The Main Causes Of The American Civil War

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Midterm Exam

Introduction

There were many cause of the American Civil War that started on April 12, 1861 and lasted until May 9, 1965. Some of the causes of the Civil War would be States’ Rights, Federal Rights, and Economic and Social Differences. However, the main cause that started the American Civil War would be slavery. The Southern states felt it was part of their property rights’ to own slaves and wanted to expand slavery across the country. The Northern states felt that it was wrong for one person to own another, regardless of race, and wanted to abolish slavery in the South.

The Missouri Compromise

The fight for slavery began with The Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise was created in 1820 as an attempt by the Senate and the House of Representative to preserve state powers between slaveholding states and free states. The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri, a new state that was previously part of the Louisiana Territory, as a slaveholding state, while also admitting Maine, a new state previously part of Massachusetts, as a free state. The Missouri Compromise also allocated that all new states below the 36’30 line, the Southern barrier of Missouri, would allow slavery, while all new states above the 36’30 line would prohibit slavery. Due to The Missouri Compromise, the tentative balance between slaveholding states and free states in Senate was sustained and the national crisis that was the Civil War was effectively delayed for the time being. David Wilmot’s Proviso The Wilmot Proviso was an amendment proposed by Northern Democrat David Wilmot in 1846. The Wilmot Proviso was an amendment that strived to prevent the expansion of slavery. The Wilmot Proviso stated that if the United States were to receive any territory from Mexico, that slavery would be illegal in said territory. The Wilmot Proviso, however, never passed both houses of Congress. The House of Representatives passed the Wilmot Proviso due to the amount of Northern representatives, while the Wilmot Proviso was not passed in the Senate due to the perfect division between free states and slave states. The House of Representatives angrily passed the Wilmot Proviso a variety of time in an attempt to get the amendment passed by the Senate, to no avail as David Wilmot’s Proviso was never made into a law. Compromise of 1850 In 1850, the Compromise of 1850 was a series of resolutions created by Senator Henry Clay, a member of the Whig Party. The Compromise of 1850 granted concessions to both the North and the South. From the Compromise of 1850, the North received California as a free state, the surrender of Texas territory to New Mexico, and the abolishment of slave trade in the District of Colombia. While the South received the formation of New Mexico and Utah territories without restriction on slavery and open to popular sovereignty, a $10 million compensation to Texas, and a stricter Fugitive Slave Law. Northerners, however, claimed that the Fugitive Slave Law was unfair and refused to enforce it, with Massachusetts
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However, in 1862, slave-owners Jonathan and Juliet Lemmon entered New York on their way home to Texas from Virginia traveling with their eight slaves unaware of this law. The slaves were promptly removed from their owners’ custody and ruled as free slaves under the New York State Law of 1841. The Lemmon’s argued that they were just passing through the state and that the United States Constitution gave them the right to travel without their property being …show more content…
This election was the final act that lead the nation into the American Civil War in April 1861. Due to Lincoln’s views on slavery and his position in the North, the South was particularly averse to Abraham Lincoln running for president. The South went so far as to keep Lincoln’s name off the ballots, so Southerners couldn’t vote for the Whig Party Leader. Lincoln’s decision to fight was based on his feelings that as president it was his sacred duty to conserve the Union at all cost, rather than being based on his feelings towards slavery. Abraham Lincoln’s election ended up being to final push that the Southern states need to make the decision to secede from the

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