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Changes And Continuities Over Slavery Following The Mexican-American War

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Changes and Continuities Over Slavery Following the Mexican-American War The Mexican-American war fought over choice pieces of territory brought greater dissension to an already divided American government. The period before the Mexican-American war was marked by sectionalism amongst the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery. The North was primarily for abolition while the South was pro-slavery. This division could be seen in politics as the U.S government was split between the North and South.This division would give way to conflict amongst Americans of different opinions The period before 1848, the end of the Mexican-American war, was hallmarked by conflicts over slave and free states, however the period after the Mexican-American …show more content…

The Missouri Compromise was meant to relieve tension between the North and South. It established states above the 17th parallel to be slave free. It also said there must be an equal amount of slave and free states so they must balance out. After the Mexican-American war, American acquired large amounts of land through both the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Gadsden Purchase. They received modern day: California, Arizona, New Mexico, among other territories. The Missouri Compromise did not extend this far west; the issue over slave and free states quickly arose and drove tensions between the North and South to an all time high. Thus, Stephen A Douglas, a Northern Democrat from Illinois advocated for the idea of popular sovereignty. This was a major shift in the process by which states were to become slave or free states-radical even. The right for a state to be a free or slave state would be determined by a state legislature. This not only upset the crucial balance, but created the “Bleeding Kansas” …show more content…

Both were against slavery and believed in the idea of a “Slave Power Conspiracy”. This notion that the South was inherently nefarious because it worked to spread slavery. They also believed salves were taking away jobs from white men. The South as a continuity from the period before the Mexican-American war justified slavery, however the means by which they justified slavery changed. Southern's took a more scientific approach using new events and social darwinism. They argued that slaves were better off than the factory workers in the north and Americans were superior to Africans based purely on descent and

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