How did the Mexican-American War ignite a conflict over slavery between the North and the South?
for the Mexican and American war question, you can look at this website:
www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/amex25.socst.ush.mexwar/how-the-mexican-american-war-affected-slavery/
1860 presidential election question, you can look at this website too:
www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/election-of-1860
explain how the results of 1860 presidential election and the issue of states rights influenced south Carolinas decision to secede from the union
What does your reading assignment say?
The Mexican-American War, which took place from 1846 to 1848, played a significant role in igniting a conflict over slavery between the North and the South in the United States. Here's how it happened:
1. The Acquisition of New Territories: As a result of the Mexican-American War, the United States gained a substantial amount of new territory, including California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
2. Dispute Over the Expansion of Slavery: The acquisition of these new territories raised the contentious issue of whether slavery would expand into them or not. At that time, the United States was already divided over the issue of slavery, with the North largely opposed to it and the South supporting it.
3. Wilmot Proviso: In 1846, David Wilmot, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, proposed the Wilmot Proviso. This proviso stipulated that slavery would be prohibited in any territory acquired from Mexico, effectively seeking to halt the expansion of slavery. The proviso passed in the House of Representatives, where the North had greater representation, but it failed to pass in the Senate, primarily due to Southern opposition.
4. Sectional Divide Deepens: The failure of the Wilmot Proviso to become law intensified the growing sectional divide between the North and the South. The North saw the expansion of slavery as a threat to its own economic system and moral values, while the South feared that restricting slavery's expansion would eventually lead to its abolition.
5. Compromise of 1850: In an attempt to resolve the growing tensions, the Compromise of 1850 was introduced. This compromise allowed California to enter the Union as a free state while also implementing the Fugitive Slave Act, which required the return of escaped slaves to their owners, even in free states. It temporarily eased the conflict, but it did not fundamentally resolve the issue.
6. Kansas-Nebraska Act: In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted, which repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This act allowed popular sovereignty, meaning that the settlers in these territories would decide whether or not to allow slavery. This further heightened tensions and led to violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the Kansas Territory.
These events surrounding the Mexican-American War, along with subsequent legislative actions, exposed the deep-rooted differences between the North and the South regarding the expansion and future of slavery in the United States. The conflict over slavery eventually culminated in the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865.