Civil War Dbq

619 Words2 Pages

There are numerous explanations for the “impending crisis” that led to the Civil War. Van Buren Administration’s unpopularity formed an aim at Presidency causing a nomination between Clay and Webster. They chose William Henry Harrison. John Tyler became a vice president nominee. Harrison won the election, but died a month later. Tyler was more extreme than Jackson, isolating him from his own party, and his proposal of the Texas annexation treaty was crushed. Whigs spurned Tyler, nominating Clay and Democrats put up James K. Polk. The Liberty Party, explicitly antislavery, which added another party to the presidential race drawing votes away. Frederick Douglas and Lincoln opposed the Mexican War, seeing it as a creation of slavery. Disputes with House and Senate paralyzed the nation. California’s admission as a state without slavery created a dilemma resulting in the Compromise of 1850. Clay’s efforts at a compromise failed. William Seward and Stephen Douglas made a deal for the passage of five bills, temporarily hushing matters. Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, exposed fear that gripped African Americans up north. The election of 1852 found Democrats calling for the Compromise of 1850. The Whigs were divided so they gave Scott, but Pierce won and the Whig party was disbanded. …show more content…

Technological advances and potency of soil on northern plains caused agricultural production in non-slave states, and the North saw a rise of a middle class. While slave-owners flourished, the number of slaves from Upper South to Deep South steered to a decline. Immigration caused a surge in nativism. The Irish tended to vote Democratic and the former Whigs and Free Soilers organized the American Party, better known as the “Know-Nothings.” Rise of the Republican Party could’ve been diverted by nativists’ impulses, but a new crisis carried a new impetus for political

More about Civil War Dbq

Open Document