Territorial Expansion Dbq

The Civil War is one of the most important and significant event in the American history. The Civil War occurred between 1861 and 1865 in what was the battle to determine the survival of the United States of America as a sovereign state with indivisible federal government. The Civil War where Confederate States of America sought secession from the United States was successful in the sense that the seven Southern states that sought independence from the United States failed. In 1865, all the Confederate armies surrendered ending the war and bolstering the United States as one nation where the South agreed to be part of the larger US.

During the formation of the federal government, the governing principles were cooperation, compromise and inventiveness.

Interest in Central America and Cuba, 1849–1861", n.d.). The Southern States also wished to expand their territory to the West and popularize slavery which was not in line with the North’s vision of a slavery-free America. The differences led to the civil war, especially when the Republican Party actively opposed the westward expansion of slavery. The United States public wanted more territorial expansion after the successes in territorial acquisitions in 1940s because they wanted a bigger republican government. The expansionist movement of the pro-slavery South sought to spread more to the south and some believed they would spread as far as the Caribbean and Brazil.

Bleeding Kansas which is a term used to describe the violent conflict in Kansans during the settling of the Kansas territory was a huge spark to the Civil War because of the violence that occurred between the pro-slavery and the anti-slavery conflict ("Bleeding Kansas - Facts & Summary", n.d.). Bleeding Kansas is seen as a direct cause of the civil war because the violent conflict that happened in the State was not just between inhabitants of the territory but also by external slavery and anti-slavery advocates

The Civil War also made American a single political entity to date which has made it the most powerful nation in the world. With the win for the Northern anti-slavery movement and pro-Union advocates, the United States established a powerful federal government that brought with it many successes economically, political and socially. The economic clout of the Southern States decreased after the Civil War because the region depended mostly on free labor from slaves. This gave the North more political power over the South to carry out its policy changes. Just like in any war, the Civil War led to physical damage to the Southern region as well as loss of life. These damages needed several years to rebuild and the South ended up with better infrastructural development economic