American Civil War: A Country Divided

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American Civil War A Country Divided The political and controversial issue of slavery was a contributing factor and major cause of the division of the country and basis for the American Civil War (1861-1865). Federal laws contained in The Compromise of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Act, increased existing tensions between the culturally different Northern and Southern states of the Union. The Fugitive Slave Act led to the increase of abolitionists, personal liberty laws, the Underground Railroad and the formation of the antislavery Republican Party. The Fugitive Slave Act also led to the creation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which caused further division and confrontation between the territories. The election of Republican Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860 caused the secession of the Southern states from the Union, the establishment of the Confederate States of America in 1861 and the ultimate onset of the American Civil War. The Compromise of 1850 was legislation adopted by the Senate in an effort to calm and preserve the sectional conflict of the Union. “The compromise called for the admission of California as a…show more content…
The Compromise of 1850 adopted by the Senate was supposed to calm the sectional conflict of the Union, but actually only served to increase tensions between the North and South. The severities of the Fugitive Slave Act, legislation contained in the Compromise, together with the creation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, led to the increase of sympathetic abolitionists, the operation of an Underground Railroad, and the formation of the antislavery Republican Party. The election of Republican Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860 was the catalyst that caused the secession of the Southern states from the Union and ultimate civil war with the

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