Missouri Compromise

1. “How did Lincoln and Johnson each approach reconstruction?” Johnson did not have Lincoln’s moral sense and political judgement when it came to reconstruction. “As wartime president, Lincoln had offered amnesty to all but high-ranking Confederates” (464). Lincoln had proposed that when ten percent of a rebellious states voters had sworn loyalty (taken an oath), then the state would be restored to the Union as long as it had approved the thirteenth amendment to abolish slavery. Confederate states rejected Lincoln's offer, however Congress then proposed the Wade-Davis Bill, which Henretta refers to as a tougher substitute to Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan.

Dred Scott was taken back into slavery and accused Sandford because Scott was in a free states and claimed that he was in the free state long enough to be a free slave. The Supreme court ruled against Dred Scott, this decision affected blacks preventing them to become citizens and an giving them the right to appeal to a jury and making it harder for a slave to escape because the free states didn’t make a runaway slave a free slave. The case also affected popular sovereignty. Where states got to choose if they were to be a free states or a slave

Stephen Douglas, a supporter of popular sovereignty, had difficulty trying to answer the question. If he said the people could not exclude slavery, then his famous "popular sovereignty" was a null, void issue and of no effect. If he said yes; then he would be defying the Dred Scott decision. Douglas, astute and creative, answered yes, the people of a territory could exclude slavery from the territory before the state constitution was written. He explained that slavery could only exist if the local legislature passed regulations protecting slave property and could lawfully avoid slavery without actually banning it.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president and he served from 1829 to 1837. He lost the 1824 election but won in 1828 because of expanded suffrage that allowed the common people he appealed to, to vote. During his presidency, he made many controversial decisions especially regarding Native Americans and his authoritative style of governing. Also, while he was in office there were many divisive issues, particularly about states’ rights and the power of the Federal Government. Overall, his presidency did not follow the central idea of democracy that is “by the people, for the people” and therefore it was not an era of democracy.

While writing Seven Events That Made America America Larry Schweikart was possibly trying to inform readers of important events that happened throughout history that have been forgotten or have not gotten the attention that they deserve. When Martin Van Buren had his “nightmare” about the impending statehood bill for Missouri in 1819 was going to be the start to big problems in America. Van Burens main goal was to eliminate the issue of slavery in the south. Martin Van Burens big ideology was that he was from the North but had southern values that gave him an advantage because that made him the only plausible national candidate. Van Buren got an idea of using the newspapers as propaganda instruments to inform citizens of his new party which allowed more people to learn about his party faster.

Once president Andrew Jackson wielded the executive power of the veto, which he used to excess. The twelve vetoes that were used during his reign overrode congress, the body of elected officials. The representatives of the states are suppose to be the consensus of the people. When Andrew Jackson, a single person refuses the congress's legislation it hinders democracy as less opinions are heard. In Jackson’s head the congressmen are just career politicians disconnected from the american people.

In “The Bernie Bomb” by Kimberley Strassel, critical, mocking tones emphasize Strassel’s feelings towards Bernie Sanders’ inability to become the President of the United States. Bernie Sanders gave quite a performance at the first Democratic debate of the year. Strassel shares her thoughts on the nature of his responses to important issues during the debate by concluding that his followers should regret making donations to his campaign seeing that he really is not in it to win. Her witty critiques indicate her strong feelings that donating to Sanders’ campaign in hopes that he will become President, is truly not worth the money. Strassel’s diction heightens the uncertainty and unprofessional manner behind Sanders’ attempt at trying to be elected as President, which leads his supporters to doubt their contribution to his campaign.

Federalists, those who were in favor of a strong federal government, were in debates with Anti-Federalists, those who opposed the ideas of the Constitution. They believed the Constitution weakened the states too much, had no Bill of Rights, and thought the President could easily become a king. Delaware was the first state to ratify, with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut quickly following. Massachusetts ratified, but still had a strong opposition, and only a major campaign by Constitution supporters won the ratification of the state. Maryland and South Carolina had ratified, which made 8 state ratification.

However, the North would not accept a document that favored the South, so Buchanan was greatly challenged. His policy was that slavery was for individual states and territories to deal with, not for the Federal government. He thought the problems could be resolved quickly and easily, which was a majorly incorrect assumption. Also during his presidency, political parties changed, the Democrats breaking up and the Republicans taking out the Whig

Because of this, the only ruling in the Constitution that dealt with slavery was the Fugitive Clause which enforced Free states to help recapture runaway slaves who had escaped their masters' states. However, that only further benefited Slave states. Slavery was disputed again when Northern states wanted the government to have complete power over trade with the other nations. Southern states depended heavily on trade and feared that the North would get enough votes to interfere with their slave and agricultural

In addition, Salmon Chase was able to further define his political prowess through the progression of the 1837 Matilda case, where the particular application of the Fugitive Slave Law was in question. In Chase 's opinion, a slave who had been recognized as private property in her home state of Missouri, then brought to Ohio by her master, was technically free in the state because the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 had been rendered null by the early Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This ordinance stated that slavery would not be introduced to the new territory of the Northwest-- area that later evolved into the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. Chase explained that since the Northwest Ordinance was put into place, still recognized in the Northwest states, " 'Wherever [slavery] exists at all, it exists only in virtue of positive law . .

The most important event in American slavery during the 1820’s was the Missouri Compromise. Before 1820, political strain grew between the slave and free states. Since the United States had eleven slave states and eleven free states, any new state would cause unequal representation in the Senate. The North, also known as the Union, wanted all new states admitted to not have any slavery. The South, or the Confederacy needed all new