Crisis of the Union

In the Elections of 1846 the Whig Party took control of Congress. Whig leaders pushed the idea that America wouldn't seek any more land from the Mexican republic. The Whigs went against Polk's war policy form the 1846 Elections. This only furthered the divide within the nation that lead to the Civil war.

The Wilmot Proviso was a bill proposed by David Wilmot who was an antislavery Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. He proposed the bill because the Democrats was splitting and having a lot of turmoil. The Wilmot Proviso was a ban on slavery in an territories gained from the war. The House of Representatives quickly passed the bill but the Senate rejected it. The cause of rejection lead back to the thought that southerners were a part of the Slave-Power conspiracy. This bill caused a further divide within the nation; it caused lines to be drawn in Congress and the bill illustrated where each side stood on the abolishing slavery idea. This divide that kept growing was the development of turmoil that would help cause the Civil war.

The Meixcan American was the war between Mexico and America over territory in the West, specifically California and New Mexico along with with Texas. This war was won by America and in result caused the President of Mexico to lose his presidency. A new Mexican government was brought up and made peace with the United States. This was the cause of a divide within the nation; it caused some to think that the war was "causeless, wicked, and unjust," while others accused the President at the time, Polk, that the war was to add more slave slates and allow "slave-owning Democrats" more control of the government--otherwise known as the Slave Power conspiracy. The divide within the nation helped lead to the Civil war in the way that the raised tensions were motive to start an argument, or even a war.

The Slave-Power conspiracy theory that arose in 1848 was a catalyst for the beginning of the Free Soil Movement. This movement was in preparation to ruin the plan that the Slave Power conspiracy had. The free soil movement members quickly put together the Free Soil Party of 1848. The party portrayed slavery as a threat to republicanism and to a free holder society. This party won the support of aspiring white farmers. Hundreds of people joined the free soil organizations. Frederick Douglass even joined. The Free soil movement was the start of other movements and greater forces at play. This movement drew attention to the issue of slavery and whether it should be abolished or not. There was already debate on slavery but this movement helped move it along. This was another thing to continue to separate the nation. The more slavery became an issue, the more the divide widened.

The Democratic party and President Polk took a hit on social standing with the people because of the political issue of slavery. Exhausted from the previous term, Polk decided not to run again in the Election of 1848. In his absence the Democrats nominated Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan. To build a bridge for the party, Cass promoted a new idea of squatter sovereignty. This plan says the Congress would allow settlers in each territory to determine if their status was slave or free. This idea did not appeal to the Northern Democrats because the North wanted completely free everywhere for everyone. The Northern Democrats joined the free soil party and so did former Democratic president Martin Van Buren. Martin became the presidential candidate for the free soil party and to gain Whig votes Charles Francis Adams was up for Vice President. The Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor. Taylor was committed to the defense of slavery in the South but objected to the idea of territories determining if they were slave or free. Because Taylor was a general and fought in the military, he was seen as a war hero.......

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed by President Polk in 1848 and ratified by the Senate. The Treaty stated that the United States "agreed to pay Mexico $15 million in return for more than one-third of its territory". The treaty was proposed by John C. Calhoun and President Polk and Buchanan accepted it to unify the Democratic Party. Calhoun proposed the treaty because he feared that America expanding as aggressively and quickly as they were, would cause an expansion on the war. This treaty was kind of going against the Manifest Destiny belief and it wasn't something everyone supported. Any and all events from 1846 to the start of the civil war were events that just furthered the divide between the nation on the issue of slavery, and how to handle it. It was like every event was just making the divide worse. There didn't seem to be anything that could stop the divide or make it better.

Because of the Gold Rush that occurred in 1849 there was a rapid population growth in California which qualified it admission in the Union. California, soon after being admitted, ratified a state constitution which prohibited slavery within the state and with the support of the President Congress was urged to take California as a free state. With another free state coming into the US the rift between North and South, over the dispute of slavery, grew. As the rift kept growing the more tense it got between the North and South. It was only fuel to the fire for the Civil War to come.

The Compromise of 1850 was pushed by Whig leaders Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and Democrat Stephen A Douglas. This compromise was consisting of five separate laws that got passed. This compromise included a new Fugitive Slave Act that was giving federal support to slave catchers which appealed to the South. To appeal to the north the legislation admitted California as a free state, resolved a boundary dispute between New Mexico and Texas, and it abolished slave trade. This compromise eased the tensions between the North and South, but it didn't resolve the big issue of slavery. There were still tensions between North and South and they weren't yet resolved. This compromise may have eased things for a little bit, but it didn't stop the war to come.

The Oregon Territory was created in 1848 by Congress and two years after, the Oregon Donation Land Claim Act was enacted. The act granted farm-sized plots of "free land" to settlers who took up residence before 1854. This helped advance the expansion of the United States. For a few years prior to 1848 there was debate over expansion of the United States and the Oregon Donation Land Claim act fueled the debate further. Expansion seemed to be constant and unrelenting. Some agreed and some disagreed. It only made the tension in the nation worse. The arising tensions were becoming obvious and noticeable. It could be seen that the North and South had their disagreements, and eventually they would have to hash out their differences.

The Fugitive Slave Act was a part of the Compromise of 1850 and was a good idea in the start but soon created hostility in the North. In October 1850 Boston abolitionists helped two slaves escape from Georgia slave catchers. There were riots in New York. There were several unpleasant resistance efforts to the Fugitive Slave Act. In Pennsylvania twenty African Americas exchanged gun fire with Maryland slave catcher, which resulted in two deaths on the side of the slave catchers. This resistance would only get worse and it seemed that they wouldn't be a solution to this problem until lines were drawn on whether slavery would be allowed or not. This only fueled tensions that arose on the issue of slavery. The Civil War was yet to come and this helped move things along, and not in a good way.