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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. ... The cause of the continuous conflict between the North and the South, in many leaders’ point of view at the time, was the Constitution. The Constitution became a source of sectional discord and tension due to its lack of clarity dealing with the slavery issue and the powers of the national government and individual states, resulting in the failure of the union it had created. ... The Fugitive Slave Law, as Ralph Waldo Emerson states, is “An immoral law that makes it a man’s duty to break it, at every hazard… But one thing appears certain to me, that, as soon as the Constitution ordains an immoral law, it ordains disunion.” Once again, the Constitution is blamed for the disunion present at the time. ... As the author of the “Plain Words for the North” states, “…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 slaves… We hold that the Constitution of the Union does recognize slavery where it exists. ... In other words, the author is blaming the Constitution for not protecting the weaker states in the Union and as a result the equilibrium that alone can preserve the Constitution is utterly destroyed.
Approximate Word count = 1199
Approximate Pages = 4.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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