Causes of the American Civil War

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Causes of the American Civil War

From the time America was formed until 1860, America was a nation divided. They fought in the American Revolution in order to become a free country from Britain’s control and you would think that this war would soon bring the new country together in an unprecedented fashion. In fact, it may have divided them more than the Revolution had brought them together. This division was a result of location and personal disagreements on what to do with the newly acquired land from previous wars and what to do with the slaves in the south. There is a common misconception that the American Civil War was fought only over slavery, when in fact, there were several other reasons for why the War Between the States was fought.

With the end of the Mexican-American War, America had received western territories from the Mexicans as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This land was obtained in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in exchange for 15 million dollars. Now, this is a problem with the Americans because they have the decision whether or not to make these states free states or slave states. In order to ease the talks surrounding what to do with this new land, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 that made California free and allowed the residents to decide whether or not Utah and New Mexico would be considered to be a free or slave state.

Congress, as a part of the Compromise of 1850, passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. As a result of the Fugitive Slave Act, Federal officials were being forced to arrest any runaway slave from their owner’s control. If they had not made the arrest like they were supposed to, they would have been liable to pay a hefty fine. It also detailed that...

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... southern states decided to secede from the Union, things got way out of hand and made the north to go to war in order to free these slaves once and for all and make it a free country for all individuals of all races like it is intended to be.

Bibliography

History.com, "Underground Railroad." Last modified 2009. Accessed April 4, 2014. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/underground-railroad.

Kelly, Martin. About.com, "Top five causes of the Civil War." Accessed April 4, 2014. http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm.

Kelly, Martin. About.com, "Top 9 Events that led to the Civil War." Accessed April 4, 2014. http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/tp/secessionevents.htm.

PBS.org, "Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act." Accessed April 4, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html.

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