America's Westward Expansion
In 1846, a war was waged to seize land from Mexico. America’s desire was to expand our boundaries from Texas to California. America wanted this westward expansion as a necessity since America population was increasing. Americans felt like this was their destiny. America gained 500,000 square miles of new land including Texas and Mexican territories. Since gaining so much new land, it complicated its politics on slavery issues.
The presidential election of 1848 was defined by the slavery issues. The democrats nominated Lewis Cass who believed in popular soverignity. The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor, who was a slave owner. Taylor’s campaign focused on pro-slavery for the Southerners, but also focused on more Northern ideologies like the Wilmot
Proviso, that stated a complete ban of slavery from all newly acquired territories.
Then a third-party candidate, Van Buren, emerged in the free-soil party. This party wanted to blend the North and South ideas together. “The Free-soil party, a political party organized in 1848 on a platform opposing the extension of slavery, was rooted in the growing conflict between proslavery and antislavery forces in the United States” (Free Soil Party, n.d.).
Zachary Taylor won this election at a time when slavery issues were causing a major problem between the south and the north. He tried to hold the United States together, with force if necessary. Congress clashed with Taylor on his desire to admit California to the union as a free state. Taylor suddenly became sick and died. Millard Fillmore became the new president of the United States. Fillmore sided more with the pro-slavery, southern views.
Due to all the conflict it was creating, this election was essentially the beginning of the Civil War. The North had an advantage over the South because the North was more industrialized. The Southern states felt as though they were losing control and their voices weren’t being heard. The southerners began pulling away from the Union. Due to all this happening, there were many different disagreements that occurred including issues with taxes, state rights vs. federal rights, and tariffs. The Civil War was unavoidable.
The presidential election of 1848 was defined by the slavery issues. The democrats nominated Lewis Cass who believed in popular soverignity. The Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor, who was a slave owner. Taylor’s campaign focused on pro-slavery for the Southerners, but also focused on more Northern ideologies like the Wilmot
Proviso, that stated a complete ban of slavery from all newly acquired territories.
Then a third-party candidate, Van Buren, emerged in the free-soil party. This party wanted to blend the North and South ideas together. “The Free-soil party, a political party organized in 1848 on a platform opposing the extension of slavery, was rooted in the growing conflict between proslavery and antislavery forces in the United States” (Free Soil Party, n.d.).
Zachary Taylor won this election at a time when slavery issues were causing a major problem between the south and the north. He tried to hold the United States together, with force if necessary. Congress clashed with Taylor on his desire to admit California to the union as a free state. Taylor suddenly became sick and died. Millard Fillmore became the new president of the United States. Fillmore sided more with the pro-slavery, southern views.
Due to all the conflict it was creating, this election was essentially the beginning of the Civil War. The North had an advantage over the South because the North was more industrialized. The Southern states felt as though they were losing control and their voices weren’t being heard. The southerners began pulling away from the Union. Due to all this happening, there were many different disagreements that occurred including issues with taxes, state rights vs. federal rights, and tariffs. The Civil War was unavoidable.