Civil War Dbq

The South had many reasons to want to secede from the North. From the social point of view the South had many regional conflicts such as disputes between New Mexico and Texas, and war within Kansas. Within the political point of view there is the fact that the Whig party was formed in opposition to Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party, as well as presidential turmoil such as the “corrupt bargain between John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson. Economic problems were also an issue with the South wanting to secede from the Union. Problems such as finance and banking, as well as expansion to the west. There was also the use of tariffs on imported goods. Tariffs were allowed within the Constitution for the United States

The West needed a strong central bank. The West wanted expansion and prosperity they viewed the central bank as being important to controlling inflation brought on by growth and creating available funds for loans. Andrew Jackson was strongly against a centralized bank. The taking down of the banks in 1832 and actions by Jackson and the government created the Panic of 1837 and brought about a form of depression. The Whig Party took advantage of the depression and turned it into National prominence, gaining the White House from Martin Van Buren. As the depression drew to an end, the South's sale of cotton began to hit a “growth spurt” that continued throughout the Civil War. The Panic of 1857 did not even slow down the growth of cotton in markets. The difference of wealth between the North, the West, and the South caused backlash and caused the rise of the abolitionists. The concept of expanding the United States westward divided the South in the 1840's. Mississippi's Henry Foote and Louisiana's Solomon Downs strongly supported the expansion while Whigs opposed adding territory. With the adding of California in the Compromise of 1850, the issue of territorial expansion had become subject to debate. This was replaced by the argument over whether the states would be added as slave states or free

Under the rule of James Monroe the Democratic-Republican Party was formed. Political turmoil began to rise with the end of Monroe's second term. The next four contenders Andrew Jackson of the West, John Quincy Adams of the North, George Crawford of the Deep South and Henry Clay of the upper south strived to become the next President. Andrew Jackson received the highest vote total and also the largest number of electoral votes, but not a majority. The election was brought to the House of Representatives where Adams made a bargain with Clay to gain control of the White House and the presidency. The Presidential turmoil really began in 1836, with the upbringing of Martin Van Buren to the Presidency. With the Panic of 1837 and the resulting depression, Van Buren was deemed unelectable in 1840. Whig Party selectee William Henry Harrison won the election, but tragically passed away after catching pneumonia a month after his inauguration. Harrison did not like the idea of anti-slavery agitation and by the presence of pro-slavery Virginian John Tyler as Vice-president. When Tyler assumed the Presidency it was just a rumor. The Constitution did not tell what would happen if the President died, so Tyler had himself inaugurated. Tyler brought out the wrath of the Whig Party when he vetoed the act that for creating a national bank. James Polk, drafted by the Democrats in 1844 was not a