Despite this, had it not been for slavery, there would have been no initial divide between North and South which created economic disparity and led to Southern paranoia over Northern expansionism which led to war, thus the most important factor. The most important factor for the outbreak of the American Civil War was slavery because it caused the initial divides between the North and South. The first divisions were as the USA was undergoing Western Expansion with the issue over whether the new states, such as California and New Mexico should be brought in as Slave states or Free states. The failure to reach a decision over whether new states would be Slave states or Free states meant there was inevitably a conflict that can be seen through to the tensions in Kansas in 1857. The fact that a minor civil war occurred simply over the issue of slavery clearly depicts that slavery was an essential factor in the outbreak of the Civil War.
This ordinance set the precedent of the United States expanding by creation of new states instead of expansion of existing ones. It also, however, banned slavery in the territories north of the Ohio River, which would mean that as these new states were admitted to the Union, the South would gradually lose their pro-slavery footing in Congress. At the time the Union was balanced equally between slave and non-slave states, a disruption of the balance meant the chance of losing their power to quell Northern anti-slavery legislation. This issue
“The Missouri Compromise succeeded in minimising divisions between the north and south in the years 1820 to 1850. Do you agree?” (30) In 1819 Missouri applied to join the union causing great aggression and hostility by the Northern congressmen. Seeing as by 1819 the original 13 states had incredibly grown to 22, with 11 being equally slave and 11 being slave free, the admission of Missouri would tilt the balance. The Free states opposed Missouri’s admittance causing a period of uproar and furious debates, with Southern and Northern congressmen both being lined up against each other. However, Senator Henry Clay set out proposals which eased tensions by 1820; being able to balance the tilt between none-slave and slave states.
Therefore the South and their political leaders were promoters of slavery. One of the most adamant pro-slavery politicians was John C. Calhoun. Calhoun even believed that slavery was actually great for slaves. The census of 1840 and other records showed that, northern states had abolished slavery. Needless to say, Calhoun was determined to make slavery legal in the new states, and believed that the north had motives behind their intentions to do otherwise.
The territorial expansion of the United States played a great role in the Civil war because it indirectly affected slavery. The United States expanding meant that the North and South would have to agree on whether the new territories would be admitted as free or slave territories. Before new states were added, there was balance among the country. Once new territories were added, the
In the early nineteenth century, Americans were able to resolve their political issues through Compromise after Compromise. However, by 1860, Compromise was simply no longer an option. The main reason for the inability to come to a compromise during the time leading up to the Civil War was the fact that there just wasn’t one compromise that could have possibly appeased both sides. The Civil War was, essentially, inevitable, due to the fact that the North and South were so vehement in what they wanted, that neither side was willing to compromise. An early example of when compromise was slowly proving inadequate was during the Great Debate.
With the United States expanding its territory to the west, balancing the free and slaves states, as well as the growing conflict over slavery generated more problems. To settle these disputes, compromises such as the 3/5th compromise, Missouri compromise, compromise of 1850, the fugitive slave act, and the Kansas-Nebraska act were made. Despite how compromises were to fit the south and north needs, it could only keep the peace for so long between the two. Another problem
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.
In the early years of the republic, there were various controversial issues that divided the American people. The ratification of the Constitution split people up into Federalist and Anti-Federalist groups, which were those who wanted the Constitution to be ratified, and those that didn’t. Before the Louisiana Purchase, people were also split on whether or not the purchase was going to be worth it in the long run. When the issue of expansion of slavery into the territories was brought up, Southern-extremest and Northern-soilers could never seem to come to an agreement. Before the Constitution, there were the Articles of Confederation.
Examples included voting rights and citizenship, and the founders passed this to the states to decide. According to Bowles, 2011, American History 1865 to present End of Isolation, though slavery was the underlying reason for the war, another central debate was the rights of states versus the powers of the federal government. While Republicans were strongly in favor of a stronger federal government, Johnson opposed this direction and wanted states to have more power, includ¬ing the southern states. Which basically meant, more blacks in the government ; Johnson disapproved. As Johnson and Congress wres¬tled with these issues, their clash came to somewhat of a head with a disagreement over the Freedman’s Bureau.