Causes Of The Mexican-American Civil War

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The dispute between the North and South grew louder and more aggressive. The debate over the expanse of slavery surely didn’t help either. The Mexican-American War helped turn a large portion of Northerners against slavery. Many didn’t want slavery in the newly acquired territories. This enraged the wealthy slaveholders who stated that they would secede from the Union if needed to save their way of life. Zachary Taylor ran for President against former President Martin Van Buren. Since the North was divided, the Southern slave owner Zachary Taylor was elected in 1848. Taylor’s seeming compromise was for California to be a free state because the arid ground wouldn’t support plantations. There were many arguments made, such as one proposed by John Calhoun who wanted two presidents-one to represent the North and one to represent the South. Because no one could agree, the government stalled. The tensions rose when on July 4, 1850, President Taylor became terribly ill. Taylor died five days later. Vice President Millard Fillmore then became President. Stephen Douglas came up with the compromise of 1850. The …show more content…

They wanted to settle new territories and make them slave states by Popular Sovereignty. So, Stephen Douglas created the Kansas-Nebraska bill which would create two territories: Kansas west of Missouri and Nebraska west of Iowa. During 1855 and 1856, Pro and Antislavery settlers poured into Kansas with the intent to influence the Popular Sovereignty law. Proslavery Missourians that crossed the border to vote in Kansas were nicknamed Border Ruffians. Tensions clashed and came to a point in Lawrence Kansas. There was an attack on Lawrence by a proslavery posse from Missouri. A man by the name of John Brown heard the news of the attack and decided to head over to the homes of Proslavery settlers near Pottawatomie Creek. There John and six others hacked and shot the settlers, who didn’t even own