The Constitution continued to bring national unity until the 1850's, but later, a

series of resolutions raised a great confusion about the view of the Constitution
concerning slavery. At this time, the law encouraged a growing split between the
North and the South.The Compromise of 1850 seemed to satisfy the States, while it
declared California a free State, gave a reasonable amount of money to Kansas, and
allowed slave States to keep their slaves.

In the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but as mid-
century came around, people became more polarized in their views and the union
started to separate drastically. During the period of 1850, until 1861 when the
Confederate States of America was formed, the union was clearly divided between
the North and South. Although the Constitution was not the only factor leading to
sectional tension in America, there are many strong points in the North and South
favoring the statement, "By the 1850's the Constitution, originally framed as an
instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension
and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created."
Northerners, during mid-century America believed in the preservation of the
undissolvable Union. . This was not included in the Constitution When the
Missouri Compromise was ruled unconstitutional under the Dred Scott decision, the
due process clause, for the first time, was interpreted to state that people could
not be denied their property, displaying that Calhoun was right all along.

1. write a thesis statement

Exception paragraph about how good it was

Tension created in general
Sectional Discord
5. conclusion
I know how stressful document based questions are!!!! make sure you don't use 1st
person and cite your facts and documents!
hope i helped :)

In the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but as mid-
century came around, people became more polarized in their views and the union
started to separate drastically. During the period of 1850, until 1861 when the
Confederate States of America was formed, the union was clearly divided between
the North and South. Although the Constitution was not the only factor leading to
sectional tension in America, there are many strong points in the North and South
favoring the statement, “By the 1850’s the Constitution, originally framed as an
instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension
and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created.”
Northerners, during mid-century America believed in the preservation of the
undissolvable Union. When the Constitution was framed in 1787, the founding
fathers were concerned about leaving Britain and becoming a Union, as opposed to
the issue of slavery that would later prevail. Henry Clay created the Compromise
of 1850, which helped solve the problem of slavery in the territories (Document
A). This was not included in the Constitut

. . .
When the Missouri Compromise was ruled unconstitutional under the Dred Scott
decision, the due process clause, for the first time, was interpreted to state
that people could not be denied their property, displaying that Calhoun was right
all along. It is evident that although the Constitution is the supreme law of the
land, many Northerners depicted its flaws. An anonymous Georgian, although
somewhat contradictory, explained, “Two Constitutional provisions are necessary to
secure Southern rights upon this important question,--the recognition of slavery
where the people choose it and the remedy for fugitive slave” (Document B).
Sectional difficulties that lead to the break up of the Union can be traced to
flaws in the Constitution, although there are other factors as well. In events
such as John Brown’s Raid, the North solemnly respected Brown, holding
commemoration services in his memorial. This shows that the founding fathers
thought well ahead of their time and created a Constitution that included answers
to many questions, although, in general, this document eventually contributed to
the collapse of the Union. President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of
America, believing that states were sovereign over the Union, stated, “The
separate and independent sovereignty of each State was merged into one common
government and nation” (Document H). The Constitution includes the three-fifths
clause, along with and end to the African slave trade. After the fugitive slave
law was enacted, many personal liberty laws were created in the North and colored
people were notified, “You are hereby respectfully CAUTIONED and advised, to avoid
conversing with Watchmen and Police Officers of Boston” (Document C). Just as
Northerners saw flaws in the Constitution, Southerners viewed it not to be perfect
as well. President James Buchanan, a northern man with southern sympathies
clarified, “As sovereign states, they and they alone, are responsible before God
and the world for the slavery existing among them” (Document G). Regarding the
Fugitive Slave Law, a Bostonian Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “As
soon as the Constitution ordains an immoral law, it ordains disunion…The Union is
at an end as soon as an immoral law is enacted” (Document D). The
constitutionality of the protective tariff was questioned during the panic of
1857, which Northerners blamed on the South. Yet another Bostonian, William Lloyd
Garrison, an abolitionist reformer exclaimed, “The Constitution which subjects
them [slaves] to hopeless bondage is one that we cannot swear to support”
(Document E).

Although the Constitution is clearly flawed because extremist on both sides had
problems with it, this document, which is the supreme law of the land, does have
positive aspects.

I'm not sure this would be a proper DBQ

When the United States Constitution was ratified in 1787, it was meant to unite
the colonies, protect the rights and liberties of American citizens, and establish
laws common throughout the nation. But by the 1850's, it had begun to tear apart
the Union it had been created to bring together. In this turbulent period of
history, the issue of slavery was pulling the North and South farther and farther
apart. The North fought to contain slavery, in the interest of balancing power in
the Senate and the Electoral College, and abolitionists in the free states wanted
to do away with slavery altogether. Southern interests leaned not only toward the
continuation of slavery, but the spread of it. Since a slave counted for three
fifths of a citizen, the several million slaves in the South meant more
representatives in Congress, and more power for southern states. While the
Constitution should have been able to settle this conflict once and for all, it
rather escalated tensions. It was too vague, and too open to interpretation to
effectively solve the problem of slavery. The North felt that the Constitution
protected the rights of all men, even slaves. The South, however, believed that it
protected their right to do with their proper
Around the time of James Buchanan’s inauguration in 1857, a Missouri slave named
Dred Scott dared to sue for his freedom, unheard of at this time. He and his
master had been living in a free territory when the master died, leaving Scott, as
he believed, a free man. The court could simply have ruled that because he was
black, he was not a citizen, and because he was not a citizen, he had no right to
sue anyone. But Buchanan wanted the issue to rest, so he encouraged the court to
settle the problem. The Supreme Court ruled that not only was Scott not a citizen,
but that even if he had been, he couldn’t have won. They decided that even though
he’d lived in a free state, that didn’t mean he was free, because Congress had no
right to prohibit slavery even in free states. Thus, the Missouri Compromise was
unconstitutional, which was essentially seen as the admittance of slavery anywhere
in the country. Once again, the North was outraged. The Missouri Compromise had
for so long kept slavery contained in the South, but now it was free to spread.
In this tumultuous time in American history, the Constitution should have been
able to put a stop to the sectional arguments over slavery, but actually, seemed
to make the problem worse. Its two-sided interpretations drove the North and South
farther apart, and it allowed the control

Because of the lack of information in the Constitution, the United States lost its
sense of unity. The Constitution contributed to the failure of the union it
created by lacking information on slavery and secession.
Slavery was a major issue that the states could not agree on. When the issue of
slavery came up, the North had a completely different opinion than the South. They
were unable to refer to the Constitution for the answer because it lacked that
information. With the Compromise of 1850, the fugitive slave law was more strictly
enforced. A reason for this was that many slaveholders were losing money due to
runaways. They also felt it was unfair for northerners to help slaves reach
freedom, while those slaves belonged to them. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Northerner,
said that if an immoral law is made then it is a man’s job to break it. Many
Northerners felt that the fugitive slave law was kidnapping, and is therefore
immoral. Emerson said, “As soon as the Constitution ordains an immoral law, it
orda
Few Northerners felt that the people around them, mainly Douglas and Pierce, were
forcing them to believe that slavery was right and therefore forcing them to use
slaves in one way or another. (Doc. F) Bostonians tried to get around the fugitive
slave law by warning the colored slaves that watchmen and police officers were
acting as slave catchers and kidnappers. They even went as far as putting up signs
to warn runaway slaves about being caught. They knew that they would be punished
if someone caught them helping a runaway or even a free black so they put up signs
to tell people that they felt slavery was wrong. These signs were their way of
showing the South that slavery was against the Constitution. (Doc. C) William
Lloyd Garrison said that all the slaves in the United States had no protection
from the government and that it was not right for them to be crushed under the
American Union. He felt that the Northern motto was “No Union with Slaveholders”
and that the North should separate from slaveholders. (Doc. E)
The Constitution did not mention secession. When the Constitution was written, the
United States was beginning to unite and they were not thinking that states would
want to leave the