Slavery – the difficult problem of the United States of America

Abstract

Slavery is believed to have left an imprint on the American democracy. Although no regulations treating of that issue could be found in the Federal Constitution, it still existed. The problem of slavery could be easily approached while annexing free states and territories. The crisis in Missouri made it even more intensified. The Northern states, where slavery did not exist, proposed their Southern neighbors to start the gradual emancipation of slaves. Despite the fact that Ohio wanted to introduce such a change in 1824, the states where slavery was present, like South Carolina or Georgia, claimed slavery to play crucial role in their functioning. The society of the North was conservative and decided to be strict towards slaves to avoid further rebellions. Nonetheless, the discussions on the prohibition of slavery in Columbia district, which was a federation, were brought up for till 1837 and came to an end together with the introduction of so-called gag rules. American Colonization Society, which tried to evacuate slaves form the USA, can be claimed to play crucial role in the process of abolitionism in the country. The Liberator – a magazine raising strong objections concerning slavery, contributed to the radicalization of the Southern attitude towards slaves. It brought about next revolts of the enslaved part of the population. Revolts which together with time were becoming more violent. The Northern states did not help Southerners to solve the problem of slavery for whom slaves were of the fundamental economic importance. As a consequence, the North and the South started standing in the opposition to each other, with slavery being one of the numerous reasons for it.