Civil War Dbq Essay

For decades, America was united because of its morals, opinions, and ability to solve a conflict. However, by 1850 America had become increasingly sectioned, and there were arguments and disagreements happening everywhere. The North and South tried to settle their many differences, but ultimately, between the failed compromises and their opposing views on slavery, the civil war was unavoidable. Although the failed compromises contributed significantly to the start of the Civil War, ultimately, their opposing views on slavery were the most crucial cause.

The Civil War might not have happened without the failing of compromise. One event that contributed to the failure was sectionalism. Sectionalism is when 2 or more states are facing

tension

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Another event that may have contributed to the start of the Civil War would be the

Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was when citizens would try and help solve sectionalism by voting on whether or not they wanted slavery. This method ended up backfiring and creating a mess that was ultimately named “Bleeding Kansas.” “Northerners and Southerners rushed to move into Kansas in 1854-55, even building temporary residences, to influence the vote. Fighting broke out between the two factions, leading to more than 200 deaths in a period of several years that came to be known as “Bleeding Kansas.” Infamous white abolitionist John

Brown led a violent response known as the Pottawatomie Massacre against a pro-slavery town in

Kansas.” (Doc 6) Between this and the many failed compromises, America was quickly going downhill. The most significant reason for the Civil War was the North and South’s opposing views on slavery. When the topic was slavery, the North and South would not agree. The

“Josiah Henson spent thirty years on a plantation in Maryland, before he escaped slavery and became a Methodist preacher, abolitionist, lecturer, and founder of a cooperative colony of former slaves in Canada. His memoirs, published in 1849, provided abolitionist and author Harriett Beecher Stowe with her model for Uncle Tom. In 1852, Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin to show slavery as a cruel and unjust institution. In the first year over

300,000 copies of her book were sold. In 1856, five years before the first shots were fired in the

Civil War, over two million copies were sold in the northern United States. Her novel allowed many Americans outside the south their first glimpse into this evil institution.” (Doc 5) This book really helped the North in proving the wrong in slavery. This led to the growing divide

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between the North and South because Uncle Tom’s Cabin showed how cruel and wrong slavery was. The North and South continued to disagree until the election of 1860. In 1860,

Abraham Lincoln ran for president of the United States. Lincoln was the first person to run for the republicans. Lincoln would side with the North in their opinion on slavery which made