Changing the Law of the Land

1. Changing the Law of the Land Chapter 7 Section 1

2. Abolishing Slavery Slavery and the Framers • The Constitutional Convention would’ve probably failed without the compromise on slavery. • Southerners believed that farming economy would collapse without slave labor. • Northerners by this time had banned slavery within their borders and wanted slavery to be illegal through the U.S. • Because the Framers need both the north and south to ratify the Constitution the did not discuss slavery in the Constitution.

3. Abolishing Slavery • No where in the Constitution is the word slavery mentioned. Instead, they used phrases such as all other persons and such people to refer to slaves without using the words slave or slavery. • To avoid angering the southern states, the Framers even tried to make slavery seem ______. They agreed that slaves could be counted as part of a state’s population and that runaway slaves had to be returned to their owners.

4. Abolishing Slavery Tension Between North and South • As new states joined the nation throughout the 1800’s, the North and the South competed for power in Congress. • The more populated states in the North controlled the House. • Northerners argued that including enslaved people in population counts gave southern states more representatives than they deserved.

5. Abolishing Slavery • Southerners feared that the North might use its political power to abolish slavery everywhere. • To avoid any major conflict Congress passed the Missouri Compromise in 1820. • What did this compromise do? • Unfortunately, the compromise did not satisfy the nations conflict. So Congress then changed it to majority rule. Allowing settlers in each territory to vote on whether to allow slavery there. • Did this help?

6. Abolishing Slavery A Controversial Court Decision • The Dred Scott case in 1857 was a beacon of hope that the slavery issue would finally be settled. • Dred Scott a slave traveled with his slaveholder to Illinois and the Wisconsin territory where slavery was ILLEGAL. • After they returned to Missouri, Scott argued that his residence in a free territory had made him a free person. • Now the Court had to decide whether or not Scott was free according to the Constitution.

7. Abolishing Slavery • The Court ruled that, according to the Constitution, slaves were property. As such Congress could not prevent slaveholders from taking slaves anywhere they wished. The Thirteenth Amendment • Finally, after what war did the issue of slavery change? • How many died? Who won? Which amendment abolished slavery and in what year?

8. African Americans and the Right to Vote • Even long after the Civil War and the abolishment of slavery African Americans still faced a long struggle for full freedom. The Fourteenth Amendment • When was it adopted? What did it ensure? • This amendment took the power of granting citizenship away from the states. • What does the amendment state?

9. African Americans and the Right to Vote • Why were these statements added when there was already a Bill of Rights? What does the 14th amendment require the states to do? • Unfortunately, the 14th amendment did not prevent African Americans from being discriminated by citizens.

10. African Americans and the Right to Vote The Fifteenth Amendment • What was not guaranteed in some states? • Define suffrage. • When was the 15th amendment added? What does it state?

11. African Americans and the Right to Vote The Twenty-Fourth Amendment • Define poll tax. • Many African Americans could not pay the poll tax because they were poor. • When was the 24th amendment passed? • What did the 24th amendment do? • What do amendment not guarantee? • How long did it take before real progress was seen throughout the nation?

12. Women and the Right to Vote • African Americans were not the only group struggling with being left out of the “we the people”. Women too, faced a long struggle for full citizenship rights. • Unlike slavery, women’s rights _____ ____ even seen to be an issue in the minds of the Framers. • What were the traditional ideas about women roles?

13. Women and the Right to Vote Traditional Ideas About Women • Most people believed that women belonged …… • Many believed that women were unable to handle many jobs that men performed. • Large numbers of women took ________ during the _____. But still, laws treated then differently from men. • What did some laws only allow women to do?

14. Women and the Right to Vote • Generally, people who held these old traditional views about women disapproved of women _____ or ________. • What did they argue (and believe)? Challenging the Traditional View • When did the views of women change? • What did the declaration from the Seneca Falls state? • Nevertheless, by the 1900’s only a hand full of states granted suffrage to women.

15. Women and the Right to Vote • What were the supporters known as? • What did they do? • A proposed amendment giving suffrage to women was introduced but failed to pass in almost every session of Congress for 40 years from _____ to_______.

16. Women and the Right to Vote The Nineteenth Amendment • What happened in New York in 1917? • What did President Woodrow Wilson do? • What happened in January of 1918? • When did the Senate do the same as the House? • When was the 19th amendment ratified?

17. Youth and the Right to Vote • The most recent voting rights amended to the Constitution lowered the voting age from ___to ___. • What was the rationale or reasoning behind the lowering of the voting age? • When did Congress pass a new law? • What did the Supreme Court say? • Congress then, overwhelmingly approved the new amendment in March of 1971.

18. The Voice of the People • Voting rights show that the Constitution can be changed in response to the new attitudes and conditions in society. • Which 3 amendments came about because of the Civil War? • However, the other amendments in the Constitution came about through peaceful efforts of the citizens. • Which was the most recent amendment to be added? When? • What does it state?