ipl-logo

House Divided Causes

1505 Words7 Pages

A House Divided: The Causes and Effects of the Civil War in the Institution of Slavery, The Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Militant Presidency of Abraham Lincoln

The causes and effects of the Civil War will be defined through the institution of slavery and the military leadership of President Lincoln to resolve the uncompromising political position of the South/Confederacy. Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech will be an important primary source that defines the underlying resistance to the expansion of slave states into new territories taken by the U.S. government before the Civil War. More so, the uncompromising and increasingly militaristic aggression of the South in seceding from the Union defines the effects of this political “divide” between …show more content…

During this historical period, The Kansa-Nebraska Act did very little to satiate the demand by southern states to receive more slave state status, which defined the increasingly divided political situation that Lincoln inherited as a free state representative in Congress: “If slaveholders miraculously captured Kansas, then a still more widely diffused and more intense anti-slave sentiment would be awakened.” These are important factors in the causality of the civil war, which was is presented in the increasing notion of a “house divided” in clash between free states and slave states in the new territories offered through western expansion. …show more content…

The institution of slavery was a major cause for the Civil War, since “free states” and Slave states” were vying for land and voting rights in Congress in the new territories in the west that were recently acquired by the United States. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was meant to evenly divided free states and slaves states in the hopes that either side would be satiated, and the two sides could reach a compromise on this issue. However, free states politicians, such as Senator Lincoln, defined the underlying basis of perpetual conflict in the speech “A House Divided”, which would set the tone for a larger military conflict between the North and the South. More so, Lincoln’s presidency shows a massive increase in presidential powers, which allowed Lincoln to unconstitutionally declare war against the Confederacy for seceding from the Union. In addition to this military power, Lincoln also suspended the writ of habeas corpus to deny a trial for soldiers and officers caught in the battles that ensued during the war. Therefore, the Kansas-Nebraska act set the precedent for a divided nation that sought compromise, but it was President Lincoln that utilized the Union’s massive military power to declare war against the South in the Civil War. These factors define the causes and effects of political,

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Apostles Of Disunion By Charles B. Dew

    761 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Northerners, for instance, fought to defend state sovereignty (lecture December 8). Therefore, the causes of the Civil War remain a debate. Although one hundred and fifty-one years have passed, many historians still debate whether the cause of the war was slavery or not. Charles B. Dew in his essay, “Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War”, argues

    Read More

  • Southern Secession Dbq

    266 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this paper there has been a discussion of the legislation and the tensions preceding the southern Secession. Based on this discussing it can be concluded that the tensions, which culminated with the Civil War, were present many decades before the secession itself. Even threats of Civil war and secession were present much prior to this particular conflict. 
This paper has also concluded that the threat of Lincoln was real to the South, because of the Republican party’s very distinct foundation as an anti-slavery party. Slavery was a soft spot in the South because of the substantial value slaves had.

    Read More

  • Civlil War Dbq

    391 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the outset of the Civlil War, Lincoln originally wanted to limit the amount of bloodshed and destruction as much as humanly possible. The goal was not to destroy the south, or to engage in any prolonged warfare costing valuable lives and resources for the Union. “Erring secessionist staes were to be taken back into the Union, and Southern society was to be reshaped (80).” McGovern further adds that “The authoirty of the national government was to be reestablished by respecting, not abusing, the constitutional rights of the rebels (80).”

    Read More

  • Lincoln's First Inaugural Address Analysis

    377 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency at the start of the 1860, an issue that had divided the nation was slavery. Lincoln’s election to presidency as a republic was not received well by the Southern slave states, as they thought that as a republican he was out to abolish slavery. In an effort to calm southern states and keep them from seceding from the United States, he attempts to ease them with his First Inaugural Address. In his First Inaugural Address his key points are to clam southern leaders of slave states, keep the states from seceding, and make them at ease as he enters presidency.

    Read More

  • Sectional Tension Dbq Essay

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    In many ways, and especially from the eyes of a Northerner, the largely Southern Democratic Platform forced slavery into society, particularly demanding its acceptance from the Free-Soil party with the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This inevitably stirred sectional discord and fanned the flame of the rising Secessionist

    Read More

  • Ak Mcclure Civil War Address Analysis

    233 Words  | 1 Pages

    Based upon superficial analysis of the Civil War, one would get the impression that the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the Emancipation Proclamation further incited the tensions between the North and South that contributed to the formation of the Southern Confederate States of America. The first point that stood out to me, contradicts the popular belief that the Civil War was caused by radical opposing views of slavery. A.K. McClure’s address highlights the ideology of both, the North and South, was rooted in rational principles. In addition, he discusses the opposing political views between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

    Read More

  • Civil War Dbq Analysis

    700 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the speech, Lincoln expressed his thoughts on these split societies, “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free… It will become all one thing or all the other.” (document 10) This quote, in my mind, states the reason the Union and the Confederacy went to war, because they both are split into two different societies, both of which, had very diverse opinions on

    Read More

  • Civil War Dbq Essay

    871 Words  | 4 Pages

    In America in the 1840s and 1850s the north were growing industrially and relying on factories while the south was still rural and all about agriculture the two were growing apart. There became the debate over slavery and the north saw it has morally wrong while the south saw no problem with it. In the 1860s the south finally seceded from the union when Lincoln became president. In effort to try and help with issues there became many compromises like the compromise of 1850. While some believe the civil war started over “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” there is historical evidence that shows that the real causes for the secession of the southern states and the starting of the civil war to force them back into the union, were overwhelmingly the caning of

    Read More

  • Differences Between Lincoln And Frederick Douglass

    691 Words  | 3 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln, Frederic Douglass, were one of the most appealing well-known speakers, people who did believe that slavery was morally wrong and devote their lives to fight for freedom. However, there are several differences between the view of the Constitution’s position differences between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Kansas-Nebraska Act indicated that the recognition of slavery should be determined by the decision of these residents (popular or squatter sovereignty). This act itself conflicted heavily with the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, which was essentially seen as the admittance of slavery anywhere in the country. This act made a political issue of confrontation between North and South.

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln's Views On Slavery

    645 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the 1860 election, Lincoln made a firm public decision not to accept the expansion of slavery into the territories. In other words, Lincoln 's early position as president was that, slavery could remain in current slave states but could not expand to new states or territories. Although, Lincoln’s views on slavery often shifted some of them seemed to contradict one another. On another note, current slave states could vouch to keep things the way that they are but, Lincoln still felt that if a nation was divided it would be almost impossible to survive. Lincoln 's views at this time were politically motivated, and they focused on ending the war and preserving the Union.

    Read More

  • How Did Slavery Cause Secession

    1451 Words  | 6 Pages

    ‘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 .

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The American Revolution And The Civil War

    825 Words  | 4 Pages

    After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the rise of the Republican party, Southerners feared the tipping of the balance of political power against them; their need for self-determination parallel the colonists’ belief of rebelling against the oppressive government of Great Britain. However, the Civil War represented something more: the clash of the feudalistic, agrarian South with the industrialized, capitalistic North. These two powers differed socially, politically, and economically, and were especially conflicted over slavery. These two sections of the United States were divided against one another, and could not survive this way. Therefore, it is more accurate to state that though the Civil War resembled some aspects of the American Revolution, it was a clash between two forces who could not exist with one another in their current state, leading inevitably to conflict between the

    Read More

  • Manifest Destiny Dbq

    200 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Manifest Destiny contributed to the Civil War because the expansion of new territories and states added into the United States. If the new territories were to vote in Congress for slavery and no slavery, it could be a threat for slavery in the South. ‘’many Southerners and some Northerners wanted slavery to exist everywhere in the United States, including in the new territories added to the country. Many other Americans did not want slavery to expand at all, and some people wanted slavery to be prohibited across the entire nation. Eventually these tensions would lead to the American Civil War’’ (Manifest Destiny, N/d).

    Read More

  • How Did Abraham Lincoln Deserve To Be The Great Emancipator

    695 Words  | 3 Pages

    President Lincoln stated that: “if I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it,..., and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do it.”. This quote clearly shows that the freedom of slaves was not his concern and unnecessary if it did not help the Union; as the result, slavery still exists if there is no war. Free slave from bondage should be a Great Emancipator’s primary goal and he will do his best to achieve it no matter what, but president Lincoln’s thought differed from that because all he cares was the Union. Although he had many times admitting himself an anti-slavery but his words and thoughts obviously prove that he is

    Read More

  • Mcgovern's Argumentative Essay

    189 Words  | 1 Pages

    They became both pivotal moments in history, in law, and in the direction of American society, with which Lincoln, as a lawyer, was already immersed and passionate about. This is what gave him the motivation and incentive(in some measure) to get back into the game of politics with which he had contended for so long. McGovern says that “Along with many others, Lincoln was thundersruck and astounded when the new law [i.e. the Nebraska Act] was enacted... he feared there was a real danger that slavery would spread, perhaps rapidly, and he could no longer stnad by (37).” After all, if Kansas-Nebraska were to be separated in two, leaving it completely up to the newly formed states whether or not they would allow for slavery on their premises (36).

    Read More

More about House Divided Causes

Open Document