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Missouri Compromise |
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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.