Civil War: The Missouri Compromise And Kansas-Nebraska Act

As tensions between the North and the South rose on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, numerous compromises were proposed to ease the conflict. Such compromises included the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Crittenden Compromise. These compromises had intentions of defining where slavery was permitted and clarifying states’ rights. They were only temporary fixes to a more pressing issue. Between the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, a series of events changed the political atmosphere of the United States and prevented any more compromises on the institution of slavery from being passed.

The Missouri Compromise was a temporary solution to the issue of slavery and territorial rights such as the movement West. Two areas of land wanted to become states in 1820, known as Maine and Missouri. Maine wanted to enter as a free state with no slavery as everyone in that area was against it and wanted it abolished. Missouri wanted to enter as a slave state and was all for slavery and wanted it to be spread all throughout the country. The compromise everyone came into conclusion with, was that there would be no slavery allowed north of 36° 30’ latitude. This angered the Southerners because their intention was to promote slavery not have it abolished. They realized that this compromise threatened the balance between free and slave states; Maine and Missouri. In order to expand slavery, the South felt that the United States would need territory from Mexico. The only area of land left was in Arkansas and that line became known as the Missouri Compromise line. The impact that the Missouri Compromise had on the United States was tremendous and had many effects on issues such as national politics, the institution of slavery, and the overall togetherness of the nation as a whole.

Terry Wilcoxen, Randy Eskridge, and I, Gary Gilmore love politics, we’ve met each other from politics actually, but I’m an african-american man and they are white people. Well anyway we travel, watch politics, and debate together. We have a blast! We’re all the same age. Well, today we are going to watch a man named, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen Douglas speak to each other about the Kansas-Nebraska act. We ride our horse carriage to the debate and we have now started to notice a horse carriage that has been following us for a while, so I ask Terry,

Since Missouri’s population was composed of 16 percent slaves, it would be admitted as a slave state therefore upsetting the balance in favor of the south. Northerners didn’t like this because Missouri was at the same latitude as the free states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and because of this they feared that it would set a precedent for slave states coming more north. The north and south continued to argue and argue over the issue of slavery. The north accused the south of trying to extend the institution of slavery and the south said that the north was conspiring to destroy the Union and end slavery. To resolve this crisis, congress passed a series of agreements that became known as the Missouri Compromise, which smoothed over the crisis. In 1820, Congress admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state in order to balance the number of free and slave states and to keep order between the north and south. Also, it prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of the southern boundary of Missouri. This compromise soon fell apart after it was passed. Missouri drafted its own Constitution saying that free blacks were prohibited from entering their territory. Because of this provision, which was against the federal Constitution stating that citizens of one state were entitled to the same rights as citizens of other states, antislavery northerners

The Missouri Compromise and events leading up to the Civil War were based mainly on slavery and the two conflicting viewpoints of the American people. The compromises involving slavery were only short-term solutions for a very long-term problem. The Civil War changed the foundation of America forever. The war was inevitable, and thus, the contrasting views between the North and the South were bound to break out into warfare at some point.

The Missouri compromise was a very important event that marked the beginning of the long battle against slavery. In the years leading up to the Missouri compromise tensions were rising between the North and the South. The states were all being divided into slave states and free states. Free states were states that were anti-slavery and were made up of mainly Northern states while slave states were states that supported slavery and were all mostly Southern states. Before the Missouri compromise the amounts of slave and free states were kept balanced. When Missouri met all the requirements to become a state and wanted to be admitted as a slave state, it threatened to tip the balance. The Missouri compromise allowed the admission of Missouri as a slave state while at the same time allowing Maine to be admitted as a free state, maintaining the balance. It also prohibited slavery in the states North of the southern boundary of Missouri. This conflict inspired other people and was the first major battle against slavery. It also kept the number of free and slave states even preventing the balance from being tipped in favor of slavery. One of the arguments that I intend to make to prove that the Missouri compromise was the beginning of this battle is that the Missouri Compromise prevented pro slavery states from gaining majority in the senate. A second point that I will make is that the Missouri compromise opened up serious debates and conversations that otherwise may not have

The Civil War is the deadliest war in American History. Between 1861 and 1865, over 600,000 brave souls lost their lives at nearly 10,500 battles. By the end of the war, there were nearly 200,000 African-Americans that fought on the side of the North, with 80 percent recruited from slave states (Half Slave and Half Free, 240). Wars are fought over irreconcilable differences. There may not be one specific cause. Directly or indirectly, slavery was intertwined in many of these differences and the physical conflicts that arose between the North and South. The moral versus practical issue of slavery evoked the passion necessary to unify the people to persevere through the great hardships that were to come.

The Missouri Compromise was an act passed by Congress to ease, if not eliminate the tensions between North and South in terms of expanding slavery in the western territories. A line was drawn to indicate areas of freedom and/or slavery. This compromise created an equal balance of southern and free states in America. Peace was maintained for thirty-four years, until the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. This act completely disregarded the Missouri Compromise as it allowed slavery based on popular sovereignty above the Missouri line.

Following the Louisiana Purchase, Congress wanted to create a policy to guide the expansion of slavery into the new western territory. Missouri’s application for statehood as a slave state sparked bitter debate. Pro-slavery legislators from Missouri would give the pro-slavery faction a congressional majority. They compromised by agreeing that Missouri would be a slave state, but Maine would be admitted as a free state. This is one of the many different conflicts that happened between the North and the South. The North wanted to abolish slavery, while the South depended on slavery. This many arguments caused disunity between the two and eventually lead to the Civil

Missouri compromise 1820- In addition to the deeper moral issue posed by the growth of slavery, the addition of pro-slavery Missouri legislators would give the pro-slavery faction a Congressional majority.

Before the Civil War, the issue of slavery and the tensions between the North and the South was evident in America. In order for there to be a balance between the Northern and Southern representatives in the Senate, there would have to be an equal number of slave and free states within the country. In 1820, Missouri wanted to enter as a state, so the Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to be admitted as a slave state, while Maine was to be admitted as a free state (Document 1A). It also said that no future slave state would be allowed above the 36° 30’ line. It was believed that this compromise would solve the sectional tensions, however, politicians continued to debate on the issue, which further led to a greater divide between the North

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the most crucial events leading up to the Civil War. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act created territories for both Kansas and Nebraska. This gave a chance for people to move slavery to the Midwest. This put the center of attention on Kansas, because this was going to alter the balance between the North and the South. The territory we know as Kansas was better known as “Bleeding Kansas” due to all the violent clashes between the pro- and anti-slavery parties.

To start with, The Civil War lasted from 1861 until 1865 and became the deadliest war in United States’s history. This war was one composed of an enormous amount of battles fought all over the United States. The majority of the battles were fought in the Confederate States in the South. The most famous battles of the Civil War were the battles of Antietam, Vicksburg, Bull Run and Gettysburg. All the battles of the Civil war caused roughly 620,000 soldiers to die and 644,000 soldiers have died in all other conflicts of the nation. Therefore, the Civil War is by far the deadliest war in U.S. history.

“One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war.” With that being said, in the beginning of the war, Lincoln completely tried to lessen the issue of slavery and stating that the war was just basically about ‘preserving the Union.’ On the other hand, during Abraham Lincoln’s election as the first ever Republican representative to run for Presidency in 1860, he provided a platform and pledges to keep out slavery of the territories. Well, technically, the war was said to have been about religion and state rights as well for both sides. Another factor of the cause was territorial expansion because the Southerners wants to expand slavery into the West, while the North plans to keep it open to white labors. As a result, there had been seven slave states in the Southern part of the country that decided to finally secede and create a new nation which would commonly be called “The Confederate States of America.” However, President Lincoln and his administration refused to recognized the legitimate secession of these states because they feared that it would compromise to the theory of democracy. In total there were about 2.75 million that fought in the

The first being the Missouri Compromise, which meant equal slave and free states, however, being that Missouri was a part of the Louisiana Purchase, the North was worried that, as stated in the article, “Slavery Divides a Nation: A Series of Failed Compromises,” “if Missouri were admitted a Slave State, then perhaps all future states formed from the Louisiana Purchase would also become Slave States.” Ideas like these occurred throughout all the compromises, and there was always more pondering and more things that could go wrong. Although the nation was divided, everyone had the same picture in their head of the Manifest Destiny, and both sides wanted to have more to do with it than the other, causing both to push for a new state to either be free or enslaved. This also caused major difficulties which later led to the civil war. As one could see, the ⅗ compromise and westward expansion caused a large part of the tension that led to the need for the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas Nebraska