Civil War Dbq

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The Civil War is the bloodiest battle in American History. Some people would like to think that if things were done differently beforehand that the outcome would be less detrimental. I like to think it all played out in a certain way for a reason. Many of the preceding events had a great influence on the war itself. Moreover, the most impactful conflicts prior to the war consist of the Compromise of 1850, the raid on Harpers Ferry, and the Battle of Fort Sumter. Despite all of the sectional conflicts taking place within the U.S., the Compromise of 1850 brought a new light onto the situation of slavery. It proposed that California would be a free state, but other new territories would have no limits on slavery. In addition, the slave trade, but not slavery itself, would be banned in Washington D.C. The originator of this compromise, Henry Clay, also pushed for a stronger fugitive slave law. This resulted in the Fugitive Slave Act, enforcing that anyone who helped a fugitive could be fined or imprisoned. Consequently, this started conflict with the North, whose juries refused to convict people accused of breaking the new law. Free African Americans and white formed an …show more content…

His target was a federal arsenal and hoped to arm enslaved African Americans. This act of violence alarmed the south and added to their fears of the Republicans. All of the men fighting with Brown wanted to start a revolt against slaveholders. Local citizens and federal troops were able to defeat Brown’s raid, but this didn’t prevent southerners from feeling threatened by abolitionists. Brown was eventually convicted of treason and murder, and was hanged for his actions. Even so, many antislavery Northerners saw him as a martyr. Following the death that shook the North, the South’s fears of a great Northern conspiracy against them were confirmed. The Nation was just steps away from complete

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