In the years of 1820s through the 1860s, a growing sectional conflict centered around slavery signaled the coming of a war between the north and the south, which almost tore down the union. According to some revisionist historians, Civil War, one of the greatest tragedies in the American history, was absolutely avoidable and resulted merely from “fanaticism and misunderstanding,” along with the failure of the political leaders to compromise; however, this is not the case. Looking back into history, the war was arguably made inevitable by the the cause of slavery. A series of factors in the antebellum age led to the outbreak of Civil War; these factors included social differences, economic issues, as well as political tensions generated by …show more content…
Their effort was so evident in the Gag Rule of 1836, which ruled that any discussion about the abolition of slavery, or even slavery itself, be “without being either printed or referred, be laid on the table and that no further action whatever shall be had thereon”[Doc. C]. The rule had avoided the unsolved problem; this attitude of the political leaders let the potential conflict intensify throughout the years. Although the crisis seemed to quiet down for a while, in 1854, the issue of slavery was brought again to the center stage by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Proposed by Stephen Douglas, the act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and embraced the idea of popular-sovereignty. By this action, the possibility of slavery extending into states north of the Missouri Compromise Line, especially Kansas, was once again opened. Not long after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, in 1856, the violence in the senate again showed the tension when South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks beat Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner to death with his cane [Doc. E]. The violence in the governing class quickly stimulated both sides, further incited the extremists on both sides. The antebellum crisis reached a climax after the presidential election of 1860, which elected as president a man who was not even on the southern ballot—Abraham Lincoln [Doc. H]. The new president of the United States did not gain a single vote from the south, which of course made southerners furious; they were so depressed by the “president of the north” that the secession of the southern states was declared in the same year, led by South Carolina. By the time the secession became a fact, the political tensions between the north and the south were exerting even more pressure on the governing class of both sides, and apparently, the fragile nation is on the edge of an outbreak of
The Civil War. Louis P. Masur’s book, The civil War: a Concise History, Is a book that gives an overview of the civil war from 18 to 1800, Providing multiple causes an consequences that emerged from the war. The book begins by reviewing the origins of the war. Chapter one covers the issues between northern and southern states and the tension over right and slave possession. The tension created a conflict that raised a number of political, social, and military events that then proceeded into a battle to abolish slavery from the colonies.
In the years prior to the Civil War, northerners and southerners experienced violence and madness in their everyday lives. The Civil War resulted from social, political, moral, and religious differences between the north and the south. As the country continued to expand West, Congress consistently revisited the question of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 proposed by Senator Douglas set the stage for violent territorial disputes over slavery. In 1856, Preston Brooks’, a member of the House of Representative, viciously attacked Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts Senator, for his speech “The Crime Against Kansas,” in which he directly attacked Southern beliefs and actions as savage and inferior to Northern behavior.
The outcome of the Missouri Compromise was that “Missouri would be admitted to the Union as a slave state and Maine would be admitted as a free state, maintaining the balance between slave and free states and slavery would be outlawed in any U.S. territories north of latitude 36’30”. (15) After the Missouri Compromise, the Anti-Slavery Society was formed. The Anti-Slavery Society was formed in 1830 in order to end slavery after the death of a slave by the name of Nat Turner. The Compromise of 1850 was similar to the Compromise of 1820. The Compromise of 1850 occurred after the Mexican War when it came to decide whether these states should be considered free states or slave states.
Being one of the most controversial subjects in 19th century America, the argument on slavery led to one of the bloodiest wars in American History. As Southern concern rose on the abolishment of slavery, the secession of the Southern states was inevitable. Centuries later, people argued that the Civil War is described to be the Second American Revolution. In Lincoln and the Second American Revolution by James M. McPherson, he assessed on what truly defined a revolution and analyzed the Civil War in its 'external and internal means.' He began with Garfield's statements to discuss that as far as history predicts, the war was necessary for the nation to undergo a revolutionary change.
On May 22nd, 1856, the “world's greatest deliberative body,” The United States Senate was met with chaos. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, a member of the House of Representatives, Preston Brooks, beat Senator Charles Sumner because of Sumner's hostility toward slavery. The caning of Charles Sumner is regarded as one of the most dramatic incidents in the history of the United States Congress, provoking strong emotions from citizens of the South, who approved of Brooks’ actions, as well as from citizens of the North and West, who disapproved. Charles Sumner was a radical abolitionist republican senator who hated the Kansas-Nebraska Act which helped slavery expand west by nullifying the Missouri Compromise. On May 19th, Sumner decided to give a speech to the United States Senate called “crime against Kansas” in which he argued Kansas should enter the union as a free state.
The American Civil war was a gruesome and terrible war fought in the United States of America. When the war first started many believed it would be a small conflict that would not last very long. Little did they know many contributing factors extended the length of the war. One of these factors is external involvement and influence in the war. The reasons behind external influences and involvement in the American Civil war directly and indirectly attributed to the outcome and length of the conflict.
And the South thought that was a failed compromise. In Document 8: Lithograph by Harry T. Peters, shows two men in the front on the ground while one (Preston Brooks) is beating the man on the ground (Sumner) with his cane. This happened because Senator Charles Sumner delivered a long speech called “The Crime Against Kansas” which included him attacking pro-slavery men and insulting the South Carolina and one of its Senators. Two days after the speech, Brooks broke into the Senate chambers and beat Sumner with a cane. Brooks didn’t like the speech that Sumner gave because Brooks is a pro-slavery man who was offended by Sumner’s speech so he decided to take a stand and defend himself.
The Civil War is one of the bloodiest wars in American history, but what started it? What did it lead to? In the book, “Two Miserable Presidents”, by Steve Sheinkin, the author explains events that led up to the civil war and how they were finally resolved through the leadership of Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the book, we learn about the causes of the Civil War through anecdotes and we learn “everything your schoolbooks didn’t tell you about the Civil War.” He gives a humorous 13 step guide in ripping a country in two and names each section of the book a with a captivating yet true title.
That same year, the act was passed and, due to the differences between the Democrats, the party split into Northern and Southern Democrats. In 1855, the residents of Kansas were to decide if the state would become a free or slave state. Many Kansas residents voted, but many proslavery residents from Missouri also voted. Controversially, the state ended up as a slave state. After the voting process, a series of violent outbreaks took place over the next few months.
During the nineteenth century, a number of historical events led up to the American Civil War. As mentioned in Ken Burns “Civil War” Part 1, some of those events included the death of Elijah P. Lovely (1837), the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher was published (1852), the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), Representative Preston Brooks’ attack on Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the House (1856), the Dred Scott Decision (1857), John Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry (1859), Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States (1860), and the attack on Fort Sumter (1861). These events contributed to what is known as one of the worst and most tragic events in American history. The American Civil War was a war between the North and the South. Both regions had differences in social, economic and political views on the future of the country, but the main cause of those differences was slavery.
This premise is undeniably true. As support for his thesis, Holt looks at the final formation of the two party system, the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act to show how politicians used the issue of slavery to gain political
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
McClure mentions that we were most likely taught the civil war was caused by extremist in both North and South and that their fights became a war without reason (A. K. McClure – “The Lesson of Our Civil War”). One of my many questions was why this war happened and there had to be a compromise that could have stopped it. My understanding of this war that is was pushed because of anger and fighting. McClure informs the readers there is a side that was not taught about the Civil War and that is that most involved in the war never wanted it to come to a war. McClure goes on to say that this war was not because of slavery; however, it did have a great deal to do with it.
After the efforts to gain independence from Britain and the creation of the United States of America, eighty years later this union was not so united. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, it was the first time that Americans fought Americans. Among many reasons, the Civil War is known to be a result of the arguments over the delineation of the States’ Rights or the presidential election of Abraham Lincoln. In actuality, the Civil War, the most deadly war in American history, was due to disputes over slavery in the American territories. Therefore, the Civil War was inevitable because of the consequences that occurred one being slavery.
If it were to be ratified, it would legalize slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, even though the states were above the Missouri Compromise Line. Houston was intelligent to see that this would lead to war with the North, saying that the South would “go down ... in a sea of blood and smoking ruin.” (Doc C 1). The vote results were 71 to 3, ratifying the act and sparking more tensions which would later lead to war with the North. The Civil War.