The Civil War of 1861-65 established what kind of nation the United States would be and it is the center of attention when it comes to conversations about Americas many historical events. The four year war was between the North that was free and the South that supported slavery, all the conflict erupted after president Abraham Lincoln was elected into office in the 1860’s. The civil war started because of the conflict that was happening between these states and the different ways the people were going through life. The reason this war started was because there was so many differences between the free and slave states on who should have the power to prohibit slavery in the territories that hadn’t became states yet. Abraham Lincoln wanted to keep the slavery out of these new territories, but the South disagreed, so instead many of the slave states down south got together and formed their own nation. …show more content…
The Mexican American War (1846-1848) is one of the first significant events leading up to this eruption; it marked the first armed conflict fought in Mexico’s territories. President James K Polk was the president of the United States at the time of this war and he claimed that the Mexican troops had illegally crossed into American territory, ambushing the American soldiers killing many of Polk’s men. So in revenge Polk opposed war against the Mexicans and invaded the Aztec empire. On February 2, 1848 the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed making the Rio Grande the border between the United States and Mexico. The United States also gained the rights to California and New Mexico in this war making the nations territory bigger and much