Slavery Vs Federalism

Federalism can be defined as a system in which the power to govern is divided between national and state governments. This belief to share power was constructed by our founding fathers when the Constitution was established. The division of powers was created in order to limit the power of the national government. However, the national government does overpower state laws when the national and state governments don’t agree. As a young democratic nation it was divided between two belief systems, free or enslaved backs. Slavery had a lot of complication when dealing with the national and state governments.

When we go back to the Declaration of Independence we will notice the great emphasis on equality however this was not a national concept given to all. Slavery was a very controversial issue between the Northern and Southern States and what the Declaration of Independence stood for. While in the Northern part of the nation argued that Slavery was unconstitutional the Southern States fought to say that slaves were not considered people but material possessions

The Dred Scott V. Sanford case of 1857 declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and did not receive the same support from the Federal Government. During this time the Congress also lacked the power to ban slavery in all territories belonging to the United States. In 1850 Dred Scott and his family were declared free under the state court however, this did not last long. The Supreme Court of Missouri revoked the Scott’s family freedom which led him to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court denied him citizenship of the U.S. even if he was a citizen of a free state. Even though the states had the power to give Scott and his family citizenship since the national government did not the national governments decree overruled the state’s