Compromise Of 1850 Analysis

Many often point to slavery as the reason the American South seceded from the Union. That argument ignores the complex political strife existing between Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans. Due to cultural differences dating back to colonial times, a division between the two regions of the United States endured to the 1800s. The incompatibility of the North and the South persisted so long for deeper reasons than simply slavery, and this incompatibility infected politics. Talks of a breakup of their union occurred as early as 1848 with John C. Calhoun and the Nashville Convention. The South seceded from the Union in 1860-1861 because the election of a Republican further confirmed many Southerners’ belief that the new U.S. government …show more content…
This proposal sparked the free soil movement, which eventually transformed into the Republican Party. While The Compromise of 1850 aimed to relieve tensions with the introduction of popular sovereignty, it alarmed the free-soilers with the possibility of slavery moving west. With instances such as Bleeding Kansas, the political climate of the United States took a frightening new turn. Thomas R. R. Cobb referred to Lincoln as “one of the most objectionable and fanatical of its leaders” to display his frustration towards these changes on Capitol Hill. His point of view is that of many other slaveholders who felt that the federal government did not protect or want to protect their property rights such as instances of fugitive slaves fleeing to Canada. While the Dred Scott decision made by Chief Justice Roger Taney ended the issue of slavery making its way to the west, it eradicated he chance for further sectional compromises, and Republicans feared the potential nationalization of slavery. After Lincoln took office, Southerners’ realized a Republican president would never uphold the spirit of this decision; therefore, secession became the obvious decision for Southern legislators. The Southern way of life involves a system