When Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803, the elephant in the room was how the newfound windfall of land would be implemented in the United States of America. By 1820 the issue had come to the forefront of politics, the North didn’t want slavery to expand, and the South was in opposition. Eventually, Henry Clay came up with the Missouri Compromise, which for the time being resolved the tension. Rising tension became a trend throughout Manifest Destiny and the rest of the Antebellum period. In the period circa 1845-1861, the various issues and compromises made both sides angry at the other, therefore propelling the Civil War into existence.
To the North, the allowance of slavery to even come to vote in Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, …show more content…
They became disappointed that a state as large and rich as California wouldn’t become a slave state in one of the concessions of the Compromise of 1850. One excellent example of the divide between the North and South was John Brown’s raid of Harpers Ferry. The North saw him as a hero, a revolutionary, and a martyr; conversely, the South saw him as a demon, delusional, and as a terrorist. Moreover, the rise of the Republicans and the other Free-soilers, formed from the outcry against the Kansas-Nebraska Act, caused pressure on the pro-slavery position to increase. The ultimate reason the South seceded was that they lost the election of 1860 to Abraham Lincoln, a man who was unsympathetic to their views at best. The thought of Lincoln taking their slaves, despite his promise not to, led them to secession.
In the years preceding the Civil War both sides were forced to concede points to avoid violence, but in the end, it only delayed the inevitable fighting and made those for and against slavery frustrated and ready to bear arms. As the country’s stakes on land increased in size so too did the stakes of the issue at hand. Gradually, as the year, 1860 approached Americans faced a matter that could not be left alone. If a house divided cannot stand, then the United States was
To the North, the allowance of slavery to even come to vote in Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, …show more content…
They became disappointed that a state as large and rich as California wouldn’t become a slave state in one of the concessions of the Compromise of 1850. One excellent example of the divide between the North and South was John Brown’s raid of Harpers Ferry. The North saw him as a hero, a revolutionary, and a martyr; conversely, the South saw him as a demon, delusional, and as a terrorist. Moreover, the rise of the Republicans and the other Free-soilers, formed from the outcry against the Kansas-Nebraska Act, caused pressure on the pro-slavery position to increase. The ultimate reason the South seceded was that they lost the election of 1860 to Abraham Lincoln, a man who was unsympathetic to their views at best. The thought of Lincoln taking their slaves, despite his promise not to, led them to secession.
In the years preceding the Civil War both sides were forced to concede points to avoid violence, but in the end, it only delayed the inevitable fighting and made those for and against slavery frustrated and ready to bear arms. As the country’s stakes on land increased in size so too did the stakes of the issue at hand. Gradually, as the year, 1860 approached Americans faced a matter that could not be left alone. If a house divided cannot stand, then the United States was