The Political Crisis Of The 1850's

3 Pages 682 Words

The Political Crisis of the 1850’s:

There are many different reasons for the coming of war, but none other
that of a crisis, a political crisis.
“Most students of America’s past realize that the Civil War marked a major turning point in the nation’s history. But we often forget that the ultimate cause of the war was the inability of politicians to find a means of compromising conflicting views concerning slavery and its extension,” (Alexander 246).
There are four basic issues that led up to the Civil War. One being the party system, two being the birth of the Republican party, three being the Republicans expanding their platform to other states, and four being growing differences between the north and south concerning slavery. Because of this there began a debate over which economic system was going to take over America’s new territories, industrialization and urbanization versus plantations and slavery. Along with these there was the question of federal versus state, and don’t forget the idea of free soil versus popular sovereignty (Alexander 246). It is obvious that these conflicting ideas are the beliefs of the ever-conflicting north and south. How much long was this going to continue to build, and how much longer was it going to divide what was supposed to be a United Nation?
The Kansas-Nebraska act made the conditions even worse for our country. This act completely challenged the Missouri Compromise, and it was an ill attempt at unity, that quickly became known as “bleeding Kansas.” The south declared it a victory, however it was illegal, so they were forced to hold another election. In this election the north came out ahead because Kansas was declared a free state. (Alexander 253). “The republican movement combined Whigs, antislavery Democrats, and free soldiers who wished to make antislavery the dominant element…”(Alexander 253).
Basically it is broken down like this; there was a ...