Who's got the power: the federal government or the sovereign states? It's the signature argument of the antebellum era. The nation was adding new states like nobody's business, making it pretty crucial to lay out clearly what powers they were allowed to have relative to the federal government. You get lazy about keeping an eye on these things, and you could end up with some pretty nasty conflict—maybe even a civil war.
Back in the antebellum era, "states' rights" was a euphemism for "we want to own slaves." But states' rights showdowns continued up through the 20th and 21st centuries. Many were still about race, like the time President Eisenhower sent in the 201st Airborne Division to forcible integrate Little Rock's Central High School when the state ignored the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education and refused to desegregate.
When it came to slavery, the feds won that round. But don't worry; we've still got abortion, medical marijuana, open carry, voter ID requirements, and death with dignity statutes: States and the feds still have plenty to fight about.
Questions About States' Rights
- How can we link the question of states' rights between the Compromise of 1850 and the Civil War a decade later? Were people concerned with the same issues?
- What kinds of powers does the Compromise generally give to the states, and which does it keep for the federal government?
- Why would it have been important for the Compromise to address states' rights?
- What was it about the antebellum era that made states' rights such a relentless and problematic issue?
Chew on This
Southern states were actually one of the biggest winners in 1850, because they forced the compromise. But they won the battle and eventually lost the war.
If something is as morally wrong as slavery, the federal government should be able to outlaw it regardless of what the state residents think. What if a state thought murder was OK? Oh, wait. Some did.