Once the ambition of the slave owners was realized and slavery was extended to the entire United States, not only would the booming industrial and economic development in the northern part of the United States be destroyed by slavery, but every civilian in the United States might be directly abducted and become a slave because they were unable to pay their debts!
Under the slavery system in the United States, there were not only black slaves. In the plantations of the southern slave owners, there were also a considerable number of white slaves!
Some of them were unable to pay their debts and were forced to be slaves to their creditors. Some were poor immigrants who wanted to go to North America but lacked the money to travel.
The immigrants who lacked the ability to defend themselves, such as weak beggars and children, were often forced or tricked into becoming slaves.
Criminals who had committed serious crimes in the United Kingdom, and even some poor people who had only made small mistakes but were exiled to America, were also a major source of white slaves in the United States.
Although the Republican Party's propaganda was somewhat alarmist and did not have much effect in winning votes for the presidential election, it made many American civilians who pursued a better life wary. If slavery was only limited to the southern states, they would not be worried. It was not worthwhile to destroy their peaceful lives for some slaves.
But if the evil slave owners really had the intention to expand slavery to the North, they would firmly resist and would never allow such a thing to happen!
Not to mention that the existence of slavery would greatly reduce their job opportunities and compete for their living space, even they and their children could become slaves at any time for various reasons.
It was known that in the southern slave states, the number of slaves accounted for one-third of the total population. Who could guarantee that if slavery really spread, they would be able to maintain their freedom forever?
Instead of saying that the Republican Party was running for the presidency, it was better to say that they were promoting the threat of slavery and arousing the people's vigilance against slavery. This action seemed to have little meaning, but as time passed, people would gradually forget about it.
But in fact, this was a firewood that the Republican Party filled in the hearts of the people. Now it seemed to have no effect, but as long as someone added fuel to the fire, the flame of anti-slavery would definitely burn fiercely!
And this fire was quickly ignited by someone!
The 1856 presidential election ended with the victory of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party's James Buchanan was successfully elected as the seventeenth president and officially took office in March 1857.
James Buchanan chose to compromise on the issue of slavery. The power of the southern slave owners rose again, and they became more arrogant. Their sights were no longer limited to the undeveloped West, but they attempted to further expand slavery to the entire United States!
In 1857, southern slaveholders attempted to use the Scott decision to extend slavery to the entire territory of the United States.
Scott was originally a slave of J. Emerson, a military doctor in Missouri.
In 1834 he was removed with his master to the free state of Illinois, and later to the territory of Wisconsin, where slavery was prohibited by the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and was thus freed.
But when they returned to the slave state of Missouri in 1838, they were once again enslaved.
In 1846, Scott filed a petition in Missouri for the restoration of his freedom on the basis of the people who had twice been free. He won the first trial, but was later rejected by the Missouri Supreme Court.
Scott then appealed to the Supreme Court.
Under the control of the southern slave owners, on March 6, 1857, the Federal Supreme Court ruled:
"Scott is a black slave.
A slave is the property of a slave owner, not a citizen of the United States, and has no right to appeal to the federal court. This property right cannot be revoked except through proper legal procedures, and Scott has not gone through such procedures before.
Because the property of citizens should be protected by the Constitution, neither Congress nor local councils have the right to declare the prohibition of slavery in any territory of the United States. "
As early as 1820, Congress passed the Missouri Compromise, which stipulated that the boundary between slave states and free states was 36 degrees 30 degrees north latitude. Slavery was allowed to exist in the territory south of the line, and slavery was prohibited in the territory north of the line.
This ruling effectively declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, and slavery was legal in all American territories.
The southern slave owners wanted to use this decision to encroach on the northern region little by little, relying on their advantage in Congress to gradually expand slavery to the territory of the United States. But they did not expect that this decision would cause fierce protests from the people of the northern states.
The northern people who originally thought that slavery had nothing to do with them suddenly remembered the Republican Party's propaganda during last year's presidential election about the ambitions of the slave owners and the threat of slavery. They did not take it too seriously, but now the facts were in front of them.
The "Scott decision" did indeed show the ambitions of the slave owners in the north and even the whole country. If the situation continued to develop, the whole United States would become the world of slavery!
The impact of the "Scott decision" spread at an unimaginable speed. This decision intensified the struggle around slavery in the north and south, and led to the uprising of the abolitionist John Brown and the armed rescue of the southern slaves.
The scale of this armed uprising was not large, but the impact was very widespread, and it shook the whole country. It lasted until 1859, when many people joined the struggle, and the call for the liberation of the black slaves spread to every corner of the United States. The national abolition movement was pushed to a new climax.
And a new presidential election was coming again.
Since the "Scott decision," the domestic situation had become increasingly tense, and the voices of the people for war were getting louder and louder. In this context, the Republican Party had made great progress and completely rose in Congress, suppressing the power of the Democratic Party in one fell swoop. President James Buchanan had long lost control of Congress, and the power of the Democratic Party, which represented the interests of the southern slave owners, was completely suppressed.
The Republican Party's election platform did not change much. Instead, it became more radical, vowing to abolish slavery and liberate the southern slaves.
Unlike the presidential election four years ago, the threat of slavery promoted by the Republican Party was considered alarmist. Now the facts were in front of them, and all the people really felt the threat of slavery. There was no need to promote it anymore. The Republican Party's platform was completely in line with the demands of the current American people. Slavery must be abolished!
Therefore, the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, received the enthusiastic support of the majority of the people.
The declaration of the Democratic Party to maintain domestic stability was instead seen as a compromise with the slave owners, causing great dissatisfaction among the ordinary people.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
