The first main cause of the Civil War was economic differences between the Northern and Southern states. During the first few decades of the 19th century, the North had an industrial revolution that brought an economy that relied on laborers. While at the same time, the South continued to rely on slaves for their farming and the production of cotton. The Northerners did not need slaves for their economy, but the Southerners could not make any profit without cotton or slaves. In the 1860’s, the North had twice as many railroads as the South, and the South had a bigger cotton production because of their slave population (Document A).
America’s Westward Expansion Mexican-American War is a war between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. Through this war United States invaded the land of 2 million 300 thousand square kilometers, which help it became a big country across the Atlantic and the Pacific. On the other side, Mexico lost most of the land. There were different voices during the war, various reasons Americans wanted to settle farther west, and also a huge effect that bring to America behind this war. There are two major contradictive images of America’s westward expansion.
The westward expansion was impacted by three main things and that is social, political, and economic. The westward expansion was impacted on a social scales with the tension between the Native Americans and the U.S., also during the journey to the west many people died. On a political scale the westward expansion was affected by the many wars and treaties that has to happen in order for the U.S. to gain the land, which then allows us to expand to the west. The westward expansion was effected by the economy because of the many technology that was created like trains, also because of the westward expansion there was an increase in business and industry's triumphed and since businesses grew there were many job opportunities which inclined people
America was focused on westward expansion throughout the 1800s. The Northwest and Southwest territories were sought out by America for many different reasons. The Oregon Trail allowed for people to go and find wealth in the West and safe travel through it. Conflicts with Mexico might not make it sound like we were going to gain land, but we indeed did get the land that would complete America. All of these things caused America to move in a westward fashion.
The compromise allowed California to enter the Union as a free state, and the territories acquired in the Mexican American War to be determined free or slave through popular sovereignty. This compromise also called for stricter enforcement of fugitive slave laws, as slaves were considered property, and under the Constitution must be returned to their owners. This created tension between Northern and Southerners, especially since the North wanted nothing to do with the institution of slavery, even if it was just returning slaves. The Southerners were also angered that slave trade was ended in Washington, for they felt it was an attempt to end slavery. The Compromise of 1850, while it prevented the war for several years, failed to accomplish significant changes.
It was the start of a new era in America and the thought of more land in the west caused many people to take up their belongings and head over. This was the beginning of the Westward Expansion. The people that moved over had different incentives on why they wanted to move across America. The main purpose that many sought was to gain cheap and bountiful land. However, the whole ordeal was not just fine and dandy.
‘Slavery was the root cause of secession’. ‘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 .
During the pre-civil war time period— also known as the antebellum years— America experienced a widespread transformation for the sake of its economy. With the booming belief of the Manifest Destiny, America’s constant desire for westward expansion caused disputes between the North and the South regarding the establishment of free states and slave states, which led to certain compromises such as the Missouri Compromise. After the Market Revolution, the North and South used its new gained land to create different means of economic gains; the North became industrialized through manufacturing, while the South became an agricultural industry dependent on cotton. However, as America’s boundaries expanded, tensions between the North and South grew, often leading to compromises in bloodshed. The drastic differences between the two groups eventually transformed America into a divided nation of sectionalism economically, politically, and socially.
America’s expansion seemed to cause major instability as it transitioned into independence. It caused wars with Britain and Mexico, but formed a strong relationship with France. However, this is the only case in which some stability is caused by expansion. Debatably one of the most destabilising outcomes of westward expansion was the slavery argument.
The westward expansion all started during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. Jefferson wanted an agricultural country and pushed for more land to achieve this goal. During his presidency when Jefferson sent Robert Livingston to get New Orleans from France and came back with land double the size of their country that is when this expansion started. Jefferson determined the nature of the expansion as well as congress.
I agree with Morgan’s central ideas that there is no true first hand accounts of true westward expansion. I believe that there are no first hand accounts there is only biographies about the people that played a big role in westward expansion. There are no first hand accounts of the people physically moving from west that i have read or heard about. In “Chief Joseph Speaks Selected Statements and Speeches by the Nez Percé Chief” there are many speeches done by Chief Joseph that are accounts of westward expansion but they are in third person.
Slavery was one of the biggest problems between 1820 and 1860. Sometimes two states had to be added to the Union at the same time, to make things fair. The North and the South fought almost constantly over the issue of slavery, sometimes things were able to be worked out about it, but as the years passed, the problems with slavery and territory started to become too big to ignore or
Tensions rose across the country from those in support support of slavery and those opposed. Many states wanted to outlaw slavery while others adamantly defended it because it was the main institution with a high and consistent revenue. Ultimately, the disagreements over slavery are what lead to the Civil War. The country divided into an “Us versus Them” situation which lead to both sides having growing support for their views and making the groups less susceptible to an agreement. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves from confederate states.
To a greater extent, slavery was the greatest cause of the outbreak of the civil war in 1860. Disputes of slavery caused economic and political troubles between the northern and southern states leading up to the civil war. The fact the the northern and southern states were different in almost every way caused them to turn out like completely different territories, one of their greatest differences was the fact that most southern states economy relied on hard labour, agricultural jobs like tobacco in Maryland, and cotton in Virginia; this caused their economy to be more based on the labour of slaves than the more developed territories in the north (Harrold), who after this time was starting to not need the slave labour in their territories because after early 1800’s, the industrial revolution had been spreading to America, and the country developed very quickly. But in this expansion, only the north states were getting the effect of the industrial revolution, meaning the north would not need slave
In the late 1800’s the Americas began to move westward. Along with moving westward there came struggles and hardships. There were multiple reasons for starting the westward expansion, such as the gold rush and the government bribes of land. While people moved, the ideals of Manifest Destiny occurred. ADD MORE INFORMATION ON THE GOLD RUSH!!!!
