"And Be It So Enacted": Natural Law and Southern Federalism in the Fugitive Slave Controversy

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dc.contributor.advisorDenning, Robert
dc.contributor.advisorIrvine, Robert
dc.contributor.authorJenkins, Natasha Townsel
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-11T03:15:40Z
dc.date.available2023-09-11T03:15:40Z
dc.date.issued2017-06-19
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.
dc.description.degreeMaster Arts
dc.description.programHistory
dc.description.schoolCollege of Online and Continuing Education
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10474/3764
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherSouthern New Hampshire University
dc.relation.requiresAdobe Acrobat Reader
dc.rightsAuthor retains all ownership rights. Further reproduction in violation of copyright is prohibited.
dc.rightsHolderJenkins, Natasha Townsel
dc.subject.lcshAmerican History
dc.subject.lcshCivil War
dc.subject.lcshFugitive Slaves
dc.subject.otherAntebellum
dc.subject.otherNatural Law
dc.subject.otherSlavery
dc.subject.otherState's Rights
dc.title"And Be It So Enacted": Natural Law and Southern Federalism in the Fugitive Slave Controversy
dc.typeThesis

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