There were disputes over territories. The main disagreement was over slavery. Slavery was legal in the south but had become banned by then states north of the Mason-Dixon line. The southerners feared that the slave ban would eventually lead to no slaveholding states, and which would give the control of the government to abolitionist. If this happened the institution of slavery would be outlawed completely.
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
They were feared that Lincoln would abolish slavery. They didn’t want Southerners to be convinced that slavery is evil. Also they didn’t want to be
After Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States, the South became very concerned that the end of life as they knew it was near, (Shultz, n.d.). President Lincoln was opposed to slavery and he was against the spread of it in the West. The southerners assumed that if the all the western territories remained free, the Republicans would accomplish their abolition efforts. Secession began with the states in the deep south, (Shultz, n.d.). South Carolina was the first southern state to secede from the Union and several others began to follow.
During the 1800s, slavery had become a hot topic in the United States, even though many did not even want to have the discussion about it. However, as we gained more land in the Mexican War slavery had to be addressed because the new territories were going to create an imbalance between the free and slave states. This imbalance would favor the South more than the North and give slavery the opportunity to spread further. Northerners, of course, did not agree with the idea of slavery spreading and worked to have legislation passed to support their perspective. Still, the legislation and the courts’ decision of cases related towards this matter, such as the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act angered both the North and South and increased the sectionalism between them.
From November 1860 to May 1861 we have had 11 of our Southern states secede from the United States of America. They threatened to secede if our current president Abraham Lincoln was elected into office. The reason all 11 states seceded is because they believe that the government was becoming too strong, and they didn’t want them to tell them how they could live and how they couldn’t. In other words they didn’t want the government to tell them if they could have slaves and if they couldn’t. The Southerners felt that if they stayed with the United states that the Northern states would begin to control them.
The South, for its part, had justified secession by claiming that slave states had to secede to save their and their way of life. The fact that the Border States where slavery was practice remained in the Union severely weakened this claim. Lincoln remained careful not to offend slave owners in the Border States. The example of his sensitivity to this issue is the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves free in only the secessionist states not the loyal Border States. Union’s eventual victory.
With the pressure following the passage of the Kansas Nebraska Act, many northerners opposed slavery and were concerned with the possibility of its expansion. In 1856, these northerners formed a new political party called the Republican Party. Once Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican candidate, the South began making plans to secede from the union if Lincoln was elected as President of the United States. In the “South Carolina Declaration of Causes of Secession”, delegates state, “A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. ”15
However, President Lincoln wanted to be tolerant to the south by making the laws easier for them to reunite back with the union. Also, if 10% of the voters supported the union then a state could be re-admitted back into the union. In an effort to get back at the constitution, many southerners
With expanding the union came disunion. The states began to feud about the expansion of slavery. This quote from John C. Calhoun captures the mind frames of the time. “ I have, Senators, believed from the first that the agitation of the subject of slavery would, if not prevented by some timely effective measure, end in disunion… the agitation has been permitted to proceed… until it has reached a period when it can no longer be disguised or denied that the Union is in danger. You have thus had forced upon you the greatest and gravest question that can ever come under your consideration: How can the Union be preserved?”
Slavery contradicted with the beliefs of the Mormons, so Utah had no interest in being pro- slavery. In conclusion, the balance between free and slave states was unable to be maintained through popular sovereignty. The Compromise of 1850 ultimately led to more tension between both sides and was a contributing factor to the start of the Civil War. The Compromise failed to equally appease each of the sides and allowed the North to have the advantage. In summary, the North benefited more from the Compromise of 1850 due to the idea of popular sovereignty, breaking the laws, and their superior power in the nation´s
The northerner had been a loud voice against the slavery that took place (mostly) in the south and with him winning the election, there was a lot of opposition from slavery-advocates. Lincoln was against slavery and with the possibility of his end-goal being the abolishment of slavery seven states where already done leaving the union before Lincoln had taken his place in the Oval Office. The Confederate states of America had been formed and it was composed of the pro-slavery states in the south. However, even though people in the north believed that the
In the 1800s there was many differences and challenges between the North and South. Two different sections that relied on different needs and wants. It was hard to satisfy both sections of the Union. Ultimately it will lead to fighting and debating on what is important for the Union to be united and happy. Both sides need each other but each side had their own pride and outlook on the country as a whole.
The North in the long term received the better deal from the compromise, but no side was truly satisfied. Without the Compromise of 1850 the North would not have had the upper hand it received as a result of the eleven years of peace the compromise
When Congress issued tariffs on foreign goods, Southerners believed that Congress favored the North since this tariff would benefit them. John Randolph spoke of this issue, arguing that Congress was being unfair since the South was not benefiting from the actions of Congress at all while the North benefited (Doc A). As for political conflict, there was a clear case of factionalism and political rivalry in 1824 (Doc I). With these conflicts amongst the varying factions and political parties, the political tension and sectionalism within America continued to grow. Accusations and anger from the South further separated them from the North, which did not contribute “good feelings” to the country at