HOw did the Constitution set the precedent for the Civil War?

Although the Constitution was very effective in its early years, the writers had made the mistake of leaving several important issues open and unresolved such as slavery, ratification, and the conflicts between the North and the South. The Constitution ultimately contributed to the failure of the union because of the issues that were not resolved, and therefore caused controversy in the years leading up to the Civil War. The document was originally formed with the intention of unifying the newly formed United States of America. Since then, the Constitution was effective in protecting the rights and ideals of the people. But later on the Constitution had influenced a split both politically and ideologically between the North and the South. One of the most controversial issues between the North and the South was slavery.

The Constitution only addresses how slaves were to be counted in terms of population, and did not fully settle the idea of slavery.

2nd Senate composition

Map of the division of the states during the Civil...

Constitution of the State of Minnesota, Republican...

As a result of their avoidance of addressing slavery, it [slavery] became one of the main issues that led to civil war. Over the years slavery was a topic of controversy that was boiling up in the eyes of the North and the South. "In fact, they [the Founding Fathers] did not want a balance, except one which kept things as they were, a balance among the dominant forces at that time." What Zinn was trying to say was that the Constitution did not pay much attention to slavery and its "fate". Two writers of the time spoke out against slavery, even though the law made it legal. Ralph Waldo Emerson states in Document D, "An immoral law makes it a man's duty to break it." , meaning that just because something is made a law does not make it right, and unable to...