The Civil War

The Civil War was one of our nation's greatest and saddest events. Many elements came into play in causing the war. The debates of the annexation of Texas, new land acquired from the Mexican War, all of the debates of the 1850's, the rise of the Republican party and their presidential nomination, Abraham Lincoln were major factors. Slavery was not the only problem, everything dealing with the expansion of our western borders.

In the 1830's, Texas was still within Mexican borders. Eager for economic growth, the Mexican government encouraged US citizens to come and settle. Since Mexico banned slavery, most settlers were not happy with this policy and tried to form stronger bonds with the United States government than with the Mexican government. Arguments and fights arose because of this bond, but in 1836 Texas claimed its independence from Mexico. Sam Houston, the President of Texas, sent a delegation to the District of Columbia to apply for statehood. This caused more arguments between the north and south. If Texas were admitted to the Union, it would throw off the balance of free states to slave states, 15 apiece at the time. The north did not want to have the south take political control of the government.

With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago in 1848, the new territories immediately became controversial with the slavery issue. Since California and New Mexico were below the Missouri Compromise line, they were all southern colonized, and therefore, slaveholding territories. But the California gold rush put more pressure on the slavery issue. The gold rush brought many foreigners into America in hopes of quick riches. This caused many problems. For example, if a free black man tried to stake a claim at land he found gold on, he was denied his claim since blacks technically had no rights under the United States Constitution. This also applied to many foreigners who were put into "indentured" labor. This changed when they applied for statehood; California's new constitution prohibited slavery.

The 1850's caused many heated debated in the Senate and House of Representatives over slavery. Henry Clay has the first idea for calming both sides with his Compromise of 1850. Clay's compromise had four main points to it. The first was admission of California as a free state. Formation of territorial governments in the rest of land from Mexico without restrictions on slavery was the second.