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Political Compromises Leading Up To The Civil War

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The Civil War was America’s most devastating conflict in terms of casualties and property destroyed. The war started after the southern states seceded from the Union and southern troops fired on a Union fort in Charleston harbor. Prior to the war there had been lots of tension between the northern and the southern states over the issue of slavery. The dissolution of the United States prior to the Civil War was the result of southern opposition to growing anti-slavery sentiments in the north, dissatisfaction with political compromises especially those relating to slavery in western states, and general concerns about the future of a post slavery southern economy. The south had always had stronger pro-slavery sentiments than the north because slavery was much more important for the …show more content…

These compromises were very unpopular, especially in the south where pro-slavery politicians felt that their states were on the loosing end of these compromises. The first of these compromises was the Missouri Compromise which allowed Missouri to be admitted as a slave state while Maine was admitted as a free state. This compromise set a precedent that continued to be followed in which the number of new free states and new slave states was balanced. This compromise ensured that power in the senate would be balanced between free and slave states and would prevent either side from gaining the upper hand in the legislature. While this was a good idea in practice it created political gridlock and the compromise was effectively repealed in 1854 by the Kansas-Nebraska act which was the catalyst for the armed conflict fought over slavery known as Bleeding Kansas. Bleeding Kansas would be a precursor to the civil war. While compromises like the Missouri Compromise were able to delay the civil war they would be unable to prevent

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I don’t think that the Missouri Compromise dealt with the sectional conflict over slavery. Even with many of the people upset with the compromise congress went ahead and passed it or shove it out of the way. The Missouri Compromise did nothing but intensified the conflict over slavery between the North and the South taking away the grip of the Northern states. Missouri was considered a slave state, making it so the north could outlaw slavery above the 36° 30° line and the south expanded their region of slavery. The Missouri Compromise split the democratic republican alliance which held most of national politics for about twenty years.

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1837 Words | 8 Pages

The Missouri Compromise started with the subject of slavery and how westerners could not agree whether to permit it or to exclude it. Those settling to the south wanted slavery for economic reasons such as labor while those settling to the north had no use for slavery at all. Politicians in Congress had attempted to preserve a sectional balance between the North and the South. There had been a balance of 11 slave and 11 free states but once Missouri bided for statehood the North raised alarm because slavery was well established there. The issue here was that if Missouri came in as a slave state, it would tip the political balance in the South’s favor.

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379 Words | 2 Pages

Before the Civil War, Americans tried to resolve their differences between free states and slave states by enacting compromises. The Missouri Compromise and the three-fifths compromise were temporary solutions used to keep the south happy in hopes that they wouldn’t secede. These compromises failed because neither the free states, nor the slave states where happy with the compromise. The failure of these compromises were what led to a war between the north and South.

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102 Words | 1 Pages

In the era before the Civil War America was expanding westward. The Louisiana Purchase and other lands gained help to give America new land to expand on, but this leaded to issues with the division of free and slave states. As Missouri became a state they wanted to become a slave state, which caused trouble. In order to keep equilibrium between the states, Congress came up with the Missouri Compromise of 1820.The Missouri Compromise made Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state. The Treaty also made a line within the Louisiana Territory to keep slavery from moving up the

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1364 Words | 6 Pages

Leading up to the compromise, tensions between supporters of slavery and those against were very high. This feud reached a climax in 1819 after Missouri requested admission into America as a slave state. This did not go over well with many

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435 Words | 2 Pages

The Civil War could have been avoided for two reasons; the Crittenden Compromise was more in the South’s favor, and every other country got rid of slavery successfully without a war. The first reason the Civil War could have

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524 Words | 3 Pages

The Civil War was a major conflict that took place in the United States from 1861 to 1865. It was fought between the northern states and the southern states, which had seceded to form the Confederate States of America. The primary cause of this war was the disagreement over the institution of slavery, with the South seeking to preserve it and the North aiming for its abolition. The war was characterized by intense fighting, mass casualties, and significant political and social change. The Civil War is the bloodiest war in American history due to outdated fighting techniques, advanced technologies, and inadequate medical care.

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However, the Missouri Compromise caused some problems. The compromise equaled the concerns and interests in the North and South, but the South was upset about how Congress gave itself the power to create and pass laws dealing with slavery. Much of the North was upset because Congress let slavery spread into another state. There were people who didn’t want to compromise, and others who did, such as Henry Clay.

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1820 Words | 8 Pages

The Civil War is arguably the most devastating war that has ever befallen the United States. Nearly 1,264,000 soldiers have died in the nation’s wars – and almost half of them, roughly 620,000 people, died during the Civil war. Ironically, the bloodiest war in American history occurred between the citizens of the country. The Civil War occurred due to the opposing viewpoints of those who resided in the Union. The North believed that the South had too much representation in the Congress and Supreme Court, while the South believed that the North had too much influence in the House of Representatives.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

The Missouri Compromise included the 36 30 line to split the slave states and the non-slave states(Missouri was- at the time- the only exception to this rule). Both sides were seemingly happy with the Missouri Compromise until the newly gained Mexican territory was added into the equation. The Great Compromise was made to settle which areas of land would allow slavery and had objections on both sides. New states such as California (which were extensive and split down the width of the country) did not become slave states, but it gave the Southern slave states a chance to be even more harsh towards their slaves and push against the North for more control. The Kansas-Nebraska Act favored the South over the North because the 36 30 line was erased to make room for popular sovereignty, giving the South the chance to influence the new states to become pro-slavery.

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However, the drawing of this line made the difference between “North” and “South” states more apparent (Van Atta, n.d). Elaboration 1: The Missouri Compromise was just a temporary solution that only helped delay the Civil War by trying to bring balance in slave and free states and to bring balance in the Senate. The Missouri Compromise was not very beneficial as differences between the North and South became more apparent leading to more debate over slavery. The compromise itself became much debated over as well, leading to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the efforts of the Missouri Compromise in the first place. Evidence 2: The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed for popular sovereignty to choose if the states of Kansas and Nebraska would be slave or free states.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Kansas entering the union as a slave state would upset the balance the Missouri Compromise had set. This act was a temporary fix to a problem that would exist for years to come. This act proves that slavery dominated political life of the South. The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills passed by Congress regarding confrontation about free and slave states over territories acquired by America after the Mexican-American war. The compromise created stronger fugitive slave laws.

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518 Words | 3 Pages

Up until this point, the Missouri Compromise determined if states allowed slavery. However, the Kansas-Nebraska Act changed things. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, to determine the allowance of slavery, an idea known as popular sovereignty. The Kansas-Nebraska Act amplified tensions between the North and the South over the issue of slavery, contributing to the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was highly debatable because it allowed the possibility that slavery could expand into previously free states.

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1298 Words | 6 Pages

After the efforts to gain independence from Britain and the creation of the United States of America, eighty years later this union was not so united. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, it was the first time that Americans fought Americans. Among many reasons, the Civil War is known to be a result of the arguments over the delineation of the States’ Rights or the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln. In actuality, the Civil War, the most deadly war in American history, was due to disputes over slavery in the American territories. Therefore, the Civil War was inevitable because of the consequences that occurred one being slavery.

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“The American Civil War” Slavery was the main cause of the American Civil War, which had a huge influence on the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century. The American Civil War, which ended slavery in the country, is regarded as the bloodiest and deadliest conflict in the nation's history. Seven hundred fifty thousand people lost their lives as a result of this war. The American War lasted four years from April 12, 1861, through April 9, 1865. The American Civil War was a war in which competent political management, the capacity to generate economic power, and the capacity of a society to persevere in the face of losses were as important to the conclusion as the outcome of particular battles.

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