Differences To Division Of The US Nation - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages The compromise of 1850 was mainly introduced by Senator H. Clay of Kentucky who proposed it in many resolutions during January of 1850 and delivered a speech in defense of his proposal in which he said that slavery was not introduced by law and every state had the right to do whatever was considered right by them. In order to maintain the balance and to please both kinds of states California was introduced into the union as a free state, an act setting the boundary dispute between Texas and Mexico was passed which established a territorial government in Mexico, a territorial government was created in Utah and in these states the question of slavery was left open. This compromise settled many disputes for the time being and secession of South was delayed for a decade but later many disputes were created and the compromise did not work anymore and war broke out which finally led to division of the nation into two. The Fugitive Slaves Act was proposed as a part of the Compromise of 1850 and its main purpose was to track the slaves who had runaway to North or the Free states, to capture them and to return them to their respective southern owners. Highly trained government officials were given duty to issue warrants against the runaway slaves and to return them to the south, these officials not only tracked down many slaves but also beaten brutally and whipped. Many slaves who were tracked down and claimed to be free were not given a chance of fair trial by the jury. Many of these slaves moved out of the country and still thousands were captured again. The strict enforcement of this law proved to a major flaw in the history of America as it was highly opposed by many states in the North. These states reacted against the law in order to protect the black citizens of America and to protect the fugitive slaves from brutal and harsh treatment by the government officials. They authorized it for themselves to protect these slaves and forced the government officials by personal liberty law that they should have an authentic proof that the person they track down as a slave is actually a slave and in case of denial by the person he should be given right to make an appeal in front of the jury. This made the identification of slaves easy in many states that the person identified and proved to be a slave was sent to his or her respective state but it caused more trouble and disagreements in other states. These conflicts continued to mount for a decade and finally resulted in out-break of the war ...Download file to see next pagesRead More