Causes Of The Compromise Of 1850

The early to mid-nineteenth century was headlined by sectionalism, which ultimately led to the American Civil War. Some of the events and issues within that time period that led to that major event include abolitionism, sectionalism, the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the election of 1860. Before the 1820s, abolitionism was more of a regional issue than a national issue. During the late eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century, many states in the North began implementing gradual emancipation laws which caused slavery in those states to become nonexistent within a few decades. The issue of abolitionism started to attract national attention in the early 1830s during the Second Great Awakening. Along with religious

The Compromise of 1850 was comprised of four laws, including the admission of California as a free state, the fugitive slave law, and the ability of citizens to decide the status of slavery within their own territories. The popular sovereignty law was seen as fair to both sides, as the territories would not be divided by the government. The new fugitive slave law was a huge advantage to the South. With it now in place, it seemed that the end of slavery was nowhere in the near future. The idea that slaves who escaped to the North, or even free blacks in the North, could be sent to the South as slaves was a victory for the South. With all that in mind, the Compromise of 1850 eased the tensions between the North and the South, but only for a short while. Four years after the compromise, Stephen A. Douglas, a senator from Illinois, introduced a bill that dealt would allow residents in Kansas and Nebraska to decide on the state of slavery in their states. This new law would also nullify the Missouri Compromise Line that had been in effect for decades because Kansas and Nebraska were on different sides of it. The removal of the Missouri Compromise Line was a major issue for the Democratic Party. Democrats from the North preferred the idea of popular sovereignty, while those from the South preferred outright slavery. That same year, the act was passed and, due to the differences between the Democrats, the party split into Northern and Southern Democrats. In 1855, the residents of Kansas were to decide if the state would become a free or slave state. Many Kansas residents voted, but many proslavery residents from Missouri also voted. Controversially, the state ended up as a slave state. After the voting process, a series of violent outbreaks took place over the next few months. Not only did the fighting take place among the citizens, but also among some politicians. In 1856,