HIST 405N Week 4 Discussion 1: Stepping Stones to the Civil War

HIST 405N Week 4 Discussion 1: Stepping Stones to the Civil War Professor and classmates, This week I have chosen to discuss: The Compromise of 1850, The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and the Lincoln Douglas Debates of 1858. I believe that all of these events had a major role in the American Civil War. They all had to do with the issue of slavery in the United States and where it should be allowed and whether it should be continued or abolished. The Compromise of 1850 was a plan for temporary political peace, was originally proposed by Republican Senator Henry Clay, it consisted of five bills and was a compromise between the north and south and the spread of slavery (Editors of Heritage Society, 2019). The goal of the Compromise was to avoid conflict and keep the country together (Editors of Heritage Society, 2019). This plan gained many benefits for both the north and the south. California was the 16th Free State and part of the Union (USH, 2019), the trading of slaves was now illegal in Washington DC, but you could still own slaves (Corbett & Janssen, 2019), Texas lost territory but gained 10 million to pay off debt that they incurred in the Mexican-American War (USH, 2019) and the Fugitive Slave Law was created (USH, 2019). With both sides not agreeing on the topic of slavery and the creation of the Fugitive Slave Law it was a propelling factor in the imminent beginning of the Civil War. The Fugitive Slave Law was a major source of conflict between the northern and southern states. The northerners didn’t feel the same about slavery as the southerners and they would assist the slaves that were running away from slavery towards the north (Corbett & Janssen, 2019). The law would impose large fines and prison sentences to any one that assisted the runaway slaves. The northerners didn’t agree with this law and they felt it was against their beliefs to capture the slaves against their will and return them to their owners. With the creation of this law there also came a group of federal commissioners that were given the power to decide the fate of the fugitives when they were brought before them (Corbett & Janssen, 2019). This law triggered many reactions from the north, abolitionists, such as: Frederick Douglas, believed that in order to stand against this law there needed to be violence (Corbett & Janssen, 2019). In many of the northern states the abolitionists would attempt to protect the fugitives from the federal authorities, they would have mass demonstrations at the courthouse where the fugitives were being tried, this didn’t always turn out as they had hoped. The largest reaction to the Fugitive Slave Law was the foundation of the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which was the compilation of slave stories, and the idea that slavery was sin and broke apart families from each other (Corbett & Janssen, 2019). The Lincoln Douglas Debates was a series of meeting between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas regarding slavery and the extension of it into the newer territories (The Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). Lincoln was coined the republican nominee that ran against the Douglas, who was a democrat, in the senate race and in his acceptance speech he stated “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (The Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). He was perceived by Douglas to be a radical that would be detrimental to the stability of the Union; he felt that slaves should have the same racial equality as the white people (The Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). Lincoln lost the senate race to Douglas but it proved detrimental to Douglas’s career in the senate as the southern democrats lost all faith in Douglas after that race, this demise is what caused him to lose the presidential election to Abraham Lincoln. I think that these debates over slavery and the racial equality that Lincoln wanted for the slaves is a large proponent of what lead to the American Civil War. History shows that the north and the south were not on the same page when it came to slavery. The north was against it and felt that the slaves had the right to be free and the southern democrats believed that they were nothing like the white man and didn’t feel the same things that the black people felt. This turbulence between the north and south and caused friction, the south didn’t want the slavery to end, so they inevitably fought for the right to keep slavery legal in the southern states. Fortunately for the blacks the north won and in 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to General Ulysses Grant at the McClean house in the village of Appomattox Court House (Corbett & Janssen, 2019). References Corbett, P., & Janssen, V. (2019). U.S. History. Openstax. Editors of Heritage Society. (2019, July 31). The Compromise of 1850. Retrieved from Heritage Society: The Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, January 20). Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica: USH. (2019). The Compromise of 1850. Retrieved from US History: