Miss Simmon's June Take Home Test
The Civil War was a series of battles centered around the institution of slavery. It was a battle between the abolitionists of the North and the slave owners of the South. Three events were fundamental in laying the groundwork for the civil war: The Mexican War, The Kansas-Nebraska Act, and The Dred Scott Decision. These events laid the groundwork for the Civil War.
The Mexican War itself was not the cause of the disruption among the Union, rather the resulting territories were. California, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas were all acquired and it was unclear how slavery would be treated in the new territories. David Wilmot drew up the Wilmot Proviso which would have excluded slavery in any of the new territories. The Southerners were outraged and said this was a direct insult to their institution. Calhoun went as far as to say slaves were property and the Missouri Compromise took away the people's property rights. The North, due to ideological anti-slavery feelings, anti-Southerner sentiment and black racism did not want slavery permitted. President Taylor suggested that California apply for statehood as a free state, which also enraged the south. Henry Clay drew up the Compromise of 1850 to solve this strife. The Comprise admitted California as a free state, territory of Mexico divided into two parts(Utah and New Mexico), decided slavery was to be determined by "popular sovereignty", gave 10 million dollars to Texas for loss of territory, made a stricter fugitive slave law, and allowed slavery but not the slave trade in Washington D.C.. The dispute that resulted from the Mexican War was most clearly explained by saying: there was a balance of slave and none slave states up until now and both the North and the South were worried this was about to change.
The Dred Scott case was a case about two things, if black were to be considered citizens and if the Missouri compromise was to be considered constitutional. Dred Scott was a slave above the line of the Missouri Compromise and then brought back to Missouri. When his owner died he sued the Missouri for his freedom. His freedom was granted then repealed. Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that blacks were not citizens and that the Missouri compromise was unconstitutional. Northerners were appalled and said that the South had people of influential power in the courts making decisions favoring them. Popular Sovereignty was also looked down upon because it was thought that a slavery would be too entrenched into a territory before it drew its constitution, thus ruling out the possibility of it becoming a free state. The Northerners said the decision was a conspiracy to extend slavery across the entire nation.
The Kansas-Nebraska Bill was drawn up by Stephen A Douglas. This Bill was aimed at containing slavery in the South by outlawing it in the West. David Atchison is quoted as saying he would rather "sink in hell" before Nebraska was let in as a free state. Popular Sovereignty would decide the fate of these territories. This worried the North because Nebraska was right next to Iowa and the Northerners did not want it to be a slave state and the South was worried because Kansas was in the "backyard" of Missouri and the Southerners did not want to be trapped in by a free state. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill added to the events which led to the Civil War.
The Mexican War, Dred Scott Decision, and the Kansas Nebraska Bill all helped pave the way to the country's Civil War. These three events were not the only reasons the war was fought, many other large and small disputes, also led to the war. The war was inevitable and the compromises that held the Union could not last forever.
The South was justified in breaking away from the Union during the Civil War. The entire Southern economy was based on agriculture and slaves were the most affordable labor source. The Southern economy would be injured if slavery was removed. Slavery was a part of the southern culture and the slaves led better, fuller, lives than there counterparts. It was even stated in the Bible that slavery was a moral institution. Southerners also thought of Blacks as an inferior race, only suitable for slavery. Although these reasons may be appalling now, they are the way many Southerners viewed their world.