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

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

into law that; Texas would revoke its claim to New Mexico, California was admitted as a free state, the slave trade was banned from the District of Columbia, Utah and New Mexico were allowed to decide the issue of slavery for their territories, and lastly enacted stricter fugitive slave laws. The Compromise was met with lukewarm reception on both sides of the political spectrum as many felt it did not address the issues at hand rather than treating the symptoms. According to the textbook “The question of slavery in the territories has been avoided. It has not been settled” (401).
One of the most controversial aspects of the compromise of 1850 was the Fugitive Slave Act.

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

men.
Bleeding Kansas was a series of confrontations in Kansas over the issue of whether or not it would enter the union a free or slave state.

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

crook.
When looking at the event that lead up to the Civil war, it is easy to see recurring patterns of mistrust, non negotiation, and vilification of both sides North and South. The Compromise of 1850 showed the eroding confidence the nation had for cooperation between the political parties. Furthermore the Fugitive Slave Act was seen as a necessary protection for the South, yet the North saw the Act as an unjustifiable infringement on human rights. Neither side was willing to move on the issue, and as a result vilified the opposition. Tensions rose even higher as the fight for Kansas, known as Bleeding Kansas, put proslavery and antislavery advocates against each other the escalation of tensions resulted in violence whose echoes would be felt over the entire nation all the way up to the senate with the Brooks-Sumner affair. The Brooks-Sumner affair was even further proof that the North and the South were not able to negotiate peacefully. In the aftermath of the assault in the Senate the nation was split firmly into two sides, rallying behind their representatives and painting the opposition as enemies. Retrospectively it is not surprising the United States would fall into civil war as the issue of slavery versus human rights had been boiling for decades with no resolution in sight.