Short And Long Term Effects Of The Civil War

The Civil War was one of the most defining events in American history and the antebellum years of the 1840’s were filled with turmoil and bloodshed due to wars. The expansion of slavery into Western territories caused a great deal of controversy and increased the sectional tensions. Since drafting of the Constitution, the North and the South had grown further apart in terms of economy, ideology, and society. Slavery became even more divisive when it threatened to expand westward because non-slave holding white settlers did not want to compete with slaveholders in the new territories. The south viewed slavery as essential to their traditional ways but the north opposed its spread. Territorial expansion allowed for the extensive spread of the

The Shawnee Indian nation experienced forced removal after their fruitful lands in Kentucky were coveted by white settlers. The American government then forced the Shawnees to retire from their homelands in Ohio and Kansas, as well as Texas. By 1853, the Shawnees lost seven-eights of their land to white settlers. The Louisiana Purchase and the Treaty of 1818 helped spur the Era of Good Feelings and it displayed Western loyalty. It also marked the beginning of the downfall of the Federalists. The Federalists opposed expansion because they feared that new territories would drain off their population and compete economically, which would decrease their potency in America. When the Louisiana Purchase was made in 1803, the Federalists suffered a huge defeat and were reduced to mere sectionalists. The Federalist’s declining power set the stage for the Era of Good Feelings, which began in 1816 when the Federalist party died

He was famous for his insistence on the annexation of Texas. The acquisition of such western lands fed northern fear of the Slave Power Slave masters from the South held a conspiracy to maintain their traditional slaveholding ways when moving to acquired territory. The Southern white threatened the idealism of the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. A line was also drawn through the unincorporated western territories along the 36⁰30 parallel which divided the north and south as free and slave states. Tensions began to rise between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions within the U.S. Congress and across the country. They reached a boiling point after Missouri’s 1819 request for admission to the Union as a slave state, which threatened to upset the delicate balance between slave states and free states. In June 1846, the Treaty of Washington was signed between Britain and the United States, the latter represented by Secretary of State James Buchanan. The United States achieved a favorable resolution on the main boundary issue and the British retained full control of Vancouver Island, a matter of prime importance to them. The purchase of the