Seeds Of The Civil War Essay

The Seeds of the U.S. Civil War The American Civil War was a prominent point in U.S. History. The Civil War was the deadliest war in United States history. The war could have commenced anytime before when it started on April 12th, 1861. The first event that could have led to a breakout of the war was the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise was the act of making Missouri a slave state and Maine a free state; the 36 '30' became the slave/free dividing line for the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase territory (except Missouri). The western expansion of the U.S. through the Missouri Compromise contributed to sectional tension between the free North and the slave South. Later, in 1831, Nat Turner and a band of fellow slaves led a revolt

Reactions of the Nat Turner Rebellion turned the North and South against each other, creating more sectionalism that invigorated the North and South. One of the first-ever states that tried to secede was South Carolina due to their refusal to pay the federal tariff; this was called the Nullification Crisis. South Carolina expressed their displeasure at the perceived favoritism of Northern economic interests that came at the expense of Southern economic interests. The Wilmot Proviso was the last act before the direct causes of the Civil War; it was an unsuccessful proposal in the U.S. Congress to ban slavery in the territory acquired from the Mexican War. This led the way to an increased debate over the expansion of slavery in the U.S., which became one of the most dominant issues in American politics in the 1850s. The events leading to the direct causes of the Civil War already created the foundation for the South and North being separated due to the various issues of slavery. Southern secession causing the U.S. Civil War was prompted by distinguishing factors. The war was caused by synonymous political, social, and economic influences of the two

One of the first violent spurs was Bleeding Kansas, a series of violent conflicts between Kansas settlers from the years 1854 to 1861. The policy of popular sovereignty through the Kansas-Nebraska Act created an atmosphere of brutality. This was a prime example of Northerners and Southerners fighting, attacking, and killing each other over the expansion of slavery. Later on, there was the Harpers Ferry Raid where John Brown and 21 of his followers attempted to steal weapons from the Federal Arsenal. They faced resistance from the local town’s people and became trapped inside a fire engine house. John Brown was wounded, sent to jail, and was put on trial for treason. Brown was later found guilty and hung, but used the national media attention to put the country on trial for slavery and he became known as a martyr for the anti-slavery cause. His actions caused slaveholders to fear more rebellions and labeled all Republicans as radical abolitionists who wanted to instigate violent rebellions. An anti-slavery book written by abolitionist Harriet Beech Stower was a sentimental story highlighting the realities of slavery, including being sold down the river, breaking up slave families, slaves running away towards Canada, white supremacy, racism, the cruelty of slave masters, and sexual exploitations. This was a best-selling novel