. The Great Northern Migration of the 1830s also contributed to an increased divide between whites and blacks. By white Americans moving westward, they felt that slavery became more important because it was one way for them to maintain their dominance over others – in this case, people on other sides like African-Americans but also Native Americans who were forced into illegal land treaties by corrupt politicians. In response, slaveowners would demand stricter laws be passed so slaves could not escape or revolt against their masters which led to a harsher system known as Black Codes. The most well-known example of these codes is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 where escaped slaves are captured without trial if they cross state lines into free states such as Pennsylvania or Ohio and must return backIn 1840, the United States was a nation at war with itself. The country’s four main political parties – Democrats, Whigs, Liberty Party and Free Soilers – were in conflict on how to handle slavery in the West and whether or not it should be allowed to expand into new territories. In this blog post, we will examine why slavery became more central to American politics in the 1840s by looking at three theories: that slavery was an inherently Southern institution; that white Americans grew increasingly racist; and that some Northern whites feared slave revolts.
The first theory suggests that Southern politicians wished to keep their region economically dependent on cotton production which depended on slaves. This is because they believed slaves would never revolt against them if they were kept dependent. This is why slavery became increasingly important in Southern politics and they defended it often when Northern politicians tried to abolish the institution as a whole or restrict its expansion into new territories.
The second theory suggests that whites were growing more racist against blacks due to their increased economic hardships during this time period, especially those who hired slaves for their farms. Slavery was seen by many Americans as an economical necessity because of high demand from European countries such as England, France and Spain which relied on cotton for industry production back home. The harsh winter climate made families desperate enough to take any work available at lower wages regardless if they had no other options than hiring out poor family members with slave labor contracts – even white children would be forced into servitude