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Due December 17
The United States had been rapidly expanding westward since the Louisiana Purchase. How did American expansion influence a growing sectional crisis after 1820? Did the war with Mexico put the U.S. on an inevitable road toward the Civil War?
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The expansion, indeed fueled a sectionalism. As the territory of the United States increased, the delicate political balance appeased by the Missouri Compromise started to crumble. New states were to be made, and there were unceasing disputes over the issue of slavery.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, Oregon and the Mexican War issue were parts of it. From the Mexican War, America acquired the territory of New Mexico and Texas, as well as California.
Politicians were split into proslavery and antislavery and tried to establish the laws that favoring their sides. While South promoted slave states, North was constantly against the slavery.
These conflicting goals led to violence, such in case of Kansas and Nebraska. The hostility toward each other deepened over the course of time and the issue was heated up frequently despite the continuous attempts of compromises. Now, the war seemed inevitable to end all the turmoil and conflicts for once and all.
Expansion to the west in the U.S. allowed new territories to enter statehood, becoming part of the rapidly growing nation. The new territories had to take a stand in the issues regarding slavery; whether to enter as a free state or a slave state. This led to a tip in power in the congress as new states such as California entered as a free state. To settle this, compromises and laws were passed, which were not approved by all, further aggravating the conflict between people for and against slavery. For example, the Fugitive Slave Law was enforced that if anyone did not capture a runaway slave, that individual was to be fined. This was passed by the congress with the Compromise of 1850 but was greatly opposed by the Anti-Slavery Northerners.
ReplyDeleteAfter the war with Mexico, the U.S. decided that the new territories they gained was to have a right to decide whether they should enter as a free state or not. However, people like James Buchanan argued that the Missouri Compromise lines that divided the slave states and the free states, stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
In sum, the continuous disagreements between pro-slavery states and anti-slavery states drove the U.S. towards a civil war.
With the nebulous reach of the United States blossoming westward to acquire more territory, the inevitability of hostile sectionalism hung over the nation like a miasmic shroud. Settlers from both the north and the south flooded these new American territory and conflict grew from the differing beliefs, but all under the same banner: Manifest Destiny. Southerners wanted slaves in the territory, a practice the northerners found abhorrent and wished to completely abolish. This political and dogmatic tug-o-war over these beliefs led to an imbalance of slave and free states in the union and was a source of great contention and eventually violence. While the Kansas-Nebraska Act was introduced initially to ease tensions between the north and south, it instead put them into high gear, culminating with John Brown's active involvement during the Bleeding Kansas period raid and his later raid on an armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia with the intention to begin an armed slave revolt. These political battles and vigilante acts exposed widening sectional rifts to the public and the inability of either side to reach a diplomatic agreement tore the nation apart and initiated the Civil War.
ReplyDeleteThe United States' victory over Mexico during the Mexican-American War was a also a leading cause of the Civil War. With Mexico's defeat, the United States gained a massive bounty of land, including California and Texas. However, this enticed settlers from the north and south to settle in the new lands and assert their beliefs and practices before the other. After the territories had been placed under the American flag, the Wilmot Proviso reared its head, an attempt by the north to ban slavery in any territory acquired form Mexico. Naturally, this strained the weakening relationship between the two halves even more, and even with the implementation of the compromise of 1850, it was only a stopgap measure and only shakily held the nation together for another 10 years.
As America expanded and gained new states and territory, a certain question arose each time: Is this new state going to be a slave state, or a free state? Such disputes kept creating small conflicts within the nation. When Kansas and Nebraska entered the U.S. as states, the citizens of each of the states had the right to decide whether they wanted to be a slave state or a free state. However this method did not work too well; pro-slavery extremists in Kansas created violent resistances within Kansas, leading Kansas to be called “Bloody Kansas”. Such violence led to the nation further dividing.
ReplyDeleteThe Mexican American war led to the same problem as above. When Texas was annexed as part of the U.S, the officials in the government had a debate on whether the state was to be a slave state or a free state. Whereas Calhoun had an extreme pro slavery view (i.e. Northern view), Wilmot had an extreme anti slavery view (Southern view). This led to a divide not just within the citizens of the U.S., but it led to a divide within the government. This was an inevitable first step toward the Civil War.
The expantion of the territories of the United States, and this expanding movement led to the Missouri Compromise in 1820, which was an agreement passed between the anti slavery and pro slavery factions. This was because when the Americans created new states, they had decided whether they want their state to be anti slavery or pro slavery but before the Mexican War this decision was up to the Congress, not the states. Since this argumaent created a big conflict the missouri Compromise were passed down.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Mexican war the states gained the powere to decide whether they want the stated to be anti slavery or pro slavery. But this did not conclude the argument between the states, this was led into the Civil wasr happened later in the century from 1861-1865
By now it was clear that states rarely shared a mutual understanding between each other. Even though increasing sectionalism over the years was somehow “blurred” by numerous compromises, the accumulating tensions between the northern and southern states were becoming impossible to ignore. Doubtless, every time a new state popped up on the continent, members of the government would have had to control their twitching eyebrows with irritation towards the dreaded question; will the new state allow slavery or not?
ReplyDeleteThe matter of slavery was no longer only a political issue. African-Americans slaves were fighting against their masters by refusing to work, breaking tools, committing arson, and stealing food. Abolitionists such as Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin which became a major force of anti-slavery. The Dredd Scott Decision caused a major uproar that angered the Northerners to defy the Supreme Court’s decision which prompted the Southerners to consider secession.
In addition, the state of the nation in the aftermath of the Mexican American war made it clear that the brewing storm of the Civil War was ready to unleash itself. The success in this war gave the US more territory and more cause for conflict. The Missouri Compromise was no longer valid and the decision of making Mexico a slave-state or not was overwhelming the states; a sure sign that war was on its way.
As such, the conflict was so large that it was no longer possible to solve it by compromising. By now, war was close to being, or already was, inevitable.
America kept on expanding its territory which caused several sectional crisis at the time, especially the territories that was shared with Mexico. In addition, there were also several areas that were owned by the British. The westward expansion did caused some conflict with the British colonies. Traveling becomes much easier after the Oregon trail was made. The increasing numbers of land made the previous slavery compromise impossible. The conflict between North and South was always the same; deciding free states and slave states. Many abolitionism were being review and review throughout the course of the time.
ReplyDeleteThe Mexican and American war was the first events that triggered the debatable topic, slavery. When the Texan revolution happened it was the perfect opportunity for America to make Texas a state as well even though Texas belonged to Mexico. After the success in the last revolution fight between Texan and Mexican, it was certain that the America would try to annexes Texas. First, the Mexican said no and attacked American within the American land. However, Mexico lost it's territories in the end. With the additional land the government was tying to balanced out the Missouri Compromise again since the lands were not divided equally. This events caused major issue between the South and the North that caused several outbreak of dissatisfy people as a propose. The tension between the north and south were increasing with the problem with Kansas and Nebraska. The Missouri compromise became less effective because of all the unbalance territories.
Along with these problems, the outcome of the Mexican-American war caused the gap between the opposing sides to spread even futher. The territory that America gained from the war put the politicians into a heated debate; which side would the new land enter, the free states?the slave states? No matter how many compromises were made, one side always ended up unsatisfied. Therefore, civil war was probably inevitable, the compromises only delayed it from occurring any sooner than it did.
ReplyDeleteSince the first part of my post is missing, here is my repost:
ReplyDeleteBeliefs such as the 'Manifest Destiny' led the Americans towards a goal of expanding their territories from the Atlantic until the tip of the Pacific Ocean. Due to this movement of expanding westward, compromises were needed to be made to answer and satisfy the voices of the South and the North. Issues concerning slavery, economy and the tariffs were raised, causing tensions on each side.
Along with these problems, the outcome of the Mexican-American war caused the gap between the opposing sides to spread even futher. The territory that America gained from the war put the politicians into a heated debate; which side would the new land enter, the free states?the slave states? No matter how many compromises were made, one side always ended up unsatisfied. Therefore, civil war was probably inevitable, the compromises only delayed it from occurring any sooner than it did.
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 increasing the US territory by twice its original size, the government knew the prospective political power large tracts of land could bring upon the new nation. The idea of Manifest Destiny stated that through expansion, the US could become a recognized political/social superpower. Manifest destiny led to the Homestead Act, territorial expansion, and westward colonization and reminded Americans that they must spread democracy overseas as well. President Jackson dreamed of acquiring Mexican territory and eventually the annexation of Texas in 1845 led to the Mexican American War. With the victory of the US, new lands were gained including California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of whether these new states should become slave states or free states sprung up. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 seemingly settled the longstanding issue of slavery, but with newly gained territories new political compromises were made that were intended to settle the slavery issue and keep northern and southern interests in balance. The Compromise of 1850 proposed by Henry Clay repealed the Missouri Compromise. The Compromise organized the newly gained land, making California a non-slave state. The southerners didn’t get the desired land of southern California but Utah and New Mexico were organized under popular sovereignty making them possibly slave states. But the compromise also passed the Kansas Nebraska Act to make the south happy, which caused many Northern abolitionists to increase resistance against slavery. The hatred and disunity between the North and South were further increased by the Kansas Nebraska Act, and already existing sectionalism intensified. The differences and divisions between the North and South were so great that no political compromise could no longer bridge them and it exploded into the civil war.
YU ITO
ReplyDeleteThe USA was divided into two: slave states and Free states. When US gained new territories by obliterating Indian populations, they had to decide whether the state will be a free state or slave state. The decision making faced a lot of difficulty. bloody incidents took place in those states.
The Mexican American war led to the same problem as above. When Texas was annexed as part of the U.S, the problem arouse again. Calhoun was pro slavery where Wilmot was anti slavery.This led to a divide within the goverment leading to a civil war.
After the Missouri Compromise, many places entered the statehood and became new countries. But everytime U.S. gained new territories, there was a problem. Whether the new country becomes a free state or a slave state. There were many proposal and compromises made such as proposal made by David Wilmot called the "Wilmot Proviso" and this was to banned the slavery in any territory from Mexico. But other side was always unsatisfied with what the opponent had proposesd.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of "Manifest Destiny", the belief that the US had a God given right to expand their territoy caused a great deal of suffering for the Mexicans during the war. After the Mexican and American War, there was a same problem of whether Texas should become a free or a slave state occured. There was a huge tension between the nothern and southern representives in the senate and no compromise could stop this and led to the Civil War.
Manifest Destiny is the belief that encouraged the Americans to be more active in westward expansion. During the time period before the Civil War, slavery was a big issue in the United States. Each time a new territory was gained, it had to be decided whether the territory would be a slave state, or a free state. When the U.S. gained Kansas and Nebraska, the citizens had to decide whether they wish their territory to be a slave state, or a free state. Since there were different beliefs towards slavery at that time, there were conflicts, which became the root of sectional crisis.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Mexican-American War, another decision was to be made. The fact that the Northerners had different views from the Southerners sparked numerous debates between the nations. The conflicts grew, and became unstoppable. This became one of the events that led the country to the Civil War.
The United States had been reapidly expanding westward since the Lousiana Purchase. The American expansion influenced a growing sectional crisis after 1820 by the Manifest Destiny, which is a belief of American to be destined. This helped their their expansion grow rapidly.
ReplyDeleteThe war with Mexico put the US on an inevitable road toward the Civil War. During that time, the slavery was the biggest problem that the American had. Many slavery from America especially in the South had gained a lot. The Wilmot Proviso introduced into Congess as a result of the Mexican- American war, which declared that slavery would be banned from all the territories that Mexico ceded in US. It also illustrated controversy of slavery in the territories because of the time that happened during the Civil War.
Malyanah
The idea of Manifest Destiny had lead Americans to the expansion from Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. As the expansion of US, the balance between the free state and slave state was corrupting. The conflict between slavery and antislavery was becoming something Americans could not avoid. Increase of new state had break the line of the missouri compromise. The sectionalism even break out to violence in Kansas Nebraska act.
ReplyDeleteAfter the war with Mexico, U.S. added three new states Texas, New Mexico, and California. This also broke the balance even greater to North and South. South supporting the law for slavery and North supporting the law against slavery. These two sectional conflict put the U.S. on an inevitable road toward the Civil War.
Seiya Tabata
As America started to get new territories, conflicts of making the territory a free state or a slave state arose. Southerners wanted slavery in these territories but northerners continued to dislike the idea of having slavery. The Kansas Nebraska Act was SUPPOSED to ease these conflicts by allowing the citizens of each state to have the right to decide whether they wanted to be a slave state or free state, but instead created violence and a negative effect.
ReplyDeleteThe Mexican American War did put the Americans on a inevitable road toward the Civil War. The mexican American war led to numerous debates between the north and south and created a greater tension between them.
The American expansion influenced a growing sectional crisis after 1820 because different circumstances and points of view of slavery were considered when new territory was gained. This created conflict between the south and north. The Mexican American war gave america texas, the newly gained land. The newly gained land had to be organized and a new compromise was made to balance out the north and south's interests. The compromise of 1850 was made in replace of the compromise made in 1820, and this compromise made California a nonslave state as it made Utah and New Mexico be organized under popular sovernity. The Kansas Nebraska act that was made during the Mexican American war angered the nothern abolitionists and created larger tentions between the north and south leading the country to Civil War.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1820 the Missouri Compromise established that all new territories admitted as: north of latitude 36*30 were to be Free states, any south were to be slave states. But after the Mexican War, the congress wanted all territories to be free. The southern states knew if this happened that eventually they would be outnumbered and their voice lost. So the Civil War resulted.
ReplyDeleteThe US was divided into two, which allowed new territories to entered statehood and became new country. Maine became a state, carved out of the state of Massachusetts. The northern boundary of Maine was disputed between the U.S. and Canada so the King of the Netherlands was brought in as an arbiter and he settled the dispute in 1829.
ReplyDeleteAmerica kept expanding its territory, and cause some sectional crisis after 1820. This caused the conflict between South and the North. Although southern people wanted the slavery in their territories, northern people dissagreed about it. And so, US had separated into two.
ReplyDeleteThe Mexican-American War also ended up in similar situation as the South and North. The war with Mexico did put the U.S. on an inevitable road toward the Civil War. It made the South and North issue worse.
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ReplyDeleteMai Hiroyama
ReplyDeleteWhen there was a expansion in United States lead to increase their territory, split the territories, and the changes for the United State's slavery whether the states were going to be the free state or the slave state.
In the Mexico's war, United States gained more territories such as California, New Mexico, and Texas. When United States gained these countries, the were different ideas in South and North of United States. South were promoting the slavery, but North were against the slavery. Which was the inevitable road toward the Civil War.
America's rapid expansion to the west greatly stimulated the issue of sectionalism because the newly gained land of the west had to be decided whether it would allow slavery or not. The argument eventually intensified to an extent which caused violence, such as the Fugitive Slave Law, enforced by the southern pro-slavery states. This law sentenced a fine to those who did not capture runaway slaves.
ReplyDeleteThe issue was exacerbated even further by the result of the war with Mexico. When the U.S. congress decided to give rights to the new states whether to become a free-state or a slave-state, southerners protested. Their argument was that the line set by the Missouri Compromise should also be applied to the new territories, dividing the continent into two. Therefore the result of the war triggered the Civil War.
Lily Ohira
The rapid expansion of the United States in many ways provided to be an impacting influence on the sectional crisis after 1820. The additional states being brought into America created issues having to do with deciding on their being a free state or a slave state. These additional states teetered on the agreements in the Missouri compromise. The Kansas Nebraska act was then created in order to cushion the effects of the peoples anger. However, rather than making the citizens satisfied by giving them the choice of becoming a slave state or free state, the act created violent outbreaks among the people. Along with that the Mexican American war threw gasoline onto an already raging fire of anger in the citizens. The war enhanced the strong feelings of the north abolitionists and played a large role in the path to America's civil war.
ReplyDeleteAlia Rubiner