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I was reading an article and was wondering if there is anything out there to indicate that the Founding Fathers saw the potential for conflict regarding these specific points:

  1. Economic and social differences between the North and the South.
  2. States versus federal rights.

Is there any evidence to indicate that during and after the Revolutionary War (the time frame during which the United States was being formed into its own country), some of the Founding Fathers saw the potential for future conflicts that might lead to national dispute?

Is there any evidence that would suggest certain Founding Fathers warned that such issues could lead to a Civil War?

Is there any evidence to suggest that any were aware that such a dispute had a high chance of happening, but decided to forge ahead with the confidence that the newly formed government could resolve such issues over time?

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I edited this post to make sure it fell more in line with our question/answer guidelines. The previous version was more likely to solicit discussion or opinion. – Steven Drennon♦ Feb 27 '12 at 20:10
@Steven Drennon Thank you, that is a much better way to phrase the question. – harper89 Feb 27 '12 at 20:15

2 Answers

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I do not think that there exists evidence to show that the founding fathers anticipated a civil war would break out over the issue of slavery. The founding fathers were largely against the institution of slavery, but the southern delegates (where the economy was completely dependent upon slavery) were for the institution.

There were some steps taken to mitigate the effects of slavery. There is no mention of the word "slave," or "slavery" in the Constitution. The importation of slaves was to become illegal by 1808, so the founders had in place a system to limit the increase via importation. Southern states wanted slaves to be counted as full people for appropriation purposes, but that was eventually narrowed down to 3/5ths. The reality was that the founders didn't think they could make the US work without the support of the Southern states and as such they punted on the slavery issue, but managed to sneak in the power to regulate slavery with the importation ban.

The discussions of the Constitutional Convention show a desire to do away with the institution, but nothing about potential war resulting from allowing the institution to persist.

For further reading:

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The importation ban was not intended to curve slavery, then or eventually. It was intended to bolster the slave trade (and thus the economy) of existing slave states who had large slave populations they wanted to sell. It was a lot more like economic protectionism than a social measure. Slaves were cheaper to import from the Caribbean, but that didn't do Virginia any good. – Cody Gray Feb 29 '12 at 4:22
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@CodyGray Do you have any sources for this assertion? I don't doubt it's veracity, but I would be interested in further reading about the idea. – ihtkwot♦ Feb 29 '12 at 22:53
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I wouldn't really know what sources to recommend—one of the main reasons why I don't participate more actively here. Any good book on the American post-Revolutionary years or the slave trade should cover this. If I remember correctly, Eric Foner has written a lot about the domestic slave trade during the antebellum period. Lacy Ford has a good book on slavery in the Old South entitled Deliver Us From Evil, and Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis is a nice read and I'm pretty sure covers this question as taken up during the Constitutional Convention. – Cody Gray Mar 1 '12 at 18:35
@CodyGray thanks for the response. – ihtkwot♦ Mar 1 '12 at 18:37
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There are lengthy discussions on the topic of factions and mitigating the risks of insurrection in the Federalist Papers and in the responses written by anti-Federalists. The most notable paper on this subject was Federalist No. 10.

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