Civil War Dbq Analysis

The Civil War was a hard and long fought war with many battles, deaths, and injuries. In 1861 the Civil War began, but not before a series of events that reached the boiling point of both Northerners and Southerners. Three events that inflamed tensions between the North and South included the Compromise of 1850, the publishment of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and the election of 1860. The Civil War lasted about 4 years, and that was because the North and South had differing opinions on slavery.

The first event that I believe lead to the beginning of the Civil War was the Compromise of 1850. For many years, the Missouri Compromise was put into place, where an imaginary line was drawn at 36, 30 degrees North. Anything above the line would not be allowed
to have slavery, whereas anything below the line, slavery was “free game.” 30 years after the Missouri Compromise settled disputes between Northerners and Southerners about slavery, Senator Henry Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850. The Compromise of 1850, according to document 1, “...was designed to settle the slavery question in new western lands acquired after the Mexican War. California entered the Union as a free state; Utah and New Mexico Territories were opened to slavery on the basis of popular sovereignty.” This information from document 1 states how the land out West was decided by the citizens, and also included a strict fugitive slave act, where Northerners would have to return runaway slaves, otherwise they would be severely punished. Also from document 1, it states, “It also included a strict Fugitive Slave that required Northerners to return escaped slaves to their owners.” I believe this inflamed tensions, because the Northerners goal was to stop the spread of slavery, and now there was the possibility of slavery being expanded west. The fugitive slave act also made the Northerners furious, because they didn’t want to return runaway slaves back to the slave owners, but they also didn’t want to get punished. The Compromise of 1850 was just one of many reasons that I believe started the Civil War.

Another event that I suppose was a major factor in starting the Civil War was the publishment of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The purpose of the publishment of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was to show Northerners how brutal slavery was.
Southerners, however thought this was not an accurate representation of slavery, and they were outraged. According to document 2, it states what Harriet Beecher Stowe’s intentions were when writing this novel. “She wrote this book to show that slavery was evil and that the Fugitive Slave Law was unjust.” The author of the novel was against totally against all forms of slavery. Also in historical background of document 2, it shows how even with the Fugitive Slave Law in place, abolitionists were still willing to help the slaves out. “Abolitionists wanted to end slavery and some helped slaves escape to the North and Canada…” Southerners on the other hand felt the Northerners were “stealing their property.” Beecher Stowe’s novel had such an impact on Americans at this time of “pre-civil war,” even Abraham Lincoln thought this book tore the country apart further. “According to legend, Abraham Lincoln greeted Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862 by saying “So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” (The National and International Impact of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) Overall, this novel, indeed did tear the country apart further, because both sides just argued more after this novel was
written.

One last reason I believe led to the beginning of the Civil War was the election of 1860. In 1860, there were 4 candidates running for president at the time. All candidates except for Lincoln somehow wanted slavery to continue. Whether it was popular sovereignty, save the government, or flat out spread slavery. 10 of the Southern states didn’t even put Lincoln on the ballot they were so furious. Document 5 has some historical background on the election of 1860, and it states, “In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president after winning EVERY Northern states…” This enraged Southerners. The South felt as if they weren’t being treated properly after Lincoln won the election, since the 16th president wasn’t even put on the ballot in 10 Southern states to begin with. In document 5, it shows what some Southern states did after they got so fed up with the election results. “...and on December 12, 1860 South Carolina was the first state to cede from the Union.” This caused complete chaos in the states, because eventually many states formed their own Union. The election of 1860 I believe was definitely a major factor to the start of the Civil War, which in fact started a few months after the election.

There were many factors that contributed to the start of our Civil War. Since the Northerners and Southerners had differing opinions, they had many disagreements. The three factors I believe had the most crucial role in starting the war was the Compromise of 1850, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and the election of 1860. The Civil War had a huge impact on our county, and our country has never been the same.