Missouri Compromise
The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, was mainly caused by the
diverging society between the North and the South. The North and the South had
different goals. There were many factors that led to the war and the chief ones
were political and economic differences between the North and the South. The
North’s aggression to control the South had led to the point where it was
intolerable. The issue on slavery was one of the causes of the Civil War.
Slavery and slave trades had become a big part of the South’s economy. The
slaves were needed to work on plantations which helped the South prospered.
During the 19th Century, the North worked hard on abolishing slavery, which
they thought was a disgrace to the Union. Compromises were proposed working
toward an end to slavery. One of the compromises was the Missouri Compromise,
which made Maine, a free state, and Missouri, a slave state, excluded slavery
from Louisiana Territory and everything above the 36 30-north latitude. Other
compromises such as the Compromise of 1850 did please both sides. The
Compromise included admitting California as a free state and interstate slave
trade to be abolished, which went in favor of the North. The Compromise also
went with the South when it included stricter fugitive slave laws and New
Mexico and Utah were created without slave restrictions. A book called,
"Uncle Tom’s Cabin" was also published at this time emphasizing the
evils of slavery. This added tension between the North and the South. The
compromises seemed to have settled the issue of slavery but it was just putting
back the problem. The North and the South were far from settling the slave
issue. Another reason that caused the South to go to war was the difference in
economic policies. The North was expanding more in the commercial and
industrial side while the South was reliant on agriculture. Cities and
factories had developed in the North and in the South, it was still staple
producing and agrarian. The North’s industry was beginning to dominate its
economy while the South was still mainly based on agriculture. The South only
produced manufactured goods for consumption and the North were able to export
manufactured goods. The taxes and tariff was unfair to the South. The Tariff
Act of 1832 put high import fees on all European manufactured good, which was
established to protect the Northern industries. The South’s reaction to the Act
was a threat to secede from the Union. Railroads were also built to bond the
northern tier of states. This made transportation easier in the Northeast than
in the South. The Northeast traded with the West while the South can trade only
by sea. " They wanted to promote the industry of the New England states,
at the expense of the people of the South and their industry" In politics,
the North had an advantage over the South. The North was more populated than
the South and the South only counted slaves which was big part of their
populations as * of a person. Since the House of Representative was based on
population representation, the increasing population in the North gave them a
big majority over the South. In the North, they strongly believe that majority
rules and that they should make and execute the laws. This can be seen in the
Lincoln-Douglas election when they were the favorites in the election. They are
both from the North and the South wanted Douglas to win because he was for
popular sovereignty. In the end, Lincoln won because the Democratic Party was
split up and the Southerners was just outnumbered. There were good reasons that
the South entered the war. The North had been going over the line, trying to
take away their state rights. The South had to stand up for themselves and
fight for their moral rights. The South, which was dependent on slavery, would
have been devastated if slavery was abolished. The prospering North was trying
to control most of the South for their own capital benefits. This war was not
fought on the institution of slavery but on maintaining the Southern
civilization.