The Road to the Civil War

Phil Ninan 12/5/2005

U.S. History Per. 4

The Road to the Civil War

Until 1861 compromises helped the United States of America to avoid civil war. The Compromise of 1850 led a series of events set out to prevent war. The compromise of 1850 consisted of negotiations Henry Clay made which included issues on: slavery, land, and money. Also there were events that helped lead to war such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This included concerns with: the idea of popular sovereignty, repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and tensions between the north and the south.

The Compromise of 1850 contained many different ideas, many of these ideas helping to prevent to war. Henry Clay tried to please both the north and the south. One of the first proposes was the introduction of California as a free state, which once again raised slavery issues considering the unbalance of free and slave states. This was made in favor of the north. Then the Fugitive Slave Act was developed to leave officials and citizens responsible for capturing and returning of slaves. This act made it a crime to help runaway slaves and let officials and citizens arrest runaway slaves. This act was made in favor of the south. The attempted Compromise of 1850 was an unsuccessful effort to prevent a civil war.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a reopened debate over slavery proposed by Stephen Douglass. He wanted to build a railroad than would pass through Chicago. To do this he would have to organize and settle the Kansas and Nebraska territory. It is suggested that the lands are organized though popular sovereignty. To do this they had to repeal the Missouri Compromise. This movement attracted both anti and proslavery people to move to Kansas and Nebraska hoping to control them. Both the north and the south encouraged people to move to the new territories. Then during a voting, proslavery people from Missouri illegally voted in Kansas. By doing this a Pro-slavery legislative was created. Aggravated antislavery voters hold another election and create their own legislative, leaving Kansas with two governments. This led to violence and a mob attack in Lawrence where a pro-slavery people attacked anti-slavery settlers. Anti-slavery settlers fought back at Pottawatomie Creek led by John Brown. This leads to fighting in congress.