Sectional Tension Dbq

By the year of 1860, the North and the South was developed into extremely different sections. There was opposing social, economic, and political points of view, starting back into colonial periods, and it slowly drove the two regions farther in separate directions. The two sections tried to force its point of view on the nation as a whole. Even though negotiations had kept the Union together for many years, in 1860 the condition was unstable. The presidential election of Abraham Lincoln was observed by the South as a risk to slavery and many believe it initiated the war.

As tensions between the North and the South rose on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, numerous compromises were proposed to ease the conflict. Such compromises included the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Crittenden Compromise. These compromises had intentions of defining where slavery was permitted and clarifying states’ rights. They were only temporary fixes to a more pressing issue. Between the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, a series of events changed the political atmosphere of the United States and prevented any more compromises on the institution of slavery from being passed.

The first major reason of the civil war stems from Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech. Lincoln gives warning to the growing rift between the North and the South, the Anti-Slavery and the Pro-Slavery groups, as evidence in ‘I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.’ Although the antagonism and eagerness of protecting the Union is not shown as prominently as future speeches, we can find a hint of caution in his tone. He goes on to support his claims through the hodgepodge of legislation that is the ‘Nebraska Doctrine’ and the legal crisis of the Dred Scott court case. He politely refers to this as ‘squabble’ and speak of the controversy and moral implication that they have caused. For his part, it is easy to see the insinuation of the speech- he believed slavery was immoral and was wholly incompatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence embodied in the phrase

In the late 1850’s, tension were rising between the northern states and the southern states. These tensions began long ago, but continued to rise before the election of 1860. The main topic of debate at this time was slavery. Southern states relied on slavery for economic production. Many in the north wanted to limit the spread of slavery, or outright ban it. Those opposed to slavery had numerous reasons from political to ethical and religious reasons. The election of 1860 had 4 large candidates: Abraham Lincoln, John C Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen A. Douglas. Abraham Lincoln won the popular vote and electoral vote and was elected president in 1860, taking over from James Buchanan. In the

Throughout American history, the south and the north have consistently held different beliefs on how to handle some subjects. Whether it ranged from slavery, to taxing, or to business, southerners and northerners often seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum. It was not any different back in the 1800’s. Though intensely different, they were still part of the same country. One of the biggest issues that made the north and the south so distinct from one another was their view and perspective on slavery. The north, who was considered mostly republican, saw slavery as something that needed to be abolished for it was a great sin committed by mankind; while the south, who were mostly considered democrats, viewed it as a necessity for they considered African-Americans a race that needed to be controlled because they were less intelligent than the white man but very violent and because they were “built” for the hard labor. Over the 1800’s they had been a tension built between the two sides of the country. The tension rose to a boiling point when the 1860 election rolled around. After the elections occurred, a chain of events followed which would leave a lasting impact on the current United States. In the heart of these events was the civil war. To this day, it is very debatable that the war started because of the unsure future of slavery under new leadership.

In 1787 the Northwest Ordinance was passed. It helped form new states and governed them. Then the confederate government had almost no control. The United States went into a depression, farmers had their land taken away, shays rebellion came, and slavery became a topic of debate. This led to the constitutional convention. Many plans were proposed, but only compromises were accepted. Two important compromises were the Great Compromise, and the three-fifths compromise. The Great Compromise made a two house legislature, and the three-fifths compromise made slaves count as three-fifths of a free person when counting population. During the convention they also agreed that congress couldn’t interfere with slavery until 1808. They also

The political turmoils of nineteenth century America gave way to a massive Civil War which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The United States were divided geographically and ideologically. The North was an industrial powerhouse based on (relatively) free labor that focused on factories and manufactures. In its economy it had no need for slaves and was dead set against the very institution of slavery. On the other hand, the south was the agricultural center of the U.S.A. and relied heavily on a large slave population to do most of the manual labor. The election of 1860 pitted these two different world views against each other. The pro slavery Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge and the abolitionist Republican Abraham Lincoln were

The American civil war took place between 1861 and 1865 after the controversial election of President Lincoln. This election created a big rift between the south and the north regarding the future of the slaves . While the southerners remained predominantly agricultural-based, the northerners became an industrialized region with the focus on using the slaves to provide cheap labor for the industrialists. The discussion about the fate of the slaves created a difference between the two unions with regards to taxation, freedom of the salves and federal rights . The differences about the fate of the slaves led to secession in which the northerners and the westerners intended to preserve their union.

The Northern and Southern states began to feel divided because of their regional differences. The main reason for their regional differences was of slavery. When Missouri requested for statehood in 1820 as a slave state, it caused trouble between the north and south because it would it tip the balance of the senate in the South’s favor because there was eleven free states and eleven slave states in the senate. As a compromise, Henry Clay proposed that Missouri enter as a slave state, Maine enters as a free state, and prohibit slavery in the Louisiana Territory above the 36˚30’. The Missouri Compromise greatly increased sectionalism in the South. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams supported the compromise, but he expressed that it only fixed the issue temporarily because slavery isn’t a resolvable issue unless the whole union is free of slavery. Adams implies to himself in his diary that he knows in the future that slavery would further separate the north and south but for now it maintained peace in the union (Document 5). Document 6 agrees with Document 5 because Thomas Jefferson says that increased compromise and putting off the issue of slavery will only increase sectionalism because it will lead to deeper hatred between the North and South. But the document shows bias as well because Jefferson is a slave owner himself and knows slavery is wrong but he

Prior to Civil War, distinct Northern and Southern cultures had been established; The free North occupied the commercial industry, while the slavery-based South undertook an agricultural occupation. The South and the North began to fight over right and wrong. The major issue was regarding slavery, as the South wanted to preserve slavery while, the North wanted to get rid of it. These conflicts rose into sectional antagonism and eventually put the United States and President Lincoln in a loophole. During the Civil War however, Lincoln made some extremely controversial decisions, that resulted in a reduction of the sectional antagonism present, and the United States became truly “one nation.”

During the years of 1820-1860, the United States split into Northern and Southern factions. Each side held completely opposing viewpoints on issues affecting the nation. Compromise was made almost impossible by 1860 due to disagreement over states rights. Eventually, a breakdown of trust between both parties on each side that led to a collapse of compromise due to one of an important main issue, slavery. American citizens, despite constant thoughts of compromise, could not resolve their political disputes. Through conflicts towards the issue of slavery to saving the Union itself, their disputes refused any intention of compromise and would eventually lead to the start of the Civil War.

In The Fate Of Their Country: Politicians, Slavery Extension, And The Coming Of The Civil War, Michael F. Holt effectively shows how the Civil War was caused by partisan politics and the slavery extension issue. The decisions made by northern and southern politicians from 1844 to 1861 in relation to the slavery extension issue caused the Civil War. I accept Holt’s thesis and believe that he makes a believable case. His book convinced me that foolish, selfish, and deceptive politicians made decisions that caused frustration in the lives of northern and southern Americans, which created an environment prone to civil war. It was not a disagreement over slavery itself, rather a disagreement over whether expansion into new territories would involve slavery.

According to the (Crittenden Compromise document) The compromise had six amendments and four resolutions that ultimately favored the south. This compromise told northern states that they had to follow the fugitive slave act, most northerners followed the new compromise. It also said that slavery could not be banned in states where it already exists. Southerners loved this compromise because it was not interfering with slave trading. However, The civil war could not have been avoided because of the election of 1860. According to the (chart of election of 1860) When president lincoln was elected southerners were furious! Seven states left the union, and tensions grew even higher. Some southerners would have bonfires with lincoln's fake body because of what had happened. During the election 9 states did not have lincoln on the ballot, mostly southern states. The civil war could not have been avoided because of the election of

Sectional conflict between the North and South was the very platform of the birth of the Civil War. Slavery was a prominent dispute that played a large role in the differences throughout the U.S. at this time, but there were other causes as well including economic and social differences and the election of Abraham Lincoln. In the midst of various events in the 1850s, it was the southern secession that began the true separation of the Union and the Confederacy, which showed the reality and quickness of the arrival of the Civil War in the United States.

Once the Americans solved the issue of independence from Britain, they were immediately confronted with another critical issue, what to do with slavery. On one hand, the South zealously supported slavery and the expansion of it. The North, on the other hand, was very much against the survival and expansion of slavery. The conflicting ideology created a problem in the new nation, through which compromises did little to remedy. This gave rise to the development of sectionalism in the states. Throughout the early development of the U.S., the main political crisis, slavery, along with a few other minor crises were bandaged with compromises, but it was not until the Compromise of 1877 that the crises were finally dealt with for good.