The largest and deadliest war ever in American history was the Civil War. The Civil War took an estimated amount of 600,000 lives, maybe even more. The conflict started as far as 40 years before but the actual war started around 1861. It was a long brutal war that lasted around 4 years. There is little doubt that the primary triggers that led to the war were the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the election of Abraham Lincoln, these were all part of the contribution to pushing the Americans over the edge and starting the war which would finally settle the debate whether slavery should be allowed or not and many other difference of opinion they faced. The Compromise of 1850 was just one of the contributions toward the start of the Civil War. This compromise was a deal between both the North and South that would give them a series of new powers …show more content…
According to the “Kansas-Nebraska Act,” “When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was passed, the Missouri compromise was repealed (They got rid of the rule). The act organized the Kansas-Nebraska territories on the principle of popular sovereignty” (1). This means that while the new act would allow the people to vote to be a slave or free state this means that the Missouri 36°30 line would be ignored and the North would get angered. It states, “A bitter contest followed between pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters for the control of Kansas. Between 50 and 200 people died during the fighting” (Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1). During this fighting time, many people called the Kansas territory “Bleeding Kansas.” This is because of the need to either keep slavery or completely abolish it and as a result, caused a lot of fighting and created a lot of new tension once again soon lead to the Civil
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, narrowly passed while Congressmen brandished weapons and uttered death threats in the House chambers, overturned parts of the Missouri Compromise by allowing the settlers in the two territories to determine whether or not to permit slavery by a popular vote. Pro- and anti-slavery agitators flocked to Kansas, hoping to shift the decision by sheer weight of numbers. “The two factions struggled for five years with sporadic outbreaks of bloodshed that claimed fifty-six lives.” Although both territories eventually ratified anti-slavery constitutions, the violence shocked and troubled the nation.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a bill that essentially disregarded and relinquished the Missouri Compromise. The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that any westward expansion of the United States was to have the decision on slavery made via popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty, in regards to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, was the idea that the decision on slavery in a region should be decided by the people who live there. This seemed fair, but the issue with instating popular sovereignty was that the parameters of the Missouri Compromise stated that slavery could not exist anywhere above the 36°30° line (History.com). Therefore, popular sovereignty would entirely disregard important factors of the Missouri Compromise, which was regarded by many as a strong force in holding the Union
Moreover, there was much trouble in Kansas such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that two states, Kansas and Nebraska would be made up out of what was left of the Louisiana Purchase. These two territories could decide if they about slavery. Later, the people of Kansas wanted to separate their state into antislavery and pro-slavery groups. In March of 1855, elections for this idea began.
The southern senators disapproved of this idea since the region laid north of the 36°30′ line and the Missouri Compromise stated that it would become a free state. Since Douglas wanted to support, he decided creating two territories would be the best thing, so he added in a new territory, Kansas. He felt that the people would decide whether or not Kansas was a free or slave state. This led to Bleeding Kansas, a time of violence during the settling of Kansas. John Brown led the anti-slavery fighters.
As the United States moved west during its Westward expansion, it prevented the south from making the states above that line to become a slave state. Because of this the Compromise of 1850 was made so that certain states would be determined to be a slave state or not. In addition to this conflict, problems in Kansas and Nebraska sparked an internal territorial problem in these states. For example in Kansas there were battles over territories which either allowed slavery or opposed it. This caused the Kansas-Nebraska act to be
With the increasingly polarizing debates and discussions surrounding slavery as the Civil War approached, the North and South were at a breaking point. Abraham Lincoln's election into office, the Dred Scott decision, and Bleeding Kansas brought the country at odds with itself and many people believed that this problem could only be solved through violence and division. When Abraham Lincoln was elected to be the President of the United States, the South was aggravated and not willing to have a president that did not share their opinions on slavery. Because Lincoln was so outspoken against the institution of slavery, the South felt directly attacked. Their way of life since slavery was introduced was threatened.
Initially, the first Missouri compromise of 1820 was an agreement between South and North involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territory. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel of 36, 30' line except within the boundary of the proposed state of Missouri. In other words, the imaginary 36, 30 lines across the southern border of Missouri stated that anything above that line is a free state and anything below that line is a sate. The issue of this compromise was that the admission of Missouri as a slave state would give slave states (southern) control over the senate. This crisis was averted when Maine was admitted to the union to balance out the states.
The Missouri Compromise, The Compromise of 1850, and The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 were all temporary, political compromises that did nothing to help settle the growing power conflict between the two regions. As a matter of fact, the half-hearted compromises only drove the North and South farther apart in ideals and standings. Before any of the compromises were made, the people of the United States were separating into pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, standing at a fragile peace with an equal amount of free and slave states. When Missouri asked to join the union as a slave state, it was a political uproar. Both factions being all too aware of the political pull and power the either would gain in politics if they had their way.
Soon, Northerners began to try to organize Kansas and Nebraska. They wanted the land for farms and a transcontinental railroad that either started or ending in Chicago. On the other hand, however, the Southern senators blocked the attempts to organize this land. Due to this controversial issue, Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act and decided that popular sovereignty would be used to decide on the act. Before the act was accepted or rejected, the north and south both sent groups to Kansas.
The opinion of the majority of its settlers was to not extend slavery to Nebraska. In Kansas, on the other hand, the conditions were different. Radicals from both sides, antislavery and pro slavery, rushed to the territory in order to vote in the election that would decide to allow slavery or not. The confrontation started a mini civil war in Kansas known as Bleeding Kansas.
These compromises were very unpopular, especially in the south where pro-slavery politicians felt that their states were on the loosing end of these compromises. The first of these compromises was the Missouri Compromise which allowed Missouri to be admitted as a slave state while Maine was admitted as a free state. This compromise set a precedent that continued to be followed in which the number of new free states and new slave states was balanced. This compromise ensured that power in the senate would be balanced between free and slave states and would prevent either side from gaining the upper hand in the legislature. While this was a good idea in practice it created political gridlock and the compromise was effectively repealed in 1854 by the Kansas-Nebraska act which was the catalyst for the armed conflict fought over slavery known as Bleeding Kansas.
The goal of this act was to make the people of those countries vote and decide to be free or slave. Nebraska is Brown’s birthplace. This solution of Kansas-Nebraska Act failed because it created competition between antislavery and proslavery. Therefore, they established a war and bloodshed between the two proslavery and antislavery. In 1885, a pro-slavery from Missourians came to Kansas; said that they would vote for slave and kill anyone else who do not vote for the slave.
The unintended result was a surge of pro-slavery and abolitionist supporters to Kansas to vote in favor of slavery or its repeal. The act nullified the 1820 Missouri Compromise as Kansas had been formally a slavery-free territory. The outcome was a civil war in Kansas known as the Bleeding Kansas, which was to be a prelude to the American Civil War. The Republican Party was made because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and became the leading party in the north. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the first Republican president of the United
On one hand, passing the Kansas-Nebraska Act also caused a violent rebellion called the “Bleeding Kansas”, where many pro-slavery and anti-slavery
The Civil War started in 1861 and lasted until 1865. It was the goury war fought in the United States. More than 600,000 soldiers were killed in this war. The civil war was fought between the Union, which was the Northern States called the United States of America, and the Southern States which were called the Confederate States of America. The main reason for the war was slavery, but other significant factors played a role in the war too.