Henny Omar HIST 2050 May 3, 2015 Final The two opposing ideologies of the North and South throughout the early 1800s is what eventually led to one of the most prolific times in American history, the Civil War. The different societies and cultures these people lived in led to conflict amongst the two groups of Americans, ultimately leading to a war to determine what was just in America. Each group of people had very different beliefs especially on the topic of abolition and the rights of African Americans, with the North opposing slavery and the South for it. A very common Northern theory used by antislavery campaigners in the U.S. was the theory of “Slave Power.” It was referred to as the disproportionate political power held by the slave …show more content…
The Missouri Compromise was a federal statute that prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the 36° Parallel, except within the boundaries of Missouri. The federal government passed this law as an attempt to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, as many Northerners wanted to limit the expansion of slavery while Southerners thought the opposite. This again was a conflicting idea that politicians of the North and South battled over, further enhancing the rivalry amongst the two. This act was later replaced by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened up the Kansas and Nebraska territory to slavery and future admission of slave states by allowing white male settlers to determine the use of slavery in territories through Popular Sovereignty. This act undermined the prohibition on slavery in territory north of the 36° Parallel that was established by the Missouri Compromise. This change was viewed by many Northern abolitionists as an aggressive, expansionist maneuver by the slave-owning South, and led to the creation of the Republic Party, further enhancing the rivalry amongst the territories. As for Popular Sovereignty, it was seen to be the cause for this territorial issue enraging many Northerners in the broken promise of Kansas being a free state as well as the voting admission of what was …show more content…
Dred Scott was a former slave who was taken to the free state of Illinois by his master, and after staying in Illinois for an extended stay; Scott made a claim for his freedom. Scott’s case ultimately ended up becoming the most infamous Supreme Court Cases of all time, and the court eventually ruled that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in their territories, deeming Scott as property, and remaining a slave. This enraged millions of abolitionists, as Scott should have earned his right to become a free man after being “Freed” by his master and had been living in the North for an extended time. This decision greatly influenced the nomination of Abraham Lincoln to the Republican Party and his election, which in turn led to the South’s secession from the