Secession Of 1860 Dbq Essay

The secession of the Union in 1861 was mainly caused by the argument over slavery, but there were other factors that caused the Union to secede also; for an example the election of 1860 when Abraham Lincoln became president of United States. The South was also seceding for the control of the west and the north's constant opposition of the southern culture expanding. Slavery was the main part of the secession because southerner planters owned most of the slaves due to the abundance of land and the lack of labor. Of course, the North did not understand this because they were mostly industry and railroads not farming (doc 8). During this time, western territories were becoming states and, therefore, there were arguments if the territories would enter as slave states or free states. When the Missouri Compromise was drawn up there was little to no objection; maintaining the balance of slave and free states seemed far enough. But then more issues arose when …show more content…
The Compromise of 1850 stated the California would enter as a free state, but Utah and New Mexico would also enter and determine if they were a free or slave state by popular sovereignty of the residents; both were declared as free states (doc 5). The Fugitive Slave Act also came into existence because of the Compromise of 1850; something in favor of the south, if it would have been enforced. The North ignored the Fugitive Slave Act and freed escaped slaves. As if the Southern and Northern states couldn't disagree more, the Dred Scott decision drew them even more apart and pushed the south a little closer to secession (doc 7). In 1854, Stephen Douglas introduces the Kansas-Nebraska Act which then creates Kansas and Nebraska territories and they again are decided if they are slave or free territories by popular sovereignty (doc 6). This cancels