I mostly agree with this statement because westward expansion caused the most tension politically, economically and territorially between the northern and southern states due to the balance of power. However, it could be argued that the north and south's views on slavery was a more significant cause the civil war. Firstly, westward expansion caused a lot of tension territorially because there was a question whether the new states being created should be free or slave states. Before the US started expanding, the Missouri Compromise in 1820 solved the first problem between the balance of power in the north and south because of the Louisiana Purchase. It stated that anything north of the line would be free states and anything below the line would be slave states. It wasn't until the California gold rush in 1848 when it became a problem. The problem was that California was right in the middle of the line made in the Missouri Compromise. When people from the north and the south started flooding in, it created a lot of tension between the balance of power. Due to this problem, the Wilmot Proviso was created. The Wilmot Proviso was not like by either side because the north did not like the Fugitive Slave Act and the South did not like the restrictions on future slave states. Both sides seen the Proviso as unfair and the tensions rose between the two because of this. One way to prove that people were not happy about the tensions in westward expansion is Bleeding Kansas. In 1856,
Document C written by Hilton Helper, a well known political writer from North Carolina, explains why southerners want to move westward, which is to expand and advance and prove that they’re not dependent of the north. Due to the different beliefs of the north and the south, each party felt as if the other would take over, especially the north. The northerners feared the southerners would push its peculiar institution on the entire union. Soon territories wanted to become states starting with Missouri. Once Missouri made this big step, it threatened the balance of the Slave and Free states. So to control the situation the constitution created the Missouri Compromise, which let Missouri enter the union as a slave state with the addition of Maine as a free state. This only created the periodicity use of compromise, which only kept sweeping the situation under the rug. Once this was over the United States went into war with Mexico due to a dispute over Texas and its western territories. There would’ve been a law passed for the dispute, but there were some unfair ideas involved so they threw it away, yet only to return it for revision when California wanted to join statehood. The revision was soon named the Compromise of 1850 and it reshaped the Fugitive Slave Act requiring northerners to capture slaves, and this caused uproar. The conflict simmered up once again when two huge territories were up for consideration, Nebraska and Kansas. Southerners were against it due to the Missouri compromise, which would have the states enter as Free States. The constitution tried to balance the situation by creating the Kansas-Nebraska Act; however it repealed the Missouri Compromise. In document J’s note it explained how the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and how those who were moving there would have to vote. Tension between the Sympathizers and the abolitionist were created when
Slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. The economies of the North and the South were very different. The South relied heavily on the plantations, factories and slaves for their incomes while the north relied more on its ports and trading for their economy. When the north wanted to end slavery, the south saw it as the north destroying their
Slavery was the largest contributor in the beginnings of this awful war. From the fear, to the abolitionists, to tension, to the vast growth of slaves education, all of America was was divided because of one largely impactful event, slavery. Increased freedom, education, and rights of slaves were the main causes of the civil war due to the substantial amounts of tension and fear between the Northern Abolitionists and the Southern slave owners.
When we look back at the sectional division of the North and the South in the mid 19th century, one issue stands out as causing the most tension, slavery. However, there were other issues as well, but they all stem back to slavery because the South depended on that in order to have a successful economy. Despite their disagreements over the practice and laws regarding slavery, that reason alone led the South to secede from the Union, which caused the Civil War.
The number one issue concerning the cause of the Civil War is the great divide between the Confederate South, which believed in slavery and the Union North, who didn’t agree with slavery or the spread of it. The two territories were against each other but also
By the mid nineteenth century, the United States was expanding westward rapidly. And as America expanded, so did the sectionalism. The rifts between the North and the South, caused by conflicting views on Westward Expansion were becoming more evident. Not only were the debates over westward expansion tedious; the ever growing social debate was also becoming alarmingly prevalent. And in 1860, the Civil War broke out, ultimately because of economic, political and social aspects of westward expansion. Therefore, westward expansion caused the Civil War.
The Beginning: The Beginning of Westward Expansion started in 1803 when the USA purchased 15 million dollars worth of land from the French. This purchase is known as the “Louisiana Purchase”. The land was from the Mississippi River all the Rocky Mountains. This almost doubled the size of the U.S., according to www.history.com.
Before becoming the Unite States of America, one of a massive country in the world. There were many stories behind its successful. Controversies, violences, tragedies, rebellions, and wars were the combination of expansion of the United States. In U.S. history, a story began from the east coast where the game players from. The competition between the north and the south was intense, and to occupy a piece of land was a prize that worth to fight for.
The westward expansion of America involves many events that are important to history as a whole. It took place during the Age of Imperialism which began during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Westward expansion was a major event that took place throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the early half of the nineteenth century, the westward movement arose numerous issues involving social class, gender roles, and slavery by both political and social means.
The United States began its life as a small nation consisting of only thirteen states. Over time the leaders of this county recognized that in order to prosper the nation would need to expand beyond the current set borders. Westward Expansion was the only solution, to adopt such a large endeavor meant that the population had to have a reason to migrate west. Expansion had appeal to the Southern land owners for the fact that the Missouri Compromise did not affect territories that were not part of the Louisiana Purchase, while those who did not have land moved west with the promises of land of their own to farm and own, yet congress continued to battle over “slave states” and “free states” to keep the balance. Westward expansion had many contributions to make to the Unites States.
Ever since Jamestown, America has come a long way. In the middle of the nineteenth century American’s were eager to move west. They wanted to see the span of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Jefferson was able to double the size of the United States by negotiating with France, which ended up being known as the Louisiana Purchase. Americans saw empty land waiting to be filled. They thought the open land meant opportunity and potential wealth. By moving west, they could share their unique way of government and the freedom it represented. They believed that America would be a great nation.
Upon the United States’ inception as an independent country, the concept of expansion began to slowly root itself as a desirable vision among government officials and common citizens alike. As early as the beginning of the nineteenth century, these initial thoughts and visions of expansion began to cultivate into an achievable reality. With boundless territory to conquer and a growing sense of nationalism, many citizens of the United States felt that it was their duty and obligation to expand from coast to coast. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States continued to expand westward across the continent while also shifting focus on expanding its international power and presence by conquering foreign countries
Slavery was the most important cause of the Civil War, because this single issue divided the North and South to begin with. The ideological differences between the North and South led to economic differences, conflicts over newly acquired territories, disputes over the constitution, and political extremism. The Election of 1860 was the culmination of these disputes and caused the South to secede in 1861 and guided the way towards the Civil War.
The industrial advancement of the Northern states and the farming culture of the Southern states was one of the most significant causes to the Civil War. As shown in Document A of our Document Based Questions packet, the railroad systems of the North allowed early advancements in manufacturing
Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.