Slavery in the Jacksonian Era

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how President Jackson was a staunch defender of slavery while the American abolitionist movement was gaining strength. The paper explains that it was this conflict that is seen as creating the tensions which eventually lead to civil war between the northern and southern states. The paper relates that democracy eventually lead to the abandonment of slavery in the North, and the loss of the Civil War ensured that the South would have to abandon slavery too.

Outline:
Jacksonian Pro-Slavery
Democratic Abolitionism

From the Paper:

"Jackson, like these people, was a staunch defender of slavery; in part, this was in connection with the idea of Manifest Destiny, the belief that white people were naturally superior to all black people. This was part of the reason that the issue of abolitionism became such a topic of debate within the Jasksonian democracy.
"Jacksonian democracy was resistant to the idea of slavery, firstly because it considered it a distraction from the real issues of the economy, and the taking of new land from the Native Americans. The Jacksonians viewed the co-operation of the Southern states as necessary to achieve these goals, and the Abolitionists were alienating the Southern supporters of reform. As Frankel (1947) says: "The Issue of Slavery was the key to the real nature of Jacksonianism"."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Feller, Daniel (2007)"Benjamin Tappan and the Antislavery Democracy" http://www.h-net.msu.edu/-shear/s99abs/feller.htm.
• Frankel, Henry (1946) "The Jackson Period in American History" Fourth International Volume 7 No 12 December 1946, page 365-36(1947) "Three Conceptions of Jacksonianism" Fourth International Volume 8 No. 3. March 1947 page 93-96.
• Hammond (2007) "Quotes on slavery" http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/HammondJ/1820%20-%201865/Quotes%20on%20Slavery.htm
• Holt, Michael (2002) Slavery and Slavery Extension http://dig.lib.niu.edu/message/ps-slavery/html
• Norco High School "Sectionalism and Slavery" http://members.tripod.com/megan365/id81.htm

More papers on Slavery in the Jacksonian Era:

• Term Paper # 45770 : "Jacksonian Democracy"
• Term Paper # 132771 : "Slavery in the 21st Century"
• Term Paper # 121154 : "Slavery in the North"

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