Compromise Of 1850: The Most Possible Causes Of The Civil War

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Throughout the United States turbulent history there has not been a worse conflict than the civil war. The issues that drove the country apart go back as far as the birth of the nation itself. During the years immediately prior to the outbreak of war numerous events set off a domino effect that eventually lead to the cessation of what was to become the Confederacy. Some of the most noteworthy events include the Compromise of 1850, The Fugitive Slave Act, Bleeding Kansas, and Brooks-Sumner affair. The Compromise of 1850 was actually a collection of five separate bills passed at the same time. The goal of the compromise was to ease tensions that had build up over the status of lands obtained from the mexican american war. The five bills put …show more content…

Southerners advocated for this act because of the interference caused by Northers helping slaves escape their Southern owners. The act was inherently designed to reward the commissioners to return free blacks back into slavery. According to the text “The commissioner earned $10 for every individual returned to slavery but only $5 for those set free” (403). Most alarming to the Northerners was that the law required all citizens to aid in capturing runaway slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act was seen by the North as a means for the South to legitimise the kidnaping of free …show more content…

Ultimately it was left up to popular sovereignty. Both North and South started sending as many men as possible to settle in Kansas in order to have the most votes. The massive influx of men with opposing ideas caused tensions that built up into bloodshed. On the 21st of May 1856 the town of lawrence was raided by proslavery men, the raid only cost one man his life. But it was enough to earn a retaliation attack on Pottawatomie Creek by the antislavery men that ended with five deaths. Following these attacks “guerrilla war engulfed the territory” (412). As a result of the violence in Kansas, Senator Sumner of Massachusetts delivered a speech that personally attacked South Carolina Senator Butler, in particular about his proslavery ideology. In retaliation Preston Brooks, who was cousin to Butler and a member of the house, walked into the Senate found Sumner and assaulted him with a cane, leaving the Senator bleeding and unconscious. This act of vigilante justice further divided the nation as one half hailed Brooks as a hero, as the other half saw nothing but a

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