The precursor to the Civil War was the 1840s, a turbulent time in which the Mexican American War occurred. America was the victor of the war, but a great debate surrounded the territories gained by this war; were they to be slave states or free states? Abolitionists led great movements against them becoming slavery, while slave owners saw it as a chance to further profit. The unrest from this contributed to the great animosity between most Northerners and Southerners in America that continued to grow and boil until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Leading up to the war there was session by many Southern states that formed the Confederacy with Jefferson Davis as president. The Abolitionist movement and the Secession of the Confederates …show more content…
In Document 1, he states how he believes the abolitionists have been too extreme in their pursuits. This address to the senate was an attempt to get the Compromise of 1850 in place, as a Union saving measure, as a resolution to the dispute over land gained after the Mexican-American War. The North wanted to ensure that these areas would not be slave states, so the Compromise of 1850 was put into action which was made up of laws entering California into the Union as a free state, created Utah and New Mexico as territories that could be slave or free due to popular sovereignty where the people voted, settled a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in favor of Texas, ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and made it easier for Southerners to recover fugitive slaves. This act was viewed as very controversial among abolitionists because it made it harder for the slaves seeking refuge to stay safe even in the North. The Whig Party was mostly dissolved by 1855, in part due to the Compromise and controversy around the party, as shown by the charts in Document 3. The extremism among abolitionists was noted by the Whigs, and these abolitionists frequently looked to Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a spark for why their movement was so necessary. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as portrayed in document 2, showed the harshness of slavery and is regarded by many as a cause of the war. Furthermore, the extreme of both sides was clearly exemplified by Bleeding Kansas, which was Southerens and extreme Abolitionists flocked to Kansas after it was decided it would be a free or slave state based on what the people voted. John Brown roused his followers against the pro slavery groups who had attacked the town of Lawrence and they ended up killing 5 pro-slavery people. Document 6 shows the effects of bleeding Kansas through the eyes of Frederick Douglas; Douglas believed that John
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, narrowly passed while Congressmen brandished weapons and uttered death threats in the House chambers, overturned parts of the Missouri Compromise by allowing the settlers in the two territories to determine whether or not to permit slavery by a popular vote. Pro- and anti-slavery agitators flocked to Kansas, hoping to shift the decision by sheer weight of numbers. “The two factions struggled for five years with sporadic outbreaks of bloodshed that claimed fifty-six lives.” Although both territories eventually ratified anti-slavery constitutions, the violence shocked and troubled the nation.
The American Civil War was in many ways a logical conclusion to the growing differences between the Northern and Southern United States from its beginnings the late 1700’s. The growing sectional differences in politics, economics, and society made war seem nearly inevitable by the year 1861. One major cause of The American Civil War was the Missouri Compromise. This was a cause because the Missouri Compromise the Compromise split the north and south to being slave and non slave territories, which led the country divided.this averted war for 30 years until california was up for grab for whether it was it was a free state, because it crossed both sides of the Missouri Compromise line. In Document 5 Abraham Lincoln states “A house divided against
In February of 1861, seven states from the deep south, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas, decided to secede from the union. The succession was due to the growing fear that the institution of slavery would be stripped from them. Prior to the succession, from the 1790s to then, there had been constant conflict instigating that the north and south were progressing in two very different directions, and by the time of the Civil War there a significant wedge had been driven between the northern and southern states. There were four significant and critical incidents that wedged a gap between the north and south and led to the coming of the American Civil War, the invention of the cotton gin, Nat Turner’s
Southerners—Democrats and Whigs alike—jumped at the opportunity to open Northern territories to slavery, but Northerners recoiled, outraged that the Missouri Compromise had been violated. Riots and protests against the Kansas-Nebraska Act erupted in Northern cities. What Douglas had failed to realize was that most Northerners regarded the Missouri Compromise to be almost sacred. The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the brutal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act had by this time awakened hundreds of thousands in the North to the horrors of slavery.
The United States had been involved in the Civil War for two years prior to 1863. Many people wonder how this devastating conflict ever got started. It has been said that the differences between the states that was against slavery and the states that still felt it was still necessary was the reasoning behind it. However, that did not last forever. All it took was one man to change everything.
The question of slavery expanding or being terminated has been a question that has been asked all throughout the antebellum period. Yet, all through that period it was never answered. Conflict between abolishing slavery which was fought for by the Northerners and preserving slavery, fought for by the Southerners has spiked as time has gone on. Though, each plan that was designed to make a compromise between the two conflicting arguments has just seemed to arouse the fighters even more. For example, The WIlmot Proviso Act was shot down by opposed Southerners, the Compromise of 1850 infuriated both argumentative sides, and the secession of South Carolina angered and feared Northerners.
The Union’s approach to ending the Civil War and restoring the country was ultimately quite bold. Along with this, the Union handled restoration, mainly involving the issue of slavery, step by step until stability could exist again. The Union's main concerns were preventing the Confederacy from gaining any political power, aid from abroad, or strong military strength. By displaying complete power and determination over these issues, the ability to put an end to the rebellion would be much easier.
The Missouri Compromise, The Compromise of 1850, and The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 were all temporary, political compromises that did nothing to help settle the growing power conflict between the two regions. As a matter of fact, the half-hearted compromises only drove the North and South farther apart in ideals and standings. Before any of the compromises were made, the people of the United States were separating into pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, standing at a fragile peace with an equal amount of free and slave states. When Missouri asked to join the union as a slave state, it was a political uproar. Both factions being all too aware of the political pull and power the either would gain in politics if they had their way.
Isabel Prinzi Mr. Falgiano AP U.S. History, Per 8, Pre Civil War DBQ 17 January 2023 To truly achieve compromise, the parties involved must be willing to sacrifice a part of their beliefs and values. There are times when finding a middle ground cannot be achieved, leading to prolonged frustration and stalemate. The Civil War brought to light an issue that had been stalking the land since the founding fathers signed the documents that celebrated the fact that all men were created equal and were endowed by their Creator. Long before the Civil War took place, the North and South were at odds.
Criteria/Measurement The criteria for the question is to be measured according to major and minor length. To prove there was a division in America during the Civil War era there must be a shift in the interaction of the two side in America and the use of slavery affecting the divide. Seeing as the South was pro-slavery and the North wanted to abolish slavery. There are multiple viewpoints in the division in America with slavery.
The 1856 election was a turbulent time in politics for America. Slavery was the key issue on everyone’s mind and many other political viewpoints were belittled in comparison to the more pressing question: should slavery expand? Should slavery be abolished? Should slavery be contained? Southerners and northerners were divided in their opinions, which would soon lead to the American Civil War.
The two out four questions that I choose are to 1.) Discuss the causes of the civil war. Cite as many facts as possible to back up your analysis. And answer 2.) If the enduring vision of America is embodied in the Declaration of Independence's statements about equality and universal rights to justice, liberty, and self-fulfillment, how much progress toward those ideals had blacks and women made by 1877?
There was no sudden start to the civil war. Slavery has been a major issue since the United States gained independence from Great Britain in 1776. Unlike the northern states, the southern states believed in slavery. It was time for the states to be united when Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861. In the past, these differences caused tensions between sections and constant debate
He guided his country through the most devastating experience in its national history, the ultimate strife from westward expansion the Civil War. Lincoln's victory in that election thus changed the racial future of the United States. The westward expansion of slavery was one of the most dynamic economic and social processes going on in this country” (Foner, E). Political deals, such as the Missouri Compromise in 1820, Compromise of 1850, Supreme Court rulings, and the Dred Scott decision in 1857, divided the country drastically.
The fate of their country by Michael Holt is a book made up of 3 to 4 sections, titled Pandora's Box, The Wilmot Proviso, The Compromise of 1850, The Kansas-Nebraska Act. Author Michael Holt examines what caused the Civil War and the Pandora’s Box of sectional dissent territorial slavery issue over slavery into all current and future western territories also the Missouri crisis debate. It wasn’t slavery per the book but the debates about the extension of slavery into new territories and states that sent the nation careening into civil war, argues writer Michael Holt. He gives his readers an analysis of the partisan political forces, on the great debate over the extension of slavery into the American West.