The government did not allow slavery in the Northwest Territory primarily due to the influence of Enlightenment ideals emphasizing freedom and equality, which shaped the nation's values. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the territory and included a clause prohibiting slavery, reflecting a desire to promote free labor and attract settlers. Additionally, limiting slavery helped to balance power between free and slave states as the country expanded westward, thus addressing growing tensions over the institution. This decision was also strategic in cultivating a new society based on different economic and social principles.
popular sovereignty
to see if they where able to stay on the territory or if they had to move away and go somewhere else.
Stephan A. Douglas , Democrat, was probably the most flexible on the slavery question. He proposed popular sovereignty -- letting the people of a state or territory decide by an election whether of not to allow slavery in their state.
The Missouri Compromise
The Dred Scott decision, delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857, ruled that popular sovereignty—the idea that the settlers of a territory could decide whether to allow slavery—was unconstitutional. The Court argued that the federal government had no authority to regulate slavery in the territories, as it violated the property rights of slave owners under the Fifth Amendment. Consequently, the decision effectively invalidated the principle of popular sovereignty by asserting that Congress could not exclude slavery from the territories, thereby reinforcing the legal status of slavery in the United States.
The Northwest Ordinance outlawed slavery in the territory. However the ordinance did allow for indentured servants to be held in the territory. The US Constitution did not prohibit slavery at that time.
they allow people to leave
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed people in certain areas to determine whether or not their territory would allow slavery
Lincoln argued that it was wrong to decide whether to allow slavery in a state or territory by voting
the vote over whether to allow slavery
Lincoln argued that it was wrong to decide whether to allow slavery in a state or territory by voting
The theory promoted by Stephen Douglas was popular sovereignty. This theory allowed the people of a territory to decide for themselves whether to allow or forbid slavery when they applied for statehood, as outlined in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
popular sovereignty
popular sovereignty
georgia was the first colony to outlaw slavery
to see if they where able to stay on the territory or if they had to move away and go somewhere else.
The people that live in a territory should choose whether to allow slavery or not