Slavery Vs Pro Slavery Essay

The issue of slavery in the United States became paramount in the late nineteenth century. There were two clear sides in this debate, those pro-slavery and those anti-slavery. This division was quite geographical, pitting the South against the North. Regional differences between the North and the South led to fierce conflict, particularly over the issue of slavery. The Northern states were free states, against the idea of slavery. The South was very pro-slavery, as their economy depended on it. Slavery was a way of life in the South. In the North, slavery was seen as degrading and dehumanizing, it was seen as something that needed to be destroyed. This was the fundamental difference between the North and South, the North wanted to destroy slavery …show more content…
Because of this Compromise, California was admitted as a free state and slavery would be decided by popular sovereignty in the New Mexico Territory. The admission of new states was of great important at this time, as they would either be free or slave states. Both sides pushed their own agendas, which resulted in mounting tension. Southern states refused to agree with the compromise unless a tougher fugitive slave law was a part of the compromise. This new Fugitive Slave Act created federal commissioners whose job was to determine the fate of an alleged fugitive slave. Their decision was final, the alleged fugitive wasn’t given a jury trial or a court testimony. This gave the national government incredible policing powers, much bigger than it had ever had before. Another part of this law forbid local Northern authorities from interfering with arrests, while Northern citizens were required to assist in the arrests when called upon. This amount of federal power took a great amount of power away from the local and state governments, which worried Northerners. Giving this power to the federal power to regulate slavery made slavery a much more national policy, rather than a local