Which of the following best shows how the issue of states rights contribute to the onset of the Civil War
To determine how the issue of states' rights contributed to the onset of the Civil War, we can consider the historical context and the events leading up to the war.
1. Understand the concept of states' rights: States' rights refer to the principle that individual states should retain significant powers and autonomy within a federal system. This concept was deeply rooted in the United States since its founding, as the country was initially formed as a union of independent states.
2. Review the Missouri Compromise of 1820: The Missouri Compromise was a legislative agreement that sought to maintain a balance between slave and free states in the United States. It allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state. Additionally, it established a line dividing the Louisiana Territory into slave and free regions. The issue of whether Congress had the authority to prohibit slavery in new territories became a crucial point of contention related to states' rights.
3. Study the Nullification Crisis: In the early 1830s, South Carolina, under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, declared that it had the right to declare federal laws null and void within its borders. This conflict arose over protective tariffs, but it demonstrated the extent to which some states were willing to assert their rights and challenge the authority of the federal government.
4. Analyze the Compromise of 1850: The Compromise of 1850 aimed to resolve the growing dispute over slavery in newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War. It included provisions such as the Fugitive Slave Act and popular sovereignty, allowing residents of each territory to decide on the issue of slavery. This compromise attempted to appease both the North and the South but ultimately heightened tensions between states regarding states' rights and the expansion of slavery.
5. Explore the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854: This act repealed the Missouri Compromise's restriction of slavery in former Louisiana Territory lands. It allowed the people of the Kansas and Nebraska territories to determine whether they would permit slavery through popular sovereignty. The act led to violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the Kansas territory and raised questions about the legitimacy of the Missouri Compromise and federal power.
6. Consider the Dred Scott decision of 1857: In the landmark Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, the court ruled that enslaved people were property and not citizens, denying Scott's claim to freedom. The decision also invalidated the Missouri Compromise, as it stated that Congress could not prohibit slavery in any territories. This further deepened the divide between states' rights advocates and proponents of federal authority.
7. Reflect on the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860: Lincoln's victory as a Republican candidate running on an anti-slavery platform intensified tensions between slaveholding states and those opposed to the expansion of slavery. Southern states, fearing that their states' rights would be undermined, began seceding from the Union, ultimately leading to the Civil War.
In summary, the issue of states' rights contributed to the onset of the Civil War through conflicts over the authority of the federal government, disputes over the expansion of slavery, and the growing division between the North and the South.