Northern and Southern Paranoia in the 1850’s
America during the 1850’s was plagued with paranoia regarding the slavery question. After the American Revolution, some Northerners saw slavery as being contradictory with basic American laws. The revolution saw the establishment of strong nationalistic ideals which slavery seriously undermined. How could America realize its ambition of being the greatest nation in the world; supporting life, liberty and happiness for all, while harboring a “peculiar institution”? Southerners to the contrary saw slavery as part of the “southern way”. It was their “peculiar institution” and was tantamount to Southern success and survival. The years which separated the revolution and the civil war saw a steady development of more stern and spirited proslavery arguments. This core disagreement between both sides gave rise to a plethora of apprehension and conspiracy theories based on areas such as religion, the economy, the legal system, science and medicine, politics and racial theories. These theories largely originated from personal opinion and were tailored in ways that complemented the constructors’ own thoughts.
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