-
Seen as unnecessary at the time, President James K. Polk started a War with Mexico in order to keep pushing the ideas of Manifest Destiny. "During his one-term administration, the country expanded by two-thirds with the annexation of Texas, the settlement of the Oregon boundary, and the seizure of all Mexican provinces north of the 31 [degree] (McPherson, 47)". This is vital in the road to the Civil War as there were already tensions for admitting new states either as free or slaves states. -
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the peace treaty that ended the Mexican- American war that was fought due to the idea of Manifest Destiny by the U.S in order to keep expanding West. "The treaty recognized the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas and ceded New Mexico and California, almost 1.2 million square miles of territory, to the United States; in return, the U.S. government paid the Mexican government $15 million. (Varon, 200)". This raised the intensity in the free vs slave state debate -
Henry Clay's compromise of 1850 allowed California to enter the Union as. free state, banned slavery within D.C but further enforced the Fugitive Slave Law which made it that runaway slaves caught in the North were to be returned back to the South. While this compromise worked in the moment it only delayed the inevitable. "The Compromise of 1850 undoubtedly averted a grave crisis. But hindsights makes clear that it only postponed the trauma. (McPherson, 71). -
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a series of stories eventually compiled into a book that demonstrated the harsh realities of slavery as an institution and as a southern way of life. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was written as a direct response to the Fugitive Slave Act. (Varon, 244)" but was heavily criticized at Beecher Stowe had never experienced first hand slavery and had only written the book based on stories she had heard during her time as a stop along the underground railroad. -
The Kansas- nebraska Act of 1854 in short repealed parts of the Missouri Compromise and the Line that it had draw between the North and South and put forth popular sovereignty for the Kansas and Nebraska territories. This led to hundreds of settlers rushing to move in and establish governments in these areas to ensure the state would be admitted either way. "..arguing that to side with those imposing slavery on Kansas was akin to ‘‘joining forces with Satan to fight against God.’’ (Varon, 251) -
As a direct response to the violence beginning to shape in Kansas, the Republican Party was formed on the basis of anti- slavery beliefs. While the party was fairly small at the time, it grew quickly in popularity, especially in the North, when it was announced that "Republicans stood for Unionism and slaveholders for disunion. (Varon, 263)" This not only allowed the party to gain popularity on the base of keeping the country together but also placed blame on slavery for widening the gap. -
Due to the overwhelming influx of settlers into the Kansas territory to rule the state by process of popular sovereignty, fights broke out between anti and pro slavery groups in order to admit the state in either direction. This movement eventually became extremely violent when "John Brown and seven of his followers entered the proslavery settlement of Pottawatomie in Kansas and hacked to death five unsuspecting settlers nonslaveholding immigrants and poor Southern whites. (Varon, 267)" -
Shortly after the events of "Bleeding Kansas", Senator Charles Sumner gave a speech on the senate floor titled "The Crime Against Kansas". Sumner spoke with passion on the topic and attacked Senator Andrew Butler which raised conflict within his cousin. Brooks entered the Senate chamber, strode up to Sumner’s desk, and commenced striking Sumner with a cane, inflicting thirty-some blows that left him bleeding and unconscious. (Varon, 268)" -
In an attempt to start a slave uprising, John Brown raids Harpers Ferry which was a site of federally stocked weapons and ammunition in order to arm slaves against their owners and show the desire to be free from the institution of slavery. "...with its spirit of ‘‘universal freedom,’’ was the ‘‘light’’
to the darkness of his Pottawatomie massacre. (Varon, 326). This alarmed Southerners as it showed them how passionate Northerners could be as they were willing to use force to solve the issue. -
The election of 1860 is controversial as the eventual elected candidate does not appear on the Southern ballots. When Lincoln is elected Southerners are outraged and believe that they had no say in the future of the country they lived in. "..if Seward or
another Republican were elected in 1860, the South could now justify disunion as a defensive measure against the North’s plans for armed intervention
to eliminate slavery. (Varon, 321)" This election proved pivotal in the war to come.