By the 1850’s the Constitution DBQ

Assignment: “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.” Assess the validity of this statement. The Constitution continued to bring national unity until the 1850’s, but later, a series of resolutions raised a great confusion about the view of the Constitution concerning slavery. At this time, the law encouraged …

…be confined to the areas where it already existed. It had been given limits by the Missouri Compromise in 1820 and had no opportunity to overstep them, but when United States prepared to take over California, New Mexico and Utah there were conflicting suggestions on what to do with them. This issue called for legislature and it was hard to satisfy the North; Land of Industry and the South; Land of “Honor” without destroying the Union.