Conscience Whigs And Free-Soilers Contribute To The Anti-American War

Party system refers to the way parties are organized, the balance of powers between and within the parties, and the issues or ideas which the parties are organized around. The Federalist and Jeffersonian Republicans were the first party system to immerge in the seventeen nineties. The federalist focused on the concerns of New England merchants. The wanted to rebuild a relationship with Britain, assumption of debt from the revolutionary war, and programs with encouraged manufacturing. The Jeffersonian republics were run with southern agriculture in mind. They wanted to create a relationship with France, focused on agriculture over commercialism, and free trade. Over time the Federalist party weakened while the Jeffersonian republicans evolved into the Democrats.

Between 1800 and 1850, western expansion played a major role in the sectional tensions between the North and South in America. Most of this would stem from whether or not new territory would be free or slave states. Later on, there would be compromises in place to alleviate the tension but disunity between the North and South was very prevalent.

Jacksonian Democrats beliefs are more similar to the Populist party’s beliefs than different in political, economic, and social ways. Their limited differences are based on the time periods and problems they faced respectively.

Abraham Lincoln represented the North and Hannibal Hamlin represented the South. “Free Speech/Free Territories/Protect American Industry” (Doc 4). The North wanted free territories to not have slavery and didn’t believe in States’ Rights and cared more about their factories. The South wanted free territories to become slave states and believed in States’ Rights. One of the many rationales for the South leaving is because of their discrepancies in politics.

In the “The Mexican War and the Compromise of 1850” lesson I learned that the abolition movement began as a religious phenomenon rather than a political. And in 1840 the United States had faced many pertaining to slavery. The lesson also talks about how Henry Clay and the Whigs saw the democrat’s position as foolish and dangerous because it amounted to saber rattling with two power full nations. I also learned that President John Tyler signed a bill annexing Texas before James Polk took office in 1845, which then Polk sent troops into the Texas-Mexican border to ensure a war with Mexico. But he avoided war with Great Britain by negotiating a settlement for half of Oregon. Also in 1848 the Whigs party won the presidential election by nominating

During the rise of the Whig party the issue of slavery was one of the main topics in the political debates in the 1850s. The Whig party was divided into pro slavery and abolitionist factions.

In the 1800’s the newly formed country was split into Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Federalist were those who were supportive of the growth of the government towards a stronger federal government and agreed upon the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-federalist were those who did not support the growth of the government and did not agree with the ratification of the Constitution. When talking about the indifference people felt about the purchasing of the Louisiana Territory it is said that, “Members of the Federalist Party, already a significant minority in both houses of Congress, worried that the Louisiana Purchase would further reduce their clout” (Jesse Greenspan). In other words, the Federalists were worried they would lose their already set status when it came to society and the political world. Federalists were strict believers in what is stated in the constitution and questioned the legality in purchasing the Louisiana Territory. The Federalists believed that the Louisiana Purchase would only harm the community, not help them so they were against the purchase of the land. Jefferson, when contemplating the purchase of the land, needed to take what his people felt into consideration. He polled the representatives with the treaty passing with a 24-7

There were many important Compromises between the years of 1820 and 1860, some that worked completely and some that didn’t. In the early nineteenth century, people were good at compromising and making things work for everyone. How long did perfect compromising actually last? Slavery began to split the nation apart, causing compromising to become hard to do. 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

The American Civil War was a period of internal conflict in the United States that took place from April 12, 1861 to May 13, 1865. The war divided the 34 states into two separate entities: the Union and The Confederacy. The Union was composed of the states that remained loyal to the U.S. Constitution and federal government, while the Confederate States of America seceded. Following Lincoln’s inaugural address in 1861, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union, quickly followed by the other states that would make up the Confederacy. The build up to the war, however, began long before. The first signs of conflict can be traced back to the writing of the three-fifths clause of the Constitution. Even today, nearly 150 years

The Spanish monarchy relinquished colonial power over Mexico in 1821. After gaining independence, Mexico established legislatures, including the abolition of slavery (Document D). The abolition of slavery would lead to a mass controversy and essentially a war. Before the Mexican War, a mass influx of United States, immigrants had entered Texas (Document D). Defying Mexican legislature, citizens in the western and southern parts of the United States saw Texas as an economic miracle to sell slaves. In the soon to be, the Republic of Texas, ninety insurgents signed a Declaration of Independence from Mexico in 1836 (Summer, American Spirit). Texas became an independent nation after the battle of San Jacinto. The Republic of Texas remained an independent nation until 1845 when Texas was formally added to the United States of America. However, was the annexation of Texas justified? The United State had no validation to attack the Mexican government. Politically, the corruption of President James K. Polk fused with the new social belief of manifest destiny, influenced the war between the United States and Texas.

The elite white men of the newly freed American society, unlike the poor white men, had plenty of time on their hands to contemplate the future of America. Wealth provided these white men time to educate themselves, whereas poor white men must spend this same time laboring to earn money. Elite men imagined of the future that they wanted versus the future that the majority wanted – the future that they believed could be successful versus the future that they believed was doomed to fail. These men used their monetarily-granted free time to develop a greater academically-based understanding of what brought the colonies to their current state. They studied about the ancient republics, analyzed their own previous mother empire, and read the

In the 1840 slavery would become a great debate among the United States due to territorial growth. The United States was gaining growth and many areas were not officially established as part of the United States yet. So settles were eager to start growth is these new lands, but the question would be if slavery would be allowed. The southern regions held their power from the political power they held. Their economy was based on slave based Plantation and the southerners feared that their economy would collapse without it. They also felt that being part of the union would not be beneficial to them. This would bondage them to the north and take right to expand their slave economy, and feared that northerners would take their profit from them.

However, following the events that took place at the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln was able to pass the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that all slaves in a rebellious state would be considered free. This would not go into effect until after the war, but it allowed African Americans to join the Union Army. This was a great step forward for black soldiers, but Lincoln still received backlash for his decision. Lincoln wrote to those who opposed his decision that he wished for all men, regardless of race, to be free and that why should African Americans do anything for them if they will do nothing for them in return (Document C)? This did not please Lincoln’s intended audience for this letter, which were those who were against the Proclamation, because it had truth in saying that African Americans should also be given the promise of freedom. This ushered a shift in the Union’s purpose for fighting the war. Initially, they were fighting to preserve the Union, but now they were also fighting for the end of the practice and expansion of slavery. The Republican Party described their support for this change of motives, stating that they endorsed the proposed amendment that prohibited the use of slavery (the 13th Amendment) and granted protection of the laws to all men, black or white (Document D). Their purpose was to establish their approval for the abolition of slavery and to officially

Emancipation was one issue that the Republican and Democratic parties were fiercely divided on. Extreme conservative Democrats believed that abolitionists had shaped the political ideology of the Republican Party". (britianan.com) They would be divided up. Causing the Copperheads to have their own will and say so what ever they wanted was their desire. "The author from the book (Civil War) I read believes that the Copperheads’ ultimate failure was not necessarily due to the outcome of the war, but their inability to rally supporters and create any solutions to the problems and injustices they so often complained about". Because of the lack of knowledge and power the Copperheads had an inability to win causing them to owe although they were gaining tons of people from the run they were on it wasn't enough they still did t have enough evidence. The Copperheads ended up losing the war and the republicans won. There plans had went down the drain and so did slavery; therefore slavery was abolished and slavery is now over any caught owning slaves we'll be thrown in jail because at this time slavery is now illegal and the Northern had won the

In retrospect, the history of the antebellum America is quite fascinating. During this period, the young republic faced several challenges. One of the most serious ones was the slavery issue. Reading the related materials, people might understand that the Founding Fathers had actually pondered about the solution to the issue; however, they did not pursue it because they foresaw possible turmoil in American politics. Unfortunately, the issue kept simmering until it reached the boiling point which resulted in the disastrous Civil War. It is also interesting to read how the anti-and pro slavery camps argued for their beliefs, how politicians abandoned their old parties and formed the new ones based on their common beliefs or interests and how they fought for their political gains. The period of the antebellum America presents such a tumultuous one, yet it shows how the young republic struggled to find a path to a better union among those hungry for power and wealth. Above all, it does require wisdom, vision, courage, determination and political maneuvers