Discussion of developments in American history that contributed to the Civil War.
This paper lists the industrialization of the North and differences between how the North and South viewed slavery as factors that contributed to the Civil War. The paper also talks about the battles significant in changing the course of the Civil War, the period of Reconstruction, and President Johnson’s influence on America.
Many developments in America between 1848 and 1861 contributed to the Civil War. People moved more, and as they moved around the country, their attitudes and even their loyalties sometimes shifted. As America expanded into new territories, their stand on slavery came into question, and there was a growing rift between the North and the South. Many politicians believed slavery must be confined to the South, and as territories such as Texas, New Mexico and California were added, there was growing sentiment they must come into the Union as anti-slave states, thereby creating animosity and distrust in the South. When California became a state in 1850, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, which admitted California as a free state, included a law regarding fugitive slaves, and created the idea of popular sovereignty, which gave the people of the state the final decision in whether their state would be slave-holding or free. However, there was still great dissention over the slavery issue, and even the Compromise of 1850 would not settle the issue.