People at the time knew slavery was a festering wound on the country that had to be resolved at some point. The government kicked the can down the road as long as possible, then the issue blew up.
It is just amazing how the speeches of the time were so intellectual and full of information. Listening to Douglass’ speech takes a good deal of attention and thought.
No it didn't. That's just the crap we were told to justify them invading the Southern states and taking over their governments against the will of the people of those states.
The US government fully intended to accommodate slavery indefinitely with the passage of the Corwin Amendment. This amendment, which passed both the house and senate and which was ratified by 5 northern states, would have made slavery permanent in the USA.
Therefore slavery didn't "blow up". It was just turned into an excuse to explain why Washington DC had the right to send hundreds of thousands of men to destroy the lives of other people in other states.
"Slavery" was an ex post facto excuse for what they did. The real reason was because the South was going to cause economic disaster to the powerful rich northern elite who controlled Washington DC. (Same bastards who control it now and who are still f***ing over the rest of us.)
What "blew up" was the South getting out from under the control of Washington DC, which along with their buddies in New York, were sucking up 60% of the total economic revenue from Southern export trade with Europe.
When the South was going to trade directly with Europe without New York and Washington DC taking out a 60% bite, it was going to wreck the economy in New York and Washington.
The rich powerful elite was not going to tolerate that, thus WAR!