The Civil War: The Path to Disunion

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The Civil War: The Path to Disunion Missouri Applies for Statehood- 1819 In 1819, Missouri wanted to join the Union, although in the North, as a slave state. In would make the balance of power in the Congress unequal. Many Northerners were opposed to the idea. Northerners in Congress refused to pass the bill. Northerners proposed that Missouri be slave and that no more slaves were to be brought in and all slave children would be free at the age of 25, so Missouri would become a Free State. Missouri Compromise- 1820 Southerners were opposed to the idea brought up by Northerners. The Congress was in debate for many months. Henry Clay proposed that Maine enter the Union as a Free State. Also, prohibiting slavery north of the 36030’, the southern boundary of Missouri. The South agreed since Plantations would not be able to thrive further North of that line. Many concerned Americans thought that the slavery issue was resolved. Tariff Issue- 1828 In 1828, A Tariff was passed to help try to protect New England Manufactures. The tariff was as high as 45% to 50% of the original European price. Opponents of the tariff called it the Tariff of Abomination. Southerners were opposed to the tariff because they exported cotton and other materials to Europe in exchange European goods were imported to America. Southerners claimed it was an indirect tax on their region of the United States. Southerners began to ask for states right. South Carolina even went as far as to ask for the tariff taken off the books or they would succeed. The tariff was lowered by Congress. Abolitionism- 1800’s Abolitionism was around before the 1830’s but, it became a more radical during this time. Before 1830, Benjamin Lundy ran a anti-slavery newspaper. In 1829, Lundy hired William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison went on to publish his own newspaper the Liberator. Many people also favored a Colonization movement. In which free slavers would move to Liberia, which was founded in 1822 in Africa by former slaves. Paul Cuffe in 1815, thinking that free slaves would have a better life if they didn’t face racial discrimination, took 38 blacks to Africa with him. In 1829, David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, endorsed a more radical position than anyone before. In 1834, Theodore Weld, a young religious man, led a revival among the students at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati.

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