The Frontier Against Slavery

The Frontier Against Slavery by Eugene Berwanger traces the 19th century struggle to prevent the extension of slavery in the areas Northwest of the Ohio, California, the Plains states, and the Pacific Northwest. History has documented the moral and economic issues behind the question of slavery and its extension. Berwanger goes further and provides evidence that the resolution of the "Negro Question" was fraught with deep racial hatred as well. The prospect of residing in close proximity to free blacks, who whites assumed would flock to their states to associate with black slaves, was a determining factor in the decision by nonslave states to reject the extension of slavery.

Supporters of slavery were extremely proactive in getting state legislators to send petitions to Congress on the matter in the area Northwest of the Ohio between 1787-1824. The main impetus for their zeal was economic. Many were land speculators who noted the reluctance of slaveholders to move to Ohio as long as the slavery issue was unresolved: "Proslavery arguments stressed that slavery would relieve economic distress and increase the price of land" (16). Most of the new residents who settled in the region were nonslaveholders, but held little political influence. So committed were legislators to the passage of laws that would guarantee slavery, and thus lure slaveholders into the area, that the antislavery faction concentrated on sending counter-petitions to Congress rather than waste time on

Related Essays

The Frontier Against Slavery The Frontier Against Slavery by Eugene Berwanger traces the l9th century struggle to prevent the extension of slavery in the areas Northwest of the Ohio .... (1510 6 )

African-American: Slave and Free .... (1967) The Frontier Against Slavery: Western Anti-Negro Prejudice and the Slavery Extension Controversy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Bull, Lisa. .... (2457 10 )

The Frontier in American History .... (Turner 31) Originally, the frontier was associated .... in any case fought among themselves, tribe against tribe, for .... beginning with the role of slavery in Europe .... (2119 8 )

Bacon's Rebellion .... into a system of racially based slavery in America. .... during a failed military campaign against the Wabanakis .... for their own inadequate defense of the frontier. .... (1261 5 )

The African Slave Trade & European Attitudes .... only toward black slaves but toward the Indian encountered on the frontier. .... would be seen in antislavery campaigns as some Europeans fought against slavery. .... (754 3 )

ter or settle in the state. Whites who encouraged or supported such entry were fined. Although many state exclusion laws were not effective because they were difficult to enforce, they demonstrate the degree of racial prejudice that existed at the time. So vexed were whites regarding the potential influence of large numbers of free black settlers, many legislatures in the Northwest proposed colonization as the ultimate solution to the "Negro Question." Colonization was the voluntary removal of blacks to their native Africa. Colonization societies were established in several states including Michigan, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin. In the opinion of one colonization advocate, "a separation from the whites [is] essential to the prosperity of the colored man . . . colonization at some point [offers] to him his only hope of deliverance" (55). Some blacks accepted offers to relocate to Africa, particularly Liberia; however, the colonization movement never caught on, partly because of lack of funding and partly because of the commitment of blacks to the country of their birth. Throughout the book, Berwanger points out that the debate on the extension of slavery was shaped largely by emigrants to the regions under question

Category: History - T