Ap us history question:
by the 1850s the constitution, originally framed as an instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created. using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1850-1861, assess the validity of this statement.

The constitution failed to deal with slavery, expansion, and regional conflict which contributed to the failure of the Union.

Explanation:

Sectional differences in the United States throughout the 1850s spread farther, as the political authorities argued about slavery and whether or not should be allowed to be extended, while the abolition movement grew in some free states.

The Fugitive Slave Act, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott vs Sandford turned Northerners to think that, against the Constitution, slavery was dominating government.

On the other side, white Southerners also believed the Constitution was on their side, as the Northern efforts to restrain slavery constituted an attack on their freedom.

from the religious point of view, the conflicts began because of the enmity between catholic and protestants. in 1649, at the insistence of baltimore, the colonial assembly approved the act of religious tolerance, the first law in the colonies granting freedom of worship, though only for christians. in 1654, however, with the protestants of maryland in the majority, the act was revoked. the almost civil war broke out and order was not restored until 1658, when lord baltimore was returned to power.

on the issue of class conflict, the chesapeake region offered few economic opportunities to contract employees who had served their term of obligation. even with the small amount of capital needed to grow tobacco, former hired servants at best became subsistence farmers, a mature class for those called to rebellion, such as those proposed by nathaniel bacon. as the number of new hired workers declined because of limited chances of progress and reports of severe treatment, they were replaced by african slaves.

from the racial point of view, after 1660, the chesapeake colonies imposed laws that defined slavery as a lifelong and hereditary condition based on race. this made slaves profitable because planters could rely not only on their work but also on their children. the slave population, which numbered four thousand in virginia and maryland in 1675, grew significantly by the end of the century.

more than 65,000 union soldiers had been killed that summer.

more than 65,000 union soldiers had been killed that summer.

more than 65, is the correct