Max Freedberg 9/15 The Union in Peril 1.

) The Mexican War caused greater tensions between the North and South because it raised the issue of slaverys status in new territories. While most southerners advocated for unrestricted slavery in the new territories, northerners favored banning slavery in the new states or the more moderate popular sovereignty (system of allowing settlers in new territories decide on slavery question). 2.) The Compromise of 1850 attempted to allay sectional differences because it contained components accommodating both people in the South and North. Admitting California as a free state, banning the slave trade in D.C., and allowing the settlers of Utah and New Mexico to decide the slavery issue by popular sovereignty were aspects of the compromise that appealed to Northerners. On the other side, the adoption of a more rigorously enforced Fugitive Slave Law and the federal governments assumption of Texas debt catered to Southerners. Unfortunately, the Compromise of 1850 only served to maintain the union temporarily. The compromise was ultimately unsuccessful because there remained Northern discontent with the Fugitive Slave Law, while the South was dissatisfied with any restriction regarding slavery, as the prohibition of slavery was considered a violation of southerners rights. In addition, the KansasNebraska Act of 1854 wholly renewed the sectional conflict that the Compromise of 1850 sought to solve. 3.) The question of slavery was one of the main polarizing issues leading up to the civil war. The fugitive slave law was a major source of discontent for many northerners, and the law was battled and ignored by many. For most northerners the law was only allowed passage to be able to admit California as a free state. In addition to disapproval of the fugitive law, there was much fervor caused by popular anti-slavery literature such as Uncle Toms Cabin and Impending Crisis of the South. These books caused more tension between North and South because in the North there resulted an increase in anti-slavery sentiment, while the South resented the North for holding what were considered radical beliefs against their fundamental rights. The author George Fitzhugh was significant in hardening the position of the proslavery side, arguing that the capitalist system of the north was worse than slavery, and that the Bible sanctioned slavery. The creation of the anti slavery Republican Party caused a further divide between North and South. The events following the Kansas- Nebraska Act were some of the first major indications of the path the country was headed down. After the passage of the bill, conflict erupted in Kansas between anti slavery farmers from the Midwest and slaveholders coming up

from Missouri. In a scramble to control the status of slavery in Missouri, an anti slavery legislature was formed in Topeka, while pro slavery Missourians created a legislature in Lecompton. The direct confrontation escalated into an attack by proslavery forces on Lawrence, a free-soil town. This prompted retaliation by the abolitionist John Brown on a pro slavery farm settlement, killing five. This conflict outlined the hardened stances of anti slavery versus pro slavery. The Dred Scott decision further drove the wedge between north and south. It essentially stated that blacks were not and could not be citizens, and that Congress didnt have the right to ban slavery, which entails the Missouri Compromise being unconstitutional. The decision infuriated Northerners while delighting Southerners. Finally, John Browns Raid at Harpers Ferry was one of the final blows that led to the Souths secession. The attack confirmed Southerners suspicion that the North would use slavery revolts to weaken the South. However, from the Northern anti slavery perspective, John Brown was a martyr. 4.) The Lincoln- Douglas debates for the most part ruined Douglass political career as a Democrat. Lincoln attacked Douglas stance on slavery, and Douglass responses disaffected Southern Democrats. Douglas took the more moderate view that slavery could only exist if communities passed and enforced slave codes. This angered the Democrats who preferred a more radical pro slavery policy.