preview

Essay about Causes of The Outbreak of the American Civil War

Decent Essays

Causes of The Outbreak of the American Civil War The deep south had strong opinions on issues on which the south had other feeling on, one of the main issues was that of slavery. The north had an obvious disagreement with the south over the issue of slavery, this started at the very beginning of the union with the south saying that slaves had been used for years in ancient Greece and Rome. Southerners felt that it was a more distinguished way of life and thought that the north did not like the idea of slavery as they were more interested in saving the money for themselves. Abolitionists formed a group, at first they were a group of middle class women who thought that they were helping a good …show more content…

If the south were to get this territories it would mean that the number of seats in congress would be uneven, and slave states would be more powerful in congress than the free states. As a compromise the government decided that Maine would join the union at the same time as Missouri but would join as a free state insuring the number of seats on congress remained the same. This situation threatened both the north and south but did not lead them to had a disagreement that would cause either to act in a violent way. At the same time a treaty was signed to say that no slave states could admitted over the line 36 30. This can be seen as the first divide between the North and the South. When this decisions was made, it was disputed by the south that congress was able to make decisions involving the territories. Other territories which caused problems for the north and the south was the annexation of Texas, southerners wanted it to split from Mexico as the area could be split into 5 slave states, this would ensure that they would get many more seats in congress, this could be seen as a campaign against the North and increased Northern fears of a slave power conspiracy. Southern politician pushed for the annexation, however people in the north did not only felt it threatened them because of slavery

Get Access