U.S History: Great Awakening - Essay Example

?PART I Great Awakening Great Awakening was an unplanned sequence of protestant revivals. The fists round of awakening took place during the 1930s inEngland, but this made a significant weight on the residents of Virginia between 1750s and 1760s. The awakening was introduced in Northampton by Jonathan Edwards, who was the minister for the local congregational. This exceptional evangelical outburst distorted the course of the America history (p. 124). Whiskey Rebellion This crisis erupted when a group of farmers from Pennsylvania complained against introduction of an allegedly unfair federal excise tax, which was imposed on distilled whiskey. The bill that proposed this tax was originally passed in 1791. Following this protest, in the 1790s, much political dissent in America was seen as being disloyal and therefore, the Federalists and republicans were worried that other parties could be planning to kill opposition by staging violence. (242). Compromise of 1877 This was an informal bargain that was struck when Republican leaders opened secret talks with the southern Democrats, trying to woo them to dump filibuster if the home rule was restored and the last troops withdrawn – the aim of this was to ensure that Haye’s was elected. Following these negotiation, a deal was struck and Hayes became the president while the blacks from the south were dumped. Essentially, this compromise did not only led to election of Haye’s as the president but also occasioned the fall of the last radical governments and led to the end of the military intervention in the south (p. 537). Louisiana Purchase The purchase of Lousiana happened in 1803, when Talleyrand, a French minister offered to sell the entire territory to Thomas Jefferson for $15 million. The purchase of this territory led to an unprecedented expansion of United States territory (p. 264). The purchase of this territory later sparked fresh rounds of tension that caused substantial bloodshed. Alien and Sedition Acts Alien and Sedition Act referred to a collection of four laws that were passed in 1798. The aim of these laws was to contain opposition of the federal government and to hold back freedom of aliens that were living in the United States. (246). The essence of the laws was to give power to the federal courts and the president to crush political dissent. These laws remain very significant in the American history since they occasioned the nations’ first major conflict, which was related to civil liberties (246) PART I THE ESSAY The American civil war lasted from 1861 to 1865 and led to death of hundreds of thousands. Its origin can be traced from the conflicts that took place early in the American's history. The conflict started when the American population increased significantly and the people started migrating and forming new territories. The issue of whether to adopt slavery or to oppose it was one of the greatest factors that caused tension amongst states. This essay explains the major causes that led to the war, which involved states against other states. At the time when the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, which forced many Americans to migrate to the west, was taking place; the Anglo-American settlement was limited to the eastern seaboard in the 18th century. By this time, the major population of the North America was concentrated along the major inland waterways or on the coast. By 1790, the United States population was growing very fast. By 1820, the American population had grown very high with a good proportion pouring across Appalachians new states that had been created. (199). Essentially, western migration had become the order of the day whereby a very huge number of all American families migrated every single decade. However, Cincinnati’s most critical trade was situated on the great port of New Orleans along Mississippi Rivers and Ohio. The route along the waterways remained the most important for marketing wile access to the New Orleans remained critical for growth of the western economy as well as its settlement. (259). A great deal of conflict resulted from this geographical expansion and rapid growth of the population. The indigenous Americans who lived in the west strongly resisted intrusion into their territory and hence their resistance reinvigorated the conflicts in the early 19th century. In addition, the opening out of the plantation slavery past the coastal southwest occasioned violent migration of the huge number of slaves to the new territories. Although this conflict had caused enormous loss of human life, the vast majority of white Americans considered the western expansion as their major boost, since to them, access to the western territories granted them an opportunity of acquiring independence and affluence so long as they were willing to face the suffering of the frontier life. Also, the clash between slave and non-slave state supporters was a major cause of the American civil war. Starting with Louisiana Purchase, which marked the beginning of the American’s expansion mission, and then the Mexican War among many others, the question of whether new territories supported slavery or not was a major factor that defined the conflicts between states. For instance, Missouri Compromise of 1820 banned slavery in states that were created from to the former Louisiana Purchase. (310). During the Mexican war, the burning issue was what would be done with the new territories that were expected to be acquired if the war was to be won. In 1846, David Wilmot proposed the Wilmot Proviso whose aim was to prohibit slavery in the new territories, however, this culminated to a more heightened conflict. (444). Henry Clay alongside other leaders saw the creation of the Compromise of 1850, which was meant to address the issues of the balance between those territories that supported slavery and those that opposed it as well as the interest of northern and the southern.(446). In this deal, the fugitive slave act was proposed. All these issues, in addition to the Kansas-Nebrasta Act of 1854 increased the tension, which culminated to civil war.(450). To allow the states to apply popular sovereignty, two new territories were created with the purpose of gauging whether they would support slavery or not. In Kansas, a serious conflict emerged when the proponents of slavery from Missouri entered into the state in order to force it to adopt slavery. This resulted into eruption of a fight of the senate when Charles Summer, an antislavery proponent was hit on the head by Preston Brooks, a South Carolina’s Senator. (441). In conclusion, it has been found that the American civil war mainly resulted from the issue of slavery, which caused divisions amongst different territories and hence culminating into a bloody combat. The war started when there was population exploration in some parts of America, and this caused migration to new territories. The creation of new territory was marred by the debate of slavery whereby some supported it while others did not. The tension was so high that shedding of blood amongst states was inevitable. Read More