How Polks Election and the US-Mexican War Lit the Fuse to Disunion - Essay Example

?Part ONE: Disunion: Tell me how Polk’s election and the US-Mexican War lit the fuse to disunion. Describe and explain the breakup of the Union between 1848 and 1861. What roles did slavery, generational change, poor presidential leadership and the breakup of the Whig and Democratic Parties play? Polk was Jackson’s protege and believed in many of the same things as Jackson did (Brinkley, 428). His victory in 1845 was influential in starting the disunion of the United States, as he allowed the resolution of Texas’ admission to the Union as a slave state. This was swiftly followed by the addition of Florida as a slave state (Brinkley, 440). Additionally, the US-Mexican war was potentially provoked during Polk’s presidency, as they were already annoyed by the annexation of Texas. He was also interested in purchasing Baja California and New Mexico, which was seen as an insult and the Mexicans felt disarmed by this new president and his choices (Brinkley, 443). Polk himself provoked the war, using the new Texas-Mexico border as justification. The US-Mexican war was another provocation towards disunion because many of those living in the Southern states and former Mexican territories were in support of the war, but those living in the north felt it to be unnecessary. Ulysses S. Grant felt the war to be immoral, which suggests the position of many of the Northern Whigs. At the time, there was mounting tension about a number of issues in the U.S. which eventually led to a break-up of the Union between 1848 and 1861. Slavery was a growing concern, with many slave-owning states being concerned about the lack of economic security that would come from abolition, and those in the north feeling slave ownership to be immoral. Millard Fillmore became the last Whig president. Fillmore hated slavery but enforced the new Fugitive Slave Law, which meant that many African Americans were being arrested and had to escape to Canada to escape slavery (Brinkley, 425). The Whig party was also affected by many of the developments at the time, as they felt offended by the compromise of 1850, and there was a divide in the presidential candidate backed by Southern Whigs and Northern Whigs. This dissent in the party ranks eventually led to the dissolution of the Whig party, and is the reason why Millard Fillmore was the last Whig president. Additionally, Pierce was elected President by the majority but is widely acknowledged to be one of the worst U.S. presidents in history (Brinkley, 424). He attempted to save the Union by backing pro-slavery sentiments, which makes him unusual for a Yankee. He signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act drafted by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, allowing the people of all Western Territories to vote whether or not to permit slavery (Brinkley, 426). This meant that there could be a change in the divide between pro- and anti-slavery states in the United States, starting a period of intense turmoil. It is important to note that slavery was not the only important aspect of the break-up of the Union, but is a major contributing factor to a number of problems that were occurring across the new continental United States, which was growing in size. Part TWO: The Civil War: In what way did the Confederacy embody Calhoun’s version of Jeffersonianism? In what way did the Union under Lincoln embody the Whig/Republican version of Hamiltonianism? How did Lincoln turn the war into a Second American Revolution? Why were Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg and the election of 1864 important? How and why did the Union eventually prevail? The Confederacy was born out of several states, started by South Carolina in 1860, declaring their independence from the United States as it was (Brinkley, 451). There were several issues that led to this disillusion, one of which being slavery. The Confederacy can be said to embody Calhoun’s version of Jeffersonianism by promoting minimal government, preventing the use of tariffs and funding public works. This is in stark contrast to Hamiltonianism and many of the elements of the United States Constitution, despite the fact that they were 90% similar in wording (Brinkley, 454). The first president of the new Confederate States was Jefferson Davis, whose views were in stark contrast to those of Lincoln (the President of the Union). There are many ways in which Lincoln and his government of the Union shared elements of Hamiltonianism. He supported land grants, homestead legislation, and the railroads, which suggests he supported many of the same things as Hamilton did (Brinkley, 460). Lincoln was also more interested in having a strong central government as opposed to Jefferson Davis. Lincoln can also be said to have encouraged the industrial and commercial growth in the Union, as Hamiltonianism would suggest (Brinkley, 461). There are many other elements in which Jefferson Davis and Lincoln were in stark contrast, including the fact that Lincoln was very opposed to slavery and Davis was a slave owner. This type of contrast between the two leaders can be said to mirror some of the differences between attitudes in the Union and the Confederate states. Lincoln also managed to turn the war into a Second American Revolution at several points, including the Gettysburg address and his Emancipation Proclamation, which essentially made the United States into a different place than it had been before. European powers were also encouraged to stay away from the United States for a number of reasons, putting the United States in a more independent position than ever before (Brinkley, 461). All of these developments can be said to have led to the Civil War, one of the most defining parts of U.S. history. There were several battles that were important for the Civil War. The battle of Antietam, for example, has been the most deadly battle waged over a single day on U.S. soil. There was no tactical winner of the battle, but it can be suggested that the outcome of the battle led to Lincoln having the confidence to make the Emancipation Proclamation, which meant that European governments were less likely to recognize the independence of the Confederate states (Brinkley, 468). All those who were in the Confederate states as slaves were now considered to be “forever free”. Vicksburg and Gettysburg were considered to be the “turning point” of the Civil War because of the surrender of Confederate troops at Vicksburg and the losses for the Confederate army in Gettysburg. Gettysburg also led to the famous Gettysburg address in which President Lincoln redefined the purpose of the war (Brinkley, 471). The election of 1864 was important because it showed popular support for Lincoln and did not include votes from any of the annexed Confederate states (Brinkley, 473). The Union eventually won the Civil War because of the losses during many of the battles in the Civil War (perhaps due to the Union’s more advanced firepower), as well as several issues with Confederate leadership (Brinkley, 473). Part THREE: Reconstruction: How did Lincoln’s death complicate matters? How did Radical Republicans try to remake the South? What did Reconstruction accomplish? How did the South resist and finally defeat Reconstruction After the Civil War, there were many years of Reconstruction needed to essentially turn the United States into a peaceful and agreeable country (Brinkley, 475). There were several issues that were solved by the Civil War, including the feelings on slavery (and that slavery must come to an end in all states in the U.S.) as well as feelings that the U.S. was indivisible (Brinkley, 476). However, there were many other issues to sort out after the abolition of slavery. For example, there needed to be a decision made about how freedmen were going to live in Southern society now that they were not “employed” as slaves. It was also unknown how the rebellious states in the South would be best incorporated into a union with the Northern states after their victory (Brinkley, 478). These issues were further complicated by the death of Lincoln, who was an incredibly strong leader for the Union during the civil war. Lincoln came up with a plan to Reconstruct the United States after the war, which was obviously affected by his assassination. Without Lincoln, the plans to help reincorporate the Southern states were lost and therefore the Reconstruction was much slower than planned. Sumner and Stevens were examples of Radical Republicans, who were increasingly involved in the Reconstruction. These people supported rights for freedmen, which the new president Andrew Johnson did not support (Brinkley, 481). These people were for the rights of African Americans, wishing to give them suffrage and their power meant that many of the oppositions to their ideas as made by Johnson were vetoed (Brinkley, 490). This attitude led to them having a huge amount of influence over the Reconstruction of the United States. Despite this, many in the South were still against many of the rights for African American freedmen (Brinkley, 491), and many in the North did not care about the developments of the Reconstruction (Brinkley, 493). This meant that many of the plans started by Lincoln and continued by the Radical Republicans eventually fell flat, leading to the end of the Reconstruction by 1877 (Brinkley, 496). The South continued to be against many of the changes brought in and this was spurred on by their continuing racism and desire to be separate from the Northern more liberal states (Brinkley, 496). This led to the Jim Crow system, brought in to avoid the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments (Brinkley, 501), suggesting that the South and Southern white people had actually managed to avoid Reconstruction in many ways and kept a lot of their own independent ideas about African Americans. Additionally, many black people in the South continued to be maltreated by white people and this led to circumstances that some felt were worse than slavery (Brinkley, 502), suggesting that the South had managed to avoid Reconstruction in the way that Lincoln had dreamed of, and leaving a continuing tradition of racism for the time being. Read More