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This essay was written for my junior English III Honors class for a report. Although it's not interesting to some, I feel like it's one of my better writings in terms of argument.

When studying the American Civil War, numerous events appeared to have contributed to initiating the war. However, upon careful examination, one can see that slavery was not the only issue that was the core concept for the war. In fact, expansion, politics, and the major differences between North and South were major contributors to the American Civil War.

John O'Sullivan used the phrase, "Manifest Destiny" as the United State's divine right to expand throughout the West, expanding the ideology of democracy and freedom (Armitage, Buhle, Czitrom, and Faragher 392). This phrases became a popular concept among the American people. In 1846, President James Polk initiated a border dispute with Mexico, in the Mexican American War. At this time, the United States primary goal was set on expansion, wherefore the war was eagerly supported in hopes of new territory. The outcome of the war was a glorious victory for the United Sates. According to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States:

Mexico surrendered. There were calls among Americans to take all of Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed February 1948, just took half. The Texas boundary was set at the Rio Grande; New Mexico and California were ceded. The United States paid Mexico $15 million which led the Whig Intelligencer to conclude that 'we take nothing by conquest... Thank god. (Zinn 169)

The new territories gained by the Mexican American War brought up a new issue. The Wilmot Proviso, suggested on August 8, 1846, was to outlaw slavery in any territory gained by the Mexican American War. The conflict in this controversy, according to David Wilmot, said, "But sir, the issue now presented is not whether slavery shall exist unmolested where it is now, but whether it shall be carried to new and distant regions, now free, where the footprint of a slave cannot be found." Political differences began to express their interested towards the matter: southern Whigs joined southern Democrats to vote against the proviso, while Northerners united to support it. This proviso reopened the question of slavery and brought American a step closer to civil war. (Wilmot Proviso 1)

With the issue of slavery at hand, the difference between the North and the South was apparent. The North had an influx in industry; they were making the transitions with new technologies, turning their eye from agriculture to industry with their economy quickly rising. The North had strong beliefs in a free labor ideology with equal opportunities to the common man that ensured his democratic rights. The South however, was heavily depends on "slave power" and using it to their advantage for agriculture. The South firmly believed on holding onto their cotton exports, which was, according to Southerners, "the great engine of national economic growth from which the North benefited," (Origins of the Civil War 8). With these distinct contrasts, both the North and South ran completely different and could almost be considered separate countries themselves.

Due to the California Gold Rush, the issue of slavery in the territories gained from the Mexican American War could no longer be ignored. In 1849 California and Utah applied for statehood. The conflict was whether or not those states should be admitted as free or slave states. With the help of historical figures such as Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster; along with younger politicians such as Stephen Douglas, they comprised what is known as the Compromise of 1850 ("Compromise of 1850" 1). The compromise was California was to be admitted to the Union as a free state, and all other possessions gained from the Mexican American War were left to be decided by popular sovereignty. In addition, a new law was implemented: The Fugitive Slave Act.

The Fugitive Slave Act was a law that required that if a runaway slave was found, even in a free state, whom ever found the slave must return him or her to their respective owner ("Compromise of 1850" 2). If anyone failed to do this, a penalty of $1000 would be issued. This act demonstrated that even the federal government fully supported slavery. The response to this act was fierce in the North, which encouraged suspicion in the South, and led the Union further along to the idea of secession.

Our forefathers of the Constitution purposefully left slavery or else it would be difficult to gain support for such a Constitution. The Constitution at the time mentioned nothing of what to do about the question of slavery; the politicians were left to make a decision by themselves.

In 1854. Stephen Douglas proposed the Kansas Nebraska Act. This act, organized territories that would later become states Kansas and Nebraska. It was important that something could be done with the territory to further the production of a continental railroad, which Douglas believed would help boost America's economy (Armitage, Buhle, Czitrom, and Faragher 436). Douglas understood that in order for that to occur, the land west of Iowa and Missouri had to be organized into territories. To do this peacefully, Douglas would need the support of the South, which would demand slavery to the right to expand in the territory. His thought was to allow popular sovereignty in the territory. However, Douglas also allowed the possibility of slavery in the new territory by violating the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which would no doubt anger some Northerners. Each political party agreed to this, as the South would most likely agree to the equality of votes of popular sovereignty while the North would favor the act because of the northern route for the transcontinental railroad. The bill passed, however it damaged all of the political parties great. According to Out of Many: A History of the American People:

Southern Whigs voted with southern Democrats in favor of the measure, northern Whigs rejected it absolutely, creating an irreconcilable split that left Whigs unable to field a presidential candidate in 1856. The damage to the Democratic Party was almost as great. In the congressional elections of 1854, northern Democrats lost two-thirds of their seats, giving southern Democrats the dominant voice both in Congress and within the party.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a huge miscalculation, with protests rising throughout the North. The Act resulted in what is known as "Bleeding Kansas" a war for the popular sovereignty claim. Kansas soon became a battleground, shipping boxes marked as, "BOOKS" but contained rifles, shotguns, and other weapons. Proslavery forces burned and looted the town of Lawrence; the Free State Hotel, was among the many buildings that were burned to the ground. A man named John Brown led his sons on a raid against the proslavery settlers of the Pottawatomie Creek, killing five unarmed people (Armitage, Buhle, Czitrom, and Faragher 437). Bleeding Kansas was the first foreshadowing of what was soon to come.

During 1860, four parties ran presidential candidates. Abraham Lincoln was elected as our 11th president of the United States. At this time, South Carolina seceded from the Union, along with six other states quickly after the election. The result was the Confederate States of America. Each president of the CSA and the Union both wished for peace, however braced themselves for war. Lincoln said, "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government," (Armitage, Buhle, Czitrom, and Faragher 450). Fort Sumter was one of these places debated on being possessed by both the CSA and the Union. This land dispute marked the first major conflict that initiated the fighting for the American Civil War.

The American Civil War, involved slavery as a core initiator of the war. However, slavery was more so a wall from achieving our real goal: expansion. With the territories gained from the Mexican American War, several conflicts were brought up on whether the territory should be free or slave state. The politician's failure in achieving a true, mutual compromise also failed, which furthered the hot debate of secession. And last but not least, the North and South were drastically different from one another: industry in the North, and slave power in the South. These contrasts clashed greatly, and called for different measures. Each side could not come up to a reasonable conclusion, and war was coming swift.

References

Armitage, Buhle, Czitrom, and Faragher. Out of Many: A History of the American People Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

"Compromise of 1850" 17 February 17, 2006. pbs.com
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html

"Origins of the American Civil War". 17 February 2006. wikipedia.com 18 Feb 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmot_Proviso

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc, 2003.

© Blair Greenwood, 17 February 2006