In the year 1950 all over the United States, there is a raging debate whether slavery is a property right or whether it is a violation of human rights and dignity. This creates a divide and differences between the northerners and the southerners. Between the years of 1850 – 1860 there were many events that lead to civil war and differences which almost made the north and the south to secede. These events include:
The Compromise of 1850 and the New Fugitive Slave Law in particular
The new fugitive slave law was passed on September 18 in the year 1850. This was to act as a compromise between the southerners (slaveholding interests) and the northerners (free-soilers). This law had allowed states to seize and return runaway slaves back to their masters and imposed penalties to anyone that helped slaves to escape. This law met a lot of resistance from southern politicians. These resistances in some instances could boil over into riots and revolts. This law was unenforceable in some northern states and this increased the enmity between the southerners who supported the law. This was one of the events that made the civil war inevitable.
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The emergence of the Republican Party committed to preventing the spread of slavery into the territories not yet states.
The Republican Party mainly had its strength in the north. In its six years of existence, there were major slavery-related controversies which widened the differences between the north and the south. The nominee of the Republican Party was Abraham Lincoln who had promised that he would not restrict slavery where it had already begun. The southerners, however, didn't want the northern Republic Party and in 1861 eleven states seceded to form the Confederate States of America. The northerners firmly opposed the idea of secession and this was one of the events that lead to Civil war.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act and the result of trying our Popular Sovereignty in Kansas
This controversial bill was introduced by Stephen A. Douglas. It would give permission to settlers within a territory to decide whether they can allow slavery or not (popular sovereignty). Actually, the main reason for the bill was to establish a free territory in the Midwest. Douglas suggested the establishment of two territories; Kansas and Nebraska. Kansas was made a slave territory and slave owners moved to the territory. This led to resistance from northerners and they also moved to Kansas to continue with the opposition. One abolitionist named John Brown murdered farmers who favored slavery. This led to a war between Abolitionists and proslavery masters and due to the tensions of this war, the rift between the south and north escalated and eventually civil war started.
The publication of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of the book. In her book, she wanted to show the evils of slavery. In the 1850s it was common with Americans at night to read aloud the book. However, in some states in the south it was bitterly denounced and even it was illegal to own the book. Harriet was portrayed as a liar by southern newspapers and some novelists in the south wrote novels that were attacking Harriet's novel. Apparently, there is little doubt that Uncle Tom's Cabin was the leading factor in the civil war by influencing people opinion.
The Dredd Scott Case
This is a case of an African-American slave whose master was an officer in U.S army. His master had moved with him to the free state of Illinois and later to Wisconsin. His master returned to slave state Missouri and later died. Scott with the help of Abolitionist lawyers went to court to fight for his freedom. He argued that most of his life he had stayed in free states. This, however, did not help him as the court decision was against him. The court decided that no descendant of a slave could have been a U.S citizen. This led to an outbreak of protests in the north. Leaders from the South who fought slavery said that the south had an intention to allow slavery all over the country and also govern the country all by itself. This led to a big difference in the politics between the south and the south. This differences drew the nation closer to civil war.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
These debates took place in 1858 in different cities in Illinois. The northerners supported the idea of Lincoln to End slavery and disagreed with the idea of Douglas of "popular sovereignty". This led to controversies between north and south states. The idea of Douglas was supported by people in the south. It led to the formation of the North Republicans party and South Democrats party. War started when Lincoln won the Presidency in 1860 since Douglas had no support by Democrats. This Lincoln – Douglas debates can be seen as indirect causes of the Civil war.
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia
John Brown was an Abolitionist who had formed a small group of people to attack a federal Armory in Harmer's ferry so as to start a revolt against slavery. This raid had failed but it had already increased tensions between the south and the north. This raid had increased the stakes in the 1860 presidential elections. This raid had increased the possibilities of an outbreak of the civil war.
The election of Abraham Lincoln as President
Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860. Several months later there was a lot of crisis as the southerners had started to secede. President Lincoln did not support the idea and this led to the civil war.
References
Potter, D. M. (1977). The impending crisis: America before the Civil War, 1848-1861 . Harper Collins.
Hummel, J. (2013). Emancipating slaves, enslaving free men: a history of the American civil war . Open court.
