during the war, and one document called The Emancipation Proclamation followed by the thirteenth Amendment changed the way African Americans are treated today. The Civil War was between the North, a manufacturing industry, and the South, which was a major farming and slavery business.…

    • 1629 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays