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Coming Of The Civil War

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Coming of the Civil War The Civil War began in April 1861 and ended in April 1865. It was a bloody and brutal war between brothers. The war did not just come about overnight; it was a result of decades of tension in the United States over many different things. Because of different interpretations of the nation 's Constitution, the relationship between states and the federal government, as well as between individual states, became strained during the early nineteenth century. The Civil War was a result of all of these strained relationships; the government felt pressure to expand, states did not respect federal law, states disagreed about prohibiting slavery, and citizens differed in their opinions on abolition. During the first few decades of the 1800s, the U.S was eager to expand. They were not even a century old, and wanted to keep gaining more power. The Compromise of 1820 was drawn up over disagreements over slave states. Missouri wanted to be added to the Union, but they would be admitted as a slave state. This would make the representation in the Senate of slaveholding versus nonslaveholding states unequal; thus, this compromise was written by Henry Clay. It stated that "in all that territory...which lies north of thirty-six degrees, and thirty minutes north latitude...slavery...is hereby, forever prohibited." (Doc A) In addition, Maine was added as a nonsalveholding state. This was a temporary solution to the problem of a divided nation. This compromise failed to

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