It would start with the Tariff of abominations, an then the North and the South would just come to hate each other hastily for their different views on slavery. A beginning problem was a tariff issue in 1832. It was a new tariff that South Carolina did not take kindly to. South Carolina thought that if a law or tariff in this case is passed that directly affects the state, which it did, that the state had the right to nullify such a bill. This was the first of many problems the states saw to realize this was the beginning of a bigger scheme of problems (Document A).
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.
However, the states from the South could appreciate a number of measures that had been performed by Lincoln before, in which he demonstrated not to completely be in favor of slavery. Thus, the Southerners were afraid that, with Lincoln as the political head of the nation, slavery and all the abundance of interests involved with it would disappear, leading to the devastation of the basis of the Southern economies. By such point, the South states had already presented a number of discontentments towards the decisions that had been made regarding slavery. With the Dred Scott Decision, the Kansas Nebraska Act, or a number of other compromises such as those of 1820 and 1850, or even the Missouri Compromise, among many others, which presented the same purpose of trying to abolish slavery, the Southerners had a strong set of arguments to be presenting that attitude towards the Union
Manifest Destiny and territorial expansion divided the United States more than it united the United States from 1830 to 1860. Manifest Destiny increased the division between the North and the South. A major division among the States were the annexation of Texas to statehood. Since Texas is below the 36° 30 line, it will be admitted as a slave state. Northerners don’t want to annex Texas because it will throw off the balance of Free states and slave states.
Many American citizens in the North and the South were unhappy with the way that the government had handled the issue of Kansas. This is an example of how people fought over slavery before the Civil War began. The possibility of the expansion of slavery in the US was not limited to the continent. In the same year as the conflict in Kansas a document was written by American officials which sought to gain the colony of Cuba from the Spanish through either diplomatic or forceful negotiations. The Ostend Manifesto was supported by many in the South because they knew that if Cuba were to join the union it would become a slave state and many in the North feared that there was a risk of war with Spain did not wish to see the slave states gain any power in
The Missouri Compromise created a geographical boundary that separated which states were to legalize slavery and which would not (Doc F). This line represented a huge conflict between the two halves of the nation that would eventually influence the start of the Civil War. Another detriment of the Era of Good Feelings was the economic crisis that hurt the entire nation. This economic crisis was caused by two factors: Congress’s decisions and the Second National Bank. Congress increased tariffs on imports to reduce the competition for domestic goods, but this decision hurt the farmers in the south (Doc A).
Because in my perspective, this contradictory proclamation seems to be a political propaganda to support only the whites. Today I stand, as a runaway slave who escaped the grasp of slave owners and harsh Fugitive Slave Laws presented in the Compromise of 1850. However, tension has finally reached a peak between the North and the South due to the secession in 1860. I believe that several key events from 1845-1861 caused all this turmoil and crashed the regional differences between the Union and the Confederacy together. Eventually leading to the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861.
Much of the debating was over Popular Sovereignty concerning the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Popular Sovereignty reinforced the idea of the people choosing whether or not to endorse slavery in the westward expansion. On October 15, 1858, the two politicians disputed over Popular Sovereignty, and whether or not the country could endure being united. Douglas supported this concept of Popular Sovereignty, while Lincoln, an abolitionist, did not. During the debating they differed on whether or not the Declaration of Independence supported slavery.
The primary motivation for the secession of the southern states was their belief that their rights given to them under the constitution were being taken away by the northern controlled federal government and the new regionally dominated Republican Party. Many argue that the main reason the South seceded from the union was only over the issue of slavery. The South thought that the new Republican Party and the newly elected president, President Lincoln, were going to abolish slavery in the South. Although this may be, for the most part true, it is not the sole reason for the South’s decision to secede. The four states that seceded later in 1861, had at first voted against secession on the sole basis over the issue of slavery.
Morally, America was affected by the citizens’ personal feelings on slavery on slavery and how the citizens handled those emotions. Economically, America was affected by the South losing slave labor, causing them to lose profit because of abolitionists and African Americans. Thus, America was affected by slavery politically, morally, and economically which helped cause the civil war. Slavery was a major issue in America in the 1800’s and