Manifest Destiny and the Civil War - Essay Example

Manifest Destiny and the Civil War Manifest Destiny and the Civil War The ment, “Expansion brought sectional antagonism to a boiling point, split the Democratic Party in the late 1840s and set the nation on the path to civil war,” is true. This is due to the different views and opinions that the different individuals involved had. Manifest Destiny was a common belief that the USA was to expand across the continent. The USA used this as a means to justify their war with Mexico. The concept of expansion was refuted by the likes of Abraham Lincoln who thought it better deepen the economy rather than broaden its expanse.

The notable opposition on the issue led to a division in the Democratic Party (Catton, 2006). The sectional Debate was a special debate that revealed very difficult differences the USA had amongst itself. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, introduced by Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, had a huge impact on the Northerners. This is because it made them believe that the Act was slave power conspiracy to control the federal government. The Minnesota moved and amended the constitution that abolished slavery. Ohio decided to make it a punishable offence to own or have slaves.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act seemed to favor the Southern parts. This was because they raised opposition against the passing of the railroad in their land. The Act was amended such that they were allowed to states that allowed the owning of slaves. This later led to the introduction of the many slave states. The Northerners in general opposed the idea and some of the big Whigs decided to form the Republican Party (Catton, 2006). Some of the slave in the United States included Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and New York.

Later, New York and New Jersey became Free states. The Free states included Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Oregon, Iowa and Minnesota. The altering of the latitude line in the redrawing of the map made Utah and New Mexico areas that were open to slavery. The South did not gain from the compromise of 1850. This is because the states were highly dependent on the slave labor provided for by the slaves they owned.

Unlike their Northern counterparts, the Southern lacked the ability to industrialize since they relied solely on cash crop production. The Northern states, however, were much luckier since they had added more miles of railroad, steel production, modern factories and even the general population (Catton, 2006). The civil war in the USA was in the Southern states. They declared secession from the US when Abraham Lincoln was declared president. They perceived slavery to be one of the main reasons as to why the war began.

The Republican Party, headed by Abraham Lincoln, was striving to ensure that slavery was abolished, but there were some of the Southern leaders who did not want that. After four years of war, the Southern states, also known as the confederate states of America, gave up, and slavery was abolished all across the nation (Catton, 2006). In conclusion, the intended purpose of the expansion of the USA throughout the continent was achieved though not as much as it would have expected. ReferencesCatton, B. (2006) The Civil War, American Heritage.

New York: Macmillan.