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The Mexican-American War began in 1846 when the U.S and Mexico fought over the Texas-Mexico border. Even though many people believed the U.S. would win, others worried that gaining new land would cause more arguments between the North and South (McPherson 51). The war sparked a fight over whether slavery would spread West, which reopened the debate over slavery’s expansion. The debate of slavery’s expansions was one of the major issues that started the Civil War.
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The Compromise of 1850 was a set of laws to ease tensions between the North and South after the Mexican-American War. California became a free state, new territories could decide to allow slavery, and a much stricter Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Many people worried this compromise would only make the divide between the North and South worse (Varon, 274). The Compromise didn’t solve the slavery issues, it only made it worse, which pushed the country to the Civil War.
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The Fugitive Slave Act, passed on September 18, 1850, required people in free states to help capture and return escaped enslaved people to the South. Many Northerners were outraged, and it inspired more abolitionist activism. It increased tensions between the North and South, as people debated whether it was right to enforce slavery in free states (Varon, 49). The law created major resistance, making the divide between the North and South worse and pushing the nation closer to the Civil War.
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“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was published in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It showed the harsh realities of slavery and made many Northerners more opposed to it. Southerners criticized the book as propaganda and felt it threatened their way of life, including traditional gender roles (Varon, 246). The novel increased tensions between the North and South by shifting public opinion in the North against slavery and angering Southerners, which led the country to the Civil War.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether to allow slavery, a system called popular sovereignty. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had banned slavery in certain areas. Therefore, Northerners and others opposed the Act by sending delegates to fight against the expansions of slavery (McPherson, 154). The Act deepened political and regional divisions by overturning previous limits on slavery and creating conflicts in Kansas.
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The Panic of 1857 was a severe economic depression that hit the United States, causing banks to fail, businesses to close, and unemployment to rise. While it was an economic crisis, it also had major political effects, as it fueled tensions between the North and South (Varon, 191). The economic hardships intensified sectional divisions. Many in the North blamed Southern policies for the downturn, while the South argued their economy was strong and independent.
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In 1856, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane after Sumner criticized slavery and proslavery leaders. The attack shocked the country, which shows how political disagreements over slavery were becoming physical. Northerners saw the attack as proof of Southern brutality and extreme lengths proslavery supporters would go to silence critics, showing the growing North-South divide and pushing the country closer to the Civil War (Varon, 246).
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The Dred Scott decision ruled that Black Americans were not U.S. citizens and that Congress had no power to ban slavery in the territories. This meant that slaveholders could take enslaved people anywhere in the country, effectively allowing slavery to expand freely (McPherson, 177). The ruling outraged Northerners, strengthened Southern proslavery power, and increased sectional tensions, by making it clear that slavery could spread into all territories.
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The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of seven debates across Illinois during the 1858 Senate race. Lincoln argued that slavery was morally wrong and could not be allowed to spread, while Douglas supported letting each territory decide for itself. The debates made the nation aware of the growing North-South divide over slavery. Lincoln’s antislavery stance and Douglas’s support for local control showed the ideological split between the parties (Varon, 317).
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Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election on a platform opposing the spread of slavery into new territories. His win made the election a clear contest over the future of slavery in the United States. He did not appear on the ballot in most Southern states, yet he still won enough electoral votes to secure the precedence (Varon, 317). Southern leaders viewed Lincoln’s win as a direct threat to slavery and their political power.