The beginning of slavery in North America occurred in 1619 when the first 20 African blacks where brought to English North America. They arrived on a Dutch ship and were sold at Jamestown. Records after this time are sketchy to point out whether these were really slaves or not, but by the 1660s local statutes had firmly established the institution in Virginia and Maryland. Throughout the next hundred years, slavery grew not only in the North but also in the South. With every new state came new slave territories and more of a need for their services.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they

War with Mexico happened during the Polk presidency. The U. S. had an overwhelmingly large advantage over Mexico financially and by sheer size. With Mexico having defaulted on debts owed to the United States, this lead many to believe in the use of force to obtain the money. Polk then appointed General Zachary Taylor to uphold and defend the Texas border. However, America and Mexico both debated on what the border actually was. Taylor approached the Rio Grande, which was 150 miles farther South than Mexico had placed their border. Therefore, to Mexico this seemed to be an offensive move by the U. S. As a result, Santa Anna sent his troops towards the river collecting every able-bodied male they came across in the path of their march. The U. S. had 2300 Americans on the North shore of the Rio Grande and Mexico had 7500 Mexicans on the South side. The battle began and the Mexicans were easily defeated. This created a trend, which continued throughout the conflict. !

For more than 30 years, arguments between the North and South had been growing. One of these quarrels was taxes paid on goods brought into this country from foreign countries. This type of tax is called a tariff. In 1828, Northern businessmen helped get the Tariff Act passed. It raised the prices of manufactured products from Europe, which were sold mainly in the South. The purpose of the law was to encourage the South to buy the North’s products. It angered the Southern people to have to pay more for the goods they wanted from Europe or to pay more to get goods from the North. Either way the Southern people were forced to pay more for goods because of the efforts of Northern businessmen. Though most of the tariff laws had been changed by the time of the Civil War, the Southern people still remember how the Northern people treated them.

In 1854 came yet another slap in the face for the South, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. The law created federal territories and repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise in so far that the inhabitants of the said territories were allowed to decide for themselves if slavery was to be legal there, or not. The reason for the act was that pioneers wanted to open the lands to settlements, and by Northern factions supporting a transcontinental railroad. Since the Missouri compromise prohibited slavery in these territories, the South voted the original bill down. The inclusion of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and of popular sovereignty was passed. Popular sovereignty split the Democratic Party and destroyed it as a national party. The wigs opposed the issue and killed any of their chances in the South. This added supporters and candidates to the newly formed Republican Party.

4. On April 23, 1860, Democratic Convention opens in Charleston, South Carolina.

30. February 1, 1861 Texas secedes from Union.

Some topics in this essay:
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