In 1861 the United States declared war on the seceded Confederate States of America. This war is more popularly known as the Civil War or the War Between the States. The war was a conflict that was inevitable because of the progression of dislike between the slave holding states and the free ones. The war had to happen because of the many disagreements that caused tension between the slave holding South and the free states in the North. There are many things that one party did to upset the other. One of the first notable things that started the disagreement between the North and the South was the idea of “Popular Sovereignty.
Popular Sovereignty” was an idea created by Senator Lewis Cass, who said that the Missouri Compromise was out dated and that the citizens of a territory should “regulate their own internal concerns. ” (p. 459) Many Southern citizens liked the idea of “Popular Sovereignty,” for the reason that they could move their slaves to “undecided” territories. With this point for the South the North came back with one of their own. The North, battling in the government, decided to join three parties into one to create the Free-Soil party.
Those three parties were “rebellious Democrats, Antislavery Whigs, and members of the Antislavery Liberty party. p. 460) One of the main reasons that the Free-Soil party was created was to give voters a new party to choose from, rather than the two other main parties. In the 1848 election the Free-Soil party upset a small, but significant part of the vote, receiving 10. 1 percent of the popular vote. Having one significant issue that the opposition did not care for, the great trio of Clay, Calhoun, and Webster had something up their sleeves. One of the greatest debates of the time, the Great Compromise, brought forth eight resolutions that solved all the issues.
The eight resolutions are as follows: 1) Admit California as a free state, 2) organize the remainder of the Southwest with out restriction as to slavery, 3) deny Texas its extreme claim to a Rio Grande boundary up to its source, 4) compensate Texas for this by assuming the Texas debt, 5) uphold slavery in District of Colombia, 6) but abolish the slave trade across its boundaries, 7) adopt a more effective fugitive slave act, 8) and deny congressional authority to interfere with the interstate slave trade. This debate by the great trio, resulted in both the North and the South being agreeable to it’s out-come.
The seventh claim in the compromise of 1850 was one that was much argued by the North, because of its unfairness, and the South because of it not being enforced. The seventh issue in the compromise was about the fugitive slave law. The fugitive slave law said that people must turn in fugitive slaves to the authorities for their return to the South at their master’s request. Some Northerners didn’t like this law, so they either did nothing for it or actively fought against it. Because there was no support for this law, Southerners offered ten dollars for every fugitive slave captured and returned.
One problem was that people were turning in free blacks for the ten-dollar reward and the authorities would sell the free blacks as slaves. Northerners could have just ignored the laws however, they could be tried in court and convicted for treason. Many Antislavery activists were not happy with their surroundings and they wanted others to hear and read about it, so many Antislavery items were published. One stood out from the rest! Harriet Beecher Stowe came from a well known family, she was also known as a excellent author, her one published book that is the most famous was the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book about Stowe’s experiences with slavery and the issues dealing with slavery. Written in 1851, this book was called “the greatest book of the age. ” (p. 469) Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an eye opener to many people; it introduced them to the brutality of slavery. The boundaries of one being a slave or not a slave were not very well known, so there were many questions like, when a slave touches free ground is he still a slave? The Dred Scott case is one that was very well known, it is a case where a slave, Dred Scott, took his master, Sandford, to court for his freedom.
Dred Scott escaped slavery under his old master, but was captured and returned. When his master died he and the rest of his master’s possessions were willed to his master’s brother-in-law. His new master, against slavery, convinced Dred Scott to take himself to court for his freedom. Many Antislavery whites thought that this would be a win against slavery, but the supreme court ruled that once a slave always a slave. In the end, Dred Scott’s master did grant him his freedom. To this Point in time there was mostly peaceful argument between the states, with no violence, but that was soon to change.
A man by the name of John Brown was an extreme abolitionist; he was committed to abolish the “wicked curse of slavery. ” (p. 483) On October 16, 1859 John Brown from Maryland crossed the Potomac River with 19 men to storm and occupy the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. John Brown’s main intention was to create an uprising of the slaves, arming them to rebel against their masters. What did happen however, was John Brown and his men seized the arsenal and a few hostages. The townspeople and militiamen surrounded them and began to shoot at Brown and his men.
Later Lieutenant-Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived with a force of Marines of his own. Lee and his men stormed through the barricaded doors capturing seven with a body count of ten. Two of John Brown’s sons were killed and John Brown himself was captured. John Brown was tried and convicted of treason on October 31 and sentenced to be hanged on December 2 1859. John Brown exclaimed, “Let them hang me I am worth inconceivably more to hang than for any other purpose. ” (p. 484) John Brown was right and this sent panic through the South, because he became the martyr for the Antislavery cause.
With the Southern slave states and the Northern free states becoming more hostile towards one another, the election of 1860 was what determined the future of the Union. President Buchanan, a democrat from the South was near the end of his term and the nation saw their new man, Honest Abe. Abraham Lincoln a Republican from Illinois won the popular vote of only 39. 8 percent, with 180 electoral votes, beating Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell. After Lincoln’s win there was another election in South Carolina on December 6 to choose delegates to a convention in Charleston.
On December 20, 1860 the convention unanimously voted to secede from the union and ratify the confederate constitution. By February 1 1861 six more states left the union, and on February 7 it adopted a provisional constitution for the Confederate States of America. Two days later Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederate States of America. Days later, Fort Sumter was attacked by a confederate arsenal, Lincoln negotiated and waited until April 4, when he attempted to re supply Fort Sumter with non-weaponry supplies.
However, the ship caring the supplies for Fort Sumter was under heavy attack and retreated. Major Robert Anderson chief in command at the fort refused to surrender. He was forced to when his supplies and ammunition exhausted. With this attack on the fort, Lincoln called upon the loyal states to supply 75,000 militiamen. Less than a month later fighting was on a much larger scale than the small feuds earlier. The year was 1861, 20 years after the first notable disagreement between the slave holding states and the free ones.
War broke out between the United States and the Confederate States of America over the moral issue of slavery. Small conflicts created a large conflict between the states in the North and the South. Because of the many disagreements the Civil war was inevitable and unstoppable. The slave holding South didn’t care for things like the Free Soil Coalition, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, John Brown’s Raid, and the election of 1860, so in a retaliation-like manner the South did things like “Popular Sovereignty,” the Fugitive Slave Law, The ruling on the Dred Scott case, and southern states succeeding from the union.
