Civil War Dbq Essay

Civil War LEQ When the United States admitted more Western territories into the Union, their only goal was to expand the country as much as possible. They did not foresee how extending slavery into western territories could lead to a Civil War. The controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories contributed to the Civil war by politicizing the issue so no politician could be neutral on it, by creating a fight for economic influence between the North and South, and by increasing the feelings superiority/separation between the North and South. The period before the Civil War was a time of great change and expansion. Both the North and the South were experiencing prosperity and economic success, the South through cotton and

As mentioned earlier, both states had successful economic systems, but they were very different. When the question of whether the newly formed states would allow slavery or not, both sides worried that their respective economic systems would be threatened. If the balance of slave and non slave states was upset, then they feared the future of the nation would favor the other system. These tensions eventually turned into real violence through conflicts like Bloody Kansas, in which pro-slavers and non slavers clashed. This fighting lasted for years, and was very detrimental to the new state of

Many politicians in the North were simply indifferent to slavery, and were more focused on keeping a balance between slave and non slave states so as not to tip the scales. However, pressure began to mount for politicians to take an aggressive stance on slavery, especially after the publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which helped to humanize slaves and fuel abolitionist movements. The notion of slavery being immoral became more and more widespread, and people looked to politicians to prevent it slavery from expanding. On the other hand, the Dred Scott vs. Sanford decision was also made during this time period by the supreme court, encouraging pro slavers in their belief that slavery should not be stopped in its expansion. These two events did nothing but make the two sides more resolute in their differing beliefs, which forced all politicians to either be strongly pro or against slavery. The tensions reached their peak in 1860, when Charles Sumner was brutally beaten with a cane after comparing slavery to the raping of a virgin, while in the senate. This event made both Sumner and his attacker, Brooks, heros and martyrs for their respective