A Summary Of The Civil War Essay

A Summary Of The Civil War Essay, Research Paper The 1800’s were a tumultuous time for the United States of America. At that time the south was typically slave and the northerners were traditionally for freedom. The slave states of the south and the abolitionist in the north were quarreling and the government recognizing that made efforts to stop or delay the civil war. In 1819 Missouri wanted to enter the Union a slave state. At this time the 22 states of the Union were divided evenly 11 slave and 11 free. Northern states were afraid that if Missouri entered as a slave state it would give the south a majority in the senate. Southerners argued that since the north had a majority in the House of Representatives that it was only fair that they had a majority in the senate.

Then in December 1819 three northern counties of Massachusetts broke away and asked to be admitted to enter the Union as a free state(Maine). This made the Missouri Compromise possible. The Missouri compromise said that Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would be admitted as a free state, it also said that any state in the Louisiana Purchase north of Missouri’s southern border would be a free state. This action delayed a deadly confrontation between the North and the South, at least for awhile. Then in 1828 congress raised the tariff on imported goods. In the south they didn’t have very much industry so they had to import most of their good, so the tariffs were unpopular their. One state that protested this action by congress. Since the North had more industry, the

South felt that congress was protecting the North by raising these tariffs. South Carolina was the strongest protester of these tariffs. South Carolina supported John C. Calhoun who said that a state could nullify or veto a national law within it’s own boundaries. In 1832 South Carolina’s state legislature declared the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 null or void. They went even further by saying that if the government tried to make them pay the tariff they would break away from the union. Then President Andrew Jackson, who had said that the union must be preserved, stated that he strongly opposed this nullification. Jackson also let it be know that he would send 50,000 troops into South Carolina. This action scared South Carolina, and when they asked other states for help they

got no promises of military aid. Finally seeing that his state was in bad shape John C. Calhoun asked Henry Clay to help him come up with compromise. They came up with a law that would lower tariff annually over a 10 year period until they were satisfactory. After the Missouri Compromise and the nullification crisis were dealt with things were relatively quiet for awhile. Then in 1850 California requested admission to the union as a free state. California was the first state applying for state hood in the Mexican Cession. Southerners feared if California was a free state the rest of the territory would be too. Northerners felt they had to stop the spread of slavery to end it altogether. Then came another attempt to resolve the conflicts between the North and the South. In January

of 1850 Senator Henry Clay proposed a plan. His plan was divided into six parts. The first part was that California would be admitted to the Union as a non- slave state. The second part was that Utah and New Mexico could decide if they wanted to be slave states of free states when they applied for statehood. The third and Fourth parts were tied into each other, the third part was that Land in dispute between New Mexico and Texas would go to New Mexico and for giving up this land Texas would receive 10 million dollars. The fifth part was that buying and selling of slaves but not slavery wouldn’t be allowed in the District of Columbia. The sixth and final part was that congress would enforce a law stating that runaway slaves must be returned to their owners. The bill was passed