For the answer to the question above, this refers to Three-Fifth Compromise where the South used the number of slaves in its territories to increase its representation. It gave the South more power by using the slave population to its advantage. This would threaten the balance of power, particularly to the Northern States.
The event which best shows the destruction of the natural landscape due to the settlement of the West is The US government allocated certain regions of the West for American Indianreservations.
