State's rights, nullification, Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850 and the GA Platform, Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Missouri Compromise was enacted in 1820. This compromise was only a temporary fix for a looming problem. The Missouri Compromise established that Congress had to have an equal amount of representatives from free states and slave states. The problem was, that if Missouri entered as a slave state, the balance of Congress would be upset. The way the government fixed this issue, is that Missouri still entered as a slave state, however Maine also entered as a free one. This policy worked for the moment, although soon it would lead to many unsolvable problems.

     A tariff was placed on important foreign goods in 1828. This tariff enraged Southerners because imported goods became incredibly expensive. South Carolina was more upset about this tariff than any other Southern state. John C. Calhoun (the current Vice- President of the United States) and many South Carolinian citizens got together and established a form of a petition disagreeing with this new tariff. The petition was sent to the Federal government and entailed that South Carolina was not going to obey this tariff. The government was not pleased with this petition and sent troops down to South Carolina. War almost broke out. Luckily the tariff was lowered, however Southern legislatures wanted to govern themselves more freely. These legislatures believed that states deserved more individual rights, and should be able to make more decisions for themselves. This belief plays a leading role in the belief of the Republican party today. 

     The Compromise of 1850 was yet another temporary fix to a problem neighboring the Missouri Compromise. There was a sudden gold rush in California, which led to California's want to be a state. Now the only problem was that if California entered the Union, (United Sates) there would no longer be a balance of free and slave states in the Congress because California was most likely going to enter as a free state. The North would then be given an upper hand in the Congress and the South did not like the sound of that. Now, five things were done in order to satisfy the both the North and South: Texas became a state (had larger borders), land that was formerly claimed by Texas was divided into New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada (the South had the chance to convince these states to enter the Union as slave states), slavery was abolished in Washington D.C., California entered the Union as a free state, and the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. 

     

     The Georgia Platform was a proclamation to Congress that is said to had saved the Union from separation. Georgian delegates, led by Howell Cobb, Alexander Stephens, and Robert Toombs, powerfully presented their case on how the Union needed to remain as one. Congress was won over by Georgia's overwhelming evidence on how the Union could not afford to separate and remained as one. Georgia is credited with saving the Union.

     The Kansas- Nebraska Act was created by Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois on May 30, 1854. This Act allowed states north of the 36° 30´ latitude line to have slavery. If any states were established north of this line, the citizens could decided whether the state would enter the Union as a free or slave state. The citizens residing in these states were often very split between pro-slavery and anti-slavery views, and conflicts broke out regularly. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Compromise

http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/nullification-crisis-/

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-798

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html

http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/tucker/strusky_m/webquests/VUS6_madisonmonroe/Missouri_Compromise_map.jpg

http://www.ushistory.org/us/images/00080486.gif

http://www.jaysonblair.com/images/slave-wanted-s.JPG