The Westward expansion began in 1803 with the purchase of land that doubled the territory of the United States. The Louisiana purchase sparked the interest of Americans in what they considered virgin western land (Civil War and 19th Century Westward Expansion, 00:02:27). Expeditions were launched, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean and returning with exciting tales and detailed maps of the territory. The prospect of spreading American values and civilization further to the west facilitated the government’s hunger for Texas annexation. Through the ideas of Manifest Destiny and pro-slavery arguments, it was manageable to offer Texas statehood in 1845 (Westward Expansion During the 19th Century, 00:09:46). The proposition led to a war with Mexico, by the end of which the U.S. acquired new lands, including California and New Mexico, for a payment.
However, the decision to annex Texas took Congress a long time to be made. This was due to the northerners’ unwillingness to grant slave-owners more land and workforce to compete. As such, they countered the annexation with Wilmot Proviso, denying slavery to enter any of the newly acquired lands. The dispute ended with a solution called “popular sovereignty,” allowing the settlers to decide the question of slavery expansion (Watson, 2018). Although it seemed to be a fair compromise, the doctrine only managed to fuel a further feud between the south and the north.
Together with the annexation of Texas, the topic of reoccupation of Oregon and Utah was raised many times. Yet large, the seemingly far lands were dangerous due to the conflict with native tribes and boundary disputes with Britain (Watson, 2018). Despite that, the government managed to acquire these territories and significantly expand the range of American borders with Texas, California, and New Mexico. However, the new prospect of farmable land and profits led to new serious disputes on the matter of slavery.
The ever-growing conflict between the south and the north led to the constant emergence of new issues. The government was struggling to find a way to pass a law omnibus that would satisfy both sides on the matter of slavery expansion to the western territory. As such, the bill was divided into several parts in order to achieve approval of each component and resolve the crisis. The following of such laws was known as the Compromise of 1850 (Watson, 2018). It included admitting California as a slavery-free state and optional adoption of slavery to New Mexico and other Mexican Cession lands (Watson, 2018). Since it was known that this territory would be proclaimed free soil, demising there the power of the south, a further trade had to be made.
The cost of trading freedom in the newly acquired territory was a stricter Fugitive Slave Act. The enforcement of the law was demanded by the slaveholders due to their infuriation with the northerners helping the runaways. The act forced northern American state officials and local bystanders to assist in recapturing fugitives. It now did not require a jury trial or proof of ownership, releasing a wave of massive abductions of people of color across the country (Watson, 2018). The horrors of slavery acquired public attention, attracting more sympathy among the northerners. The south slaveholders viewed the act as their only gain from the Compromise, further facilitating their rage towards others’ struggles to comply with the Fugitive Slave Act. Ultimately the legislation brought even more trouble and disagreement between the two parties.
The government’s desire to occupy new territories and build a railroad from Chicago to California brought forward a new act that supposedly would facilitate the cause and bring peace between the south and the north. The Kansas-Nebraska Act included a provision for popular sovereignty over slavery in the territory, denouncing the results of the Compromise of 1850 (Watson, 2018). Such proposition was meant to win the southerners, yet did not seem to pose any danger to freedom due to slavery hostile voters. Despite that, the act enraged the north, proving to them the existence of the secret Slave Power (Watson, 2018). Fearing the doom of the American free soil and promoting God’s cause for human freedom, mass rallies and protests were launched, denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Immediately after the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, the territory of Kansas formed two legislatures. Anti- and pro-slavery competing governments, each claiming to be the only legitimate one, viewed Kansas as the tipping point of their dispute. It did not take the parties’ fight to turn to the streets. The first government to announce itself and the first to attack the opponents were slaveholders (Watson, 2018). Their attack on the antislavery town of Lawrence forced the other side to act. The response was delivered by John Brown and his raid, kidnapping and then murdering five pro-slavery residents. “Bleeding Kansas” was the result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, escalating the situation to the bloodshed that seemed necessary to both sides.
At the same time, other parts of America were torn because of the case of Dred Scott. Having been considered a slave of an army surgeon, he was taken to the free states of Illinois and a part of Wisconsin Territory, which is counted as free soil according to the Compromise. After living there for several years, he was brought to St. Louis, the slave state of Missouri. Dred Scott and his wife sued for their liberty, claiming their residency in a free state made them free. He was able to take his case to the federal and to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it gained much publicity. In the end, the judge declared Dred Scott to be denied his freedom and also not to be considered American based on the color of his skin (Watson, 2018). The unjust verdict also went against the Compromise of 1850, endangering the freedom of many Americans.
By 1858, John Brown had developed another plan for a raid, focusing on seizing a federal arsenal. With raised funds and a group of black and white comrades, he descended on the weapon factory at Harper’s Ferry (Watson, 2018). Brown’s party took serious losses and, in the end, was captured by US Marines in a day in a half. Although Brown was condemned to death and the southerners were relieved, the north saw the raider as a hero and a martyr.
To the south, the elections of 1860 were decisive. They believed that if the Republicans were to win, it would mean the end of slavery. Despite that, the Democrats were unable to unite on several occasions; refusing to succumb to each other’s demands, the northern and southern Democrats chose their own nominees (Watson, 2018). At the same time, the Republican party nominated, unknown to most Americans at the time, Abraham Lincoln. Although the southerners attempted to scare the voters of the consequences of a Republican victory and threatened to leave the Union, Lincoln won the majority of the Electoral College. This triumph hailed the crush of the supposed Slave Power.
References
Watson, H. L. (2018). Building the American Republic, Volume 1. In Building the American Republic, Volume 1. University of Chicago Press.
Aspen Institute. (2018). Civil War and 19th Century Westward Expansion [Video]. C-Span.
Aspen Institute. (2018). Westward Expansion During the 19th Century [Video]. C-Span.