In 1787, the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to establish a new, stronger government for the United States. During George Washington’s presidency in the 1790s, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson argued over the role of the government as dictated by the Constitution. As a result, a two party system consisting of the Hamiltonian Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans emerged. To some extent, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson reflected the policies and beliefs of the Federalist Hamilton.
‘November 6 1860, Lincoln was elected president of America which resulted in panic emerging in the South’ . The election of Lincoln as president who was a Republican leader meant that ideologies, movements and values from the North would be implemented in the South which meant the abolition of slavery. Slavery was a huge characteristic of the South as the economy; politics; social status and psychological mind-sets were influenced by the process of slavery. The southern white population then derived the idea of secession which meant the South would gain independence from Northern aggression . This essay will explore the reasons as to how and why secession occurred and whether slavery was the main
On April 12, 1861, a brutal war broke out between the north and the south called the Civil War. Some say the north, or Union, went to war to abolish slavery, but the south, or Confederates, went to war for states’ rights. Abraham Lincoln, who was president at the time, called the nation “a house divided” because the north and south did not agree. Four long years later, the Union won the victory on May 9, 1865.
The social tension between the North and the South had ultimately divided the United States in ways that threatened the Union. Seeking compromise, the United States went forth with the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, but this did not prevent what began in 1861, the Civil War. Slavery was a large aspect to the reason of the split between the North and South, as the North disagreed with slavery and fought for it to end, while the South favored slavery and fought for it to stay in the United States. The Compromise of 1820, also known as the Missouri Compromise, was created to attempt to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. Along with
In the early nineteenth century, American politicians chose to avoid the growing sectionalism between the industrial, free North and the agricultural, slave-driven South. They came up with all sorts of treaties and compromises to stall the rising conflict. Unfortunately, during the 1820s-1860s, Americans were no longer able to prevent conflict due to ideological differences between the North and South and the threat of secession in the South.
Prior to the events of Bleeding Kansas that begun in 1854, the United States followed a strict policy of compromise in regards to it’s political decisions. Being a relatively newly founded country a great deal of care was given towards pleasing the citizens of the United States, through compromise, in order to maintain a stable society. This is specifically evident in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and the Compromise of 1850. These events helped to maintain the stability of American society for a time. However, as the nation developed further there became apparent divides on many matters, but mainly over slavery. This resulted in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the Pottawatomie Massacre of 1856, which
During the 1700’s-1800’s while Philadelphia served as the nation’s temporary capital, the U.S. Congress met problems and threats to the nation that tested the endurance of the Constitution and the republic it framed. Domestic issues of finance, taxation, sectionalism, Indian affairs, and slavery divided the delegates into bitter political camps and international relations fomented disagreements as well. Congress during this decade forged a government that remained intact, despite expectations to the contrary from the prevailing monarchies overseas. To handle the heavy load of business, Congress created the first standing committees—commerce, banking, taxes, and the national debt. Certain southern delegates threatened that their states would
The election of 1800 was considered to be a turning point of the fate of the United States; therefore, it is often considered as the ‘Revolution of 1800.’ The rivalry for the leadership position of the United States was particularly very heated. Between Federalist John Adams and Republican Thomas Jefferson, to both Republican candidates of Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr; each candidate viciously fought for the right to claim the title.
The Civil War is one of the most important and crucial crisis in US history. Many southern states starting with South Carolina were angry with the federal government at the time so they decided to secede from the union. An underlying cause behind secession were the restrictions on slavery including the ban on the importation of slaves and the attempted banning of slavery in new territories. The north’s reason for fighting was different though, President Lincoln declared it was illegal to secede from the union even if the state decided to in a democratic election. The North had also wanted to keep the farms and ports in the south in order to increase trading. All of the military bases and ports in the south also provided an opportunity for
The Kansas Nebraska Act was a bill in 1854 that mandated "popular sovereignty." This allowed people settling in a territory to decide whether to have slavery or not within their borders. This Act was proposed by Stephan A.Douglas. Douglas was also Abraham Lincoln's opponent in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. The bill overturned the boundary by latitude to separate slave territory and free territory. "Bleeding Kansas" was the nickname given to the conflicts the came about this time and helped pave a path for the American Civil War.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand”, words from Abraham Lincoln(Doc. M). You will need to know that when President Lincoln said that quote, this “house” he talks of is the United States. You also will need to know that the North and South had different perspectives about slavery, the North did not like slavery, the South did. Anyway, the Civil War was caused by the issue of the North’s and South’s different opinions. The first reason was about economic differences. The North had a Industrial economy with lots of railroads and many more machines to make work more efficient. The South had a Agricultural economy with lots of cash crops such as tobacco, rice, indigo, and most money making crop, cotton. The southwestern area made more
There are many factors that led up to the American Civil War. One of the main causes was the conflict that arose from the North and South’s opposing views of slavery. In Abraham Lincoln’s “A House Divided” speech he said, “In my opinion, [slavery] will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’” (A House Divided 511). This quote was a prediction and antecedent to what would later be known in history as the American Civil War.
The Civil War began over the South wanting to withdraw from the North or the Union. The South and North were having several issues with each other and the biggest was slavery and new land ownership. Let’s all be clear on this issue, slavery anywhere in the world, is wrong period, no exceptions and no excuses. But if we look at slavery in early America, we learned that the North and South was the same on the issue, and that issue was racism. There were some northerners that had no issue with slavery, and some southerners had issues with slavery. That is one reason some brothers fought brothers and sons fought fathers and so on. So, the main issue was racism I believe, and that split the people of early America.
Prior to the Civil war, contentious issues had threatened to corrupt the national unity within the United States, but none more controversial and prominent than slavery. Congress, with multiple attempts, failed to seek compromises that pleased the North and South. In many scenarios, Congress often satisfied one side, but failed to do the same with the other, which created more turmoil. For instance, the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott decision were two prime examples of the unsuccessful compromises, revolving around the prominent disagreement: slavery. Conclusively, Congress failed to find a way for the North and South to coexist cordially, which in the end divided the two to a greater extent, making the Civil War inescapable.
In the beginning, many thought that the American Civil War would be very short and last only two months. They were wrong, it started in the spring of 1861 and ended in the spring of 1865 (Badertscher 7). Many people thought the Civil War was about slavery, this was incorrect. The reason the South favored states ' rights was because of popular sovereignty (Himan). This allowed states to choose if they wanted slavery or to be a free state. When Lincoln was elected, many Southerners feared that he would abolish slavery. The first state that broke away was South Carolina, then many other states followed. Eventually, it led to the Union (the North) and the CSA. At first the war was evenly fought, but eventually the Union started to gain an advantage