"And be It so enacted": natural law and southern federalism in the fugitive slave controversy

dc.contributor.advisorDenning, Robert
dc.contributor.authorJenkins, Natasha Townsel
dc.contributor.committeeMemberIrvine, Robert
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-29T19:37:41Z
dc.date.available2017-08-29T19:37:41Z
dc.date.issued2017-06
dc.description.abstractDespite the vast research on the events that led to the Civil War, little scholarship focuses solely on the extent to which the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 played a role. While historians highlight the law’s political, social, and cultural significance to the sectional conflict, the literature on the Fugitive Slave Law does not consider its importance to the ideological debate that exacerbated the rift between the Free and Slave states. This study focuses on the impact that the differing interpretations of Natural Law had on the sectional conflict, and how each section’s prioritization of personal liberty and property underscores the true nature of the states’ rights debate. An analysis of antebellum newspapers, pamphlets, and fugitive slave cases demonstrates that the Free states were more inclined to argue for states’ rights during the fugitive slave crisis, whereas Slave states argued in favor of federalism to protect their right to recover their slave property. This examination will add to Civil War scholarship by inverting the states’ rights defense in favor of the northern states and further highlight the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 as one of the leading causes of the disunion that led to civil war. (Author abstract)en_US
dc.description.bibliographicCitationJenkins, N. T. (2017). "And be it so enacted": natural law and southern federalism in the fugitive slave controversy. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduen_US
dc.description.degreeMaster Artsen_US
dc.description.programHistoryen_US
dc.description.schoolCollege of Online and Continuing Educationen_US
dc.digSpecsPDF/A-1ben_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10474/3184
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSouthern New Hampshire Universityen_US
dc.relation.requiresAdobe Acrobat Readeren_US
dc.rightsAuthor retains all ownership rights. Further reproduction in violation of copyright is prohibiteden_US
dc.rightsHolderJenkins, Natasha Townsel
dc.subject.lcshSouthern New Hampshire University -- Theses (History)en_US
dc.subject.otherAmerican historyen_US
dc.subject.otherantebellumen_US
dc.subject.otherAmerican Civil Waren_US
dc.subject.otherfugitive slavesen_US
dc.subject.othernatural lawen_US
dc.subject.otherslaveryen_US
dc.subject.otherstate's rightsen_US
dc.title"And be It so enacted": natural law and southern federalism in the fugitive slave controversyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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