Aletta Fischer

Mr. Widenhoffer
Honors U.S. History
January 17, 2018

At this time in American history, the country was expanding. James K. Polk was in office

and he wanted to gain California and Oregon. Also at this time, the abolitionist movement was

arising in the north. Controversies such as determining whether a state is free or slave, popular

sovereignty, and abolitionism contributed to the coming of the Civil War because tey created a

deep divide between the north and the south.

During this time, America was growing fairly quickly. The Mexican American War had

granted America the Mexican cession, the annexation of Texas occurred in 1845, but the

problem that arose was whether or not this new territory would be marked “free” or “slave”. The

American government did not want to upset the balance between free and slave states. This

conflict angered many people with differing opinions in the north and south.

Popular Sovereignty became the solution to this problem. Popular Sovereignty allowed

the people to vote on what their state should be: free or slave. It seemed like a brilliant idea at

first, until it caused fights and riots. An example of one of these riots was known as Bleeding

Kansas. Bleeding Kansas was a riot that broke out due to everyone in the state arguing over

whether it should be labeled “free” or “slave”. This fight was so bad that it could be described as

a mini Civil War. Both sides felt so strongly about their opinions that they caused the barrier

between the north and south to thicken, which contributed to the coming of the actual Civil War.
 Another major contribution to the coming of the Civil War was the matter of abolitionism

vs. slavery. While abolitionism was growing rapidly in the north, slavery was growing rapidly in

the south. Unfortunately, they cannot coexist. Extreme abolitionist, John Brown, felt so strongly

about abolitionism that he attempted to lead a violent slave revolt known as Harpers Ferry. He

tried to arm slaves and get them to revolt against their masters, but it resulted in multiple deaths,

including his own son. He was seen as a madman.. This event alarmed the South. They began to

think that all abolitionists in the north were like John Brown. They began to build the

Confederate Army to protect themselves in case another radical abolitionist showed up.

The whole issue of slave state vs. free state regarding the new territories can be seen in

the Missouri Compromise. Missouri wanted to enter America as a slave state, but it would upset

the balance. Therefore, Henry Clay came up with the plan that would make Missouri a slave

state, but make Maine free, in order to maintain the balance. The Compromise said that anything

below the southern border of Missouri would be a slave state, and anything above it would be

free. Henry Clay’s ways of solving these issues comes up again with the Compromise of 1850,

which makes California a free state, and slave trade illegal in Washington D.C., along with other

things. No one was completely pleased with the Compromise, but no one was furious about it

either. The problem of deciding if a state is free or slave has come up in both the Missouri

Compromise, and the Compromise of 1850.