Political Bedlam and Pre-Civil War - Essay Example

Pre-Civil War The great Civil War, 1861, in the history of America was marked by many events way before 1850 which little by little made their way forward to this day when the civilians stood against the system. All of it started with the end of the Mexican War 1846-1848 which brought many new issues under the limelight including the one that became the subject of the Civil War in 1861. The United States was divided into northern and southern region both having a difference of opinion on the establishment of Free states or slavery states in the lands recently captured by the United States in the west of Texas. The Southerners believed that by extending slavery towards the west would secure their economy and stabilize their way of living. However, the Northerners were against the concept of slavery itself. In 1846, David Wilmot, a defender of freedom for the slaves, put forward Wilmot Proviso in regard to his opinion which was crushed by the Southerners before it could reach the Senate. This activity of the southerners proved it that they weren’t ready to give in either. The reason for this resistance was the fear of Southerners over the loss of slavery in their own domination which could come about eventually if the Northerners weren’t stopped. But the issue gained more and more weight with the passage of time. The election of 1848 was the ground for each party to display their argument over the issue of slavery. The northern Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, a Mexican war hero, who made efforts to avert the controversy by not speaking on the matter directly. The opposition, the Democrats, however nominated Lewis Cass who was also neutral on the issue and left it on the citizens of western territory to choose a system for themselves. The elections also gave a birth to the Free-Soil Party supported by a wide group of the Northern abolitionists, early Liberty voters and the angered Democrats and Whigs. They nominated Martin Van Buren, former president of the United States, who succeeded in his endeavor of turning the votes in favor of Taylor (Waugh 140-148). The issue of slavery lay dormant for a year but this was soon erupted into newer consequences with the application of California and Utah for statehood. Again the question of establishing these states as free of slave states came into picture. Similarly, Washington D.C was under the same cloud. The future of these three states had to be decided now and so this led to a series of debates in the congress over the issue. The Southerners wanted to sustain their economic system while Northerners were against the concept of slavery itself. The supporter of Southerners movement, John C. Calhoun, asserted the significance of Southerners’ opinion regarding the matter in the congress. Whereas, Daniel Webster and Henry Clay came forward with reasons to suppress the Southerners claim. They were of the opinion that the establishment of slavery system was out of question since the lands were unsuitable for the growth of cotton. However, the outcome of these heated debates was acceptable to all. Both the Northern and Southern states made a compromise which was surmounted by a final piece of legislature through the congress made by Stephen Douglas. Several legislations were made in order to make both the parties come to terms with each other and make a compromise. California was agreed to be established as a free state whereas Utah was left as a slave state as the Mormons were not ready to let go of polygamy. And the future of slavery in other regions was left upon to be decided by the people in those territories. Moreover, Mexico gained new lands from Texas for the formation of New Mexico. Lastly but most importantly the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in the congress which was accepted. The Act was a stepping stone towards the civil war. It declared the right of slave owners to get back their runaway slaves. But the Fugitive Slave Law was indirectly violated by the Northerners as they constantly encouraged the slaves to run away which further angered the Southerners. Another event to cause friction was the publishment of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. The novel was about slavery in the South. The novel gave boost to the sentiments of the Northerners regarding slavery and intensified their movement against slavery (Totally History Compromise of 1850, 2014). But Southerners were also not ready to give up they made every attempt to secure the future of slavery and for that purpose they decided to expand to new territories. In this strategic arena Franklin Pierce, a pro-south democrat, took steps to achieve the dreams of southerners by making efforts to acquire new territories in Latin America. In regard to that he supported the William Walker’s takeover of Nicaragua from behind the scenes. But he failed, however he didn’t stop. The year 1853 marked his term of many achievements, one of these was the completion of negotiations for the purchase of Gadsden from Mexico (Selcer 206). Stephen Douglas the man behind Kansas Nebraska Act wanted to build the rail line ending at Chicago, his home region, so that he could be able to avail the economic boom it would have provided. For that purpose he tempted the rail road developers away from the lands acquired through the Gadsden Purchase. But his motives couldn’t be achieved until the territories lying in the middle were to be made official. Therefore, Douglas came up with the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 which resulted in the formation of two new territories Kansas in the South and Nebraska in the North. According to the compromise made in 1820 both the territories had to be established as free as their location favored. But Douglas decided to leave it upon the popular sovereignty to decide whether these two states be Free states or slave states. The motive behind this issue was to win votes from the Southern Democrats as well in 1856 elections. But the consequences were way out of his control as the Act caused a series of riots and protests supported by the Northerners and also caused the dissolution of Whigs and Democratic parties. The actions of Douglas had violated the Missouri Compromise and sparked the sentiments of the masses in North as well as South. (Waugh 24-30) Thousands of people including the proslavery Missourians and Northern abolitionists flooded into Kansas when they learned that the popular sovereignty will decide the fate of slavery in Kansas. Soon the two groups clashed and then began a series of bloodshed and violence which gave the territory the name of “Bleeding Kansas” During the period of 1857-1858 the economy of the United States took a downturn which put the slavery debate to silence for some time. But John Brown, an abolitionist, brought it around by advancing a raid at Harpers Ferry accompanied by twenty men. The objective of the raid was to spark the sentiments of the slaves in Virginia and Southern states to stand up against their owners. But the raid failed due to miscommunication as the slaves were not even aware of his plans. The raid ended with John Brown and half of his men being captured and convicted of treason and hanged. The death of John Brown contributed to the outburst of civil war sixteen months later. Works Cited Top of Form Top of Form "The Compromise of 1850 – Agreement Between the North & South States."Totally History Compromise of 1850 Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2014. . Selcer, R. F. (2006). Civil War America, 1850 to 1875. New York: Facts On File. Waugh, J. C. (2003). On the brink of Civil War: The Compromise of 1850 and how it changed the course of American history. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More