One HUGE Elephant

          As we know, slavery was a huge debate between the north and the south. It was considered the "elephant in the room" for the north and south and ultimately lead to the Civil War. The real reason that slavery was considered the "elephant in the room" is because the government was not willing to take part in the debate over slavery. They left it open to the people of the US to tackle and debate slavery. When the government refused to partake in the extensive dispute, the people handled it poorly, resulting in a great deal of violence.
         One prominent example of the negligence of the government is the Dred Scott case. When Dred Scott filed a law suit against his owner in 1857, saying he and his wife should be free because they had lived in free states where slavery was illegal. Instead of taking a real interest in the case, the supreme court ruled 7 to 2 against Scott because slaves weren't allowed to sue. The government unfairly pushed the Scott trial to the side because they didn't to deal with slavery and rebelling slaves. "Bleeding Kansas" was the governments version of quickly dealing with the problem then pushing it aside. In 1856, they broke Kansas into 3 sections, Free Soilers, Pro Slavery and Anti Slavery. Eventually, the "quick fix" that the separation was supposed to be, plummeted downwards resulting in a rebellion, giving the decision its name, "Bleeding Kansas".
         When the government ignores the slavery debate, the people take protests into their own hands.
 In 1856, Charles Sumner wrote a speech called "The Crime Against Kansas" highlighting that the southern states were forcing slavery onto the west. Upon hearing the speech, Preston Brooks stormed to Sumner's office and beat him with a cane, to defend the honor of the south. Another instance of people taking the dispute into their own hands is John Brown's Raid. In 1859, John Brown assisted by 21 men raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Before they could complete the raid, almost half of Browns men were killed, forcing the others to surrender. Brown was captured and hanged for treason, but he was still considered a martyr by northers.
          The governments ignorance towards slavery made the topic an "elephant in the room". When they ignore the injustice that slaves like Dred Scott face, the are forced to deal with much more pressing consequences of the debate. They have to deal with beatings, rebellions and raids. I the government had paid more attention to slavery in the beginning, they could have made much bigger steps towards resolving it, maybe even avoiding the Civil War.