David Wilmot in American History - Essay Example

of the of the Topic: History Who was David Wilmot, and why is this obscure individual importantin American History? David Wilmot concisely was a U.S. abolitionist and political figure. He was one of the sponsors of Wilmot proviso. The goal was to emancipate slavery in the Mexican war. David was the founder of the Wilmot proviso related to slavery in America’s newly annexed territory, and had a leading role in the U.S. Republican Party in 1854. He was against prolonging slavery any longer than it had to be. He even had an amendment "Provided, That, as an express and fundamental condition to the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico by the United States, by virtue of any treaty which may be negotiated between them, and to the use by the Executive of the moneys herein appropriated, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall first be duly convicted." Although this was famous, it was vanquished by the U.S. Senate adjournment. He was also a member of the peace convention. 2. Identify the “compromises” in the Compromise of 1850, and their historical significance. Answer this question The compromise of 1850 involved Henry Clay. Clay took an active part and presented eight resolutions to the senate. The compromise aroused due to the spread of slavery that emerged out from the Mexican –American war around the territories of United States. Such territories include Texas, California and Mexico. The compromise was balanced between the expectations of these territories. The compromise for these territories differed accordingly; it was U.S paying the debts for Texas, which in turn allowed New Mexico to become a separate territory, California admitted as a state free of slavery. New Mexico determined its territory as “popular sovereignty” claiming that their state’s population would vote for a slave free notion, and the implementation of the New Fugitive Law of 1850. However, the compromises were not accepted by any political figures of the time such as Jefferson Davis, who felt that the compromise made for California might perturb the authority of Senates in South and North regions of United States. William Henry Seward, a famous representative of the Northern Whigs claimed that the Compromises of the 1850 and the old Fugitive Slave might lose the slaves as fugitives, which in turn would become a supporting. factor for the land claims of the people of Texas. 3. What part did Stephen Douglas play during this period in American History? Do you think he had a positive or negative influence? Why? Stephen Douglas was a lawyer and a politician He also qualified himself as a senator for fourteen years and then as a presidential candidate. Douglas’ the arguments concerning slavery with Abraham Lincoln took him to a popular phase. He then became the chairperson of the Committee of Territories as a representative of the Senate in order to solve the controversy mounting on regarding extension of slavery in the respective territories. He was also an important participant of the Compromise of 1850 and helped the slavery issue in reshaping it in 1854, by implementing Kansas-Nebraska Act, an act that revoked the Missouri Compromise. He was then nominated for Presidential post with the support from non-Southern wing of the Democratic Party in the year 1860, but Lincoln won with majority of support from another disintegrated party of Democrats. During the time of Civil war Douglas extended his support to Lincoln, through a tour to bring together defenders. In the meanwhile, he was affected by typhoid and died in Chicago in 1861. 4. Why did you think the Kansas-Nebraska act led directly to “bleeding Kansas” and to the emergence of the Republican Party? The Kansas-Nebraska act was passed by the United States in 1854 to allow people to settle on the matters of slavery within their territories. Its efforts worked in such a way that it revoked Missouri Compromise act. The Northerners, who were supporting the Compromise act, infuriated and offended Kansas- Nebraska Act. Where as the Southerners supported pro-slavery sentiments. During the first election between the supporters of Kansas -Nebraska act and the Missouri Compromise took place to allow them to decide on a settlement with slavery, but the Northerners won the election with their fraud techniques. This enhanced the anger of the southerners, who were called for a second election again by the Northerners. The southerners refused their second proposal and hence violence broke out with anti-slavery ideal led by John Brown. Thus, the violence ended up leaving the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to be nicknamed as “bleeding Kansas”. It has to be understood that the participation of Lincoln and Douglas towards defending their choice of acts should be considered as another important cause for the violence in Kansas. During the constitutional election Lincoln’s speech given after Douglas’s reflected him as a defender of Kansas act and Douglas’ as an offender, this was one of the strong reasons behind the violence. But disappointed by the election Lincoln turned vehemently toward the new Republican Party, the abolitionist faction of the anti-Nebraska coalition. 5. Why did southern devotion to a slave labor system retard modernization in the south? The slaves lived primarily in the south part of United States. The southerners owned salves, but the southern law protected slave buyers. However, in South there was more eagerness to preserver the status of the slaves, so they defended the system of slave labor strongly and forcefully. The reasons for such as situation was due to the collective influence of the revolution escort by Nat Turner, an American slave leader of the Southampton Insurrection, the troubles that came towards the fugitive slaves or black slaves who escaped from their original place, in terms of fines imposed on them. There was a fear that modernization might change the status of slaves to fugitive thus ending up worst treatment than before. Through out 1830to 1860 in-United States, the South remained as the most overriding one. The political outcome of the fight was intentionally endeavored to sustain the slave labor system against the theories of abolitionists. More over the misunderstanding between the northern and southern people regarding the pro-slavery and anti-slavery acts paved way for a stringer defense from the part of southerners concerning the slave labor system, which they felt better than the other modern acts such as the Missouri Compromise or the Fugitive Slave act. Compare and contrast political anti-slavery and abolitionism in the north why do you think northerners found the arguments of anti slavery politicians more appealing than those of abolitionists? Abolitionism was a political movement happened during the nineteenth century. It traveled through a political direction in two forms one with the United States Constitution led by Lysander Spooner as The Unconstitutionality of Slavery and the Garrisonians opposed it by burning the official copies of the movement. The issues over abolitionism led the politicians like Lysander Spooner, Gerrit Smith and Douglas to consider the constitution’s scope as of not an authoritative one. However, abolitionism was considered as just only a limitation imposed on the already existing slavery not as complete solution to put an end to slavery. Abolitionism was incorporated with the purpose of antislavery cause. The effort of the abolitionists took the movement as one of the courageous ones in the political history of United State resulting in enhancing the issue of slavery. In the beginning abolitionism was opposed both by the Northerners and Southerners, which resulted in the murder of Elijah .P. Lovejoy and this incident increased the thought of antislavery in North. Thus anti slavery societies were formed with the additional emergence of American Colonization Society. In 1833, Garrison worked a lot to eradicate slavery and as a result he combined the abolitionists and his New England abolitionists to form the American Anti-Slavery Society, with the aim of giving equal rights to the black. Unlike the abolitionism, Anti-slavery thought spread rapidly in the Northern part. As a result iof the efforts made by Garrisonians, the black American Armies and the White antislavery societies forced the Northern states to put an end to the slavery. Overall abolitionism deserved only opposition in the beginning, however the same helped in the forceful and effective implication of anti-slavery movement in Northern part of America. The Kansas-Nebraska Act . online available from http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0827030.html Read More