American Civil War Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Civil War - Assignment Example The southerners wanted to crop their land into the newly acquired states so that they could extend their cotton fields. Acquiring new land meant that these people would require more slaves thus making Texas and other states slave states. Northern states wanted the new states from Mexico to be free states. This motion was moved in congress but was always opposed by the southern states because they had a higher representation in the senate. David Wilmot, the congressman of Pennyslavania, introduced the Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which advocated for mexican acquired states from to be free from slavery. The Wilmot Proviso was raised in the house of representatives. Its main aim was to raise funds to support peace negotiations to end the Mexican American War. The Wilmot Proviso was also supporting a bill by President James Polk to raise 2 million dollars to end the war. The intention of the Wilmont Proviso was to prevent slavery being introduced in the new Mexican states. The Wilmont Proviso was passed to the senate for approval, but was never approved. Some parts concerning the Proviso were passed. The Free Soil Party was also against the introduction of slavery in Texas and other states acquired from Mexico. This party was strong in the New York city and was mainly supported by the former anti-slave members of the Democratic Party. The Free Soil Party, which lasted between 1848 and 1852, argued that free soil and free people contributed better to the growth of the economy. California sought to be recognized as a free state in 1849. This was faced by opposition especially from the southern states that advocated by slaves providing cheap labour for their farms and working long hours. The request was also controversial because gold had been discovered in California and there was a Gold Rush. Henry Clay drafted the Compromise of 1850 that admitted California as one of the free states, and other territories such as Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico would not have slave ry any more. Another development in the Compromise of 1850 was the solution to the Texas border problem. Additionally, in Columbia, the slave trade that was practised in the area was abolished, but slavery was still permitted. The Compromise of 1850 increased the number of free states, causing an imbalance between the states supporting slavery and free states. This contributed to the American Civil War. 2 The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was created by the Senator of Illinois Stephen Douglas. This act, which involved two territories Kansas and Nebraska, allowed these territories to decide for themselves if they wanted to allow slavery in their land. This arrangement was against the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which did not allow slavery north of latitude 36 degrees 30’. Following the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, those supporting slavery and those against moved into the Kansas and Nebraska teritorries in order to affect the outcome of the elections. The first election since the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was held. Those supporting pro-slavery won, but the election was nullified because of rigging. Other elections were held by the supporters of anti-slavery, but the rest refused to vote. This led to a war between the anti-slavery supporters and those supporting slavery. After the war, both parties established parallel governments within the territory and Kansas was not recognized as a state. In another election, the pro-slavery supporters won but again accused of cheating in the elections,