Three Main Causes Of The Civil War

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Three Main Causes of the Civil War By April 1861 America was at a breaking point. Tensions had been rising for years and things had finally boiled over. Americans were at war with each other. What had caused this once united nation to become so bitterly divided? There had been many contributors leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War. Things like the Fugitive Slave Act had enraged Northerners and caused a deeper divide between states. The book Uncle Tom’s Cabin had fired up both the Fire-Eaters and the Abolitionists alike. Though many events lead to the outbreak of the Civil War, three stand out in particular. These events were the catalyst that lead to the explosion of the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, the California Gold …show more content…

This discovery would change the course of history. Over the next few years the population of California skyrocketed. People with dreams of striking it rich all flocked to the west. This drastic increase in population brought to light the question of whether California was going to enter the Union as a free state, or a slave state. This caused tensions between the existing free states and slaves states who were both grappling for the upper hand. Although the actual California Gold Rush didn’t directly contribute to the outbreak of the Civil War, the indirect consequences will be astronomical. The tensions over whether California would enter as a free state or slave state lead to the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850 states that California will enter the Union as a free state, Utah and New Mexico will decide if they want to enter as a free or slave state themselves, and the Fugitive Slave Act will be put into place. The Fugitive Slave Act caused deep divisions between states, and was a critical contributor to the outbreak of the civil war, but without the California Gold Rush it would have never happened. The Compromise of 1850 also introduced the idea of Popular Sovereignty, which will become an enormous problem …show more content…

By 1850 many people wanted to move to the area we now know as Nebraska. Southern representatives in congress didn’t want to admit Nebraska into the Union because it would become a free state under the Missouri Compromise. Stephen Douglas pushed for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, that states each territory will decide by popular sovereignty whether it wants to be a free or slave state, because he wanted to build a transcontinental railroad. The possibility of Kansas being a slave state violated the Missouri Compromise, and the compromise would be repealed. The bill was passed and there was outrage from the Northerners. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters flocked to Kansas to vote. People from Missouri known as the “Border Ruffians” went to Kansas to vote threatening violence against those who opposed slavery. In the territorial election for pro-slavery candidates only 50% of the vote came from legal residents. Violence was rampant in Kansas during this time. This mini Civil War happening in Kansas was a foreshadowing of what would eventually happen. What was happening in Kansas set the precedent for what would happen later, and that is why the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to the Civil

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