When the Union was formed after the Revolution it was set up as a federal system which provided for state’s rights over the government’s rights, as it was set up the constitution had already provided for division between the states who favored state‘s rights and the states who favored the government rights. But the main issue during the Continental Convention was not over state’s rights but slavery; some states were committed to slavery while others in the North wanted to ban slavery. To solve the problem the Constitutional Convention came with the three-fifths rule. Differences over slavery were “settled” but little did the Founding Father know that these differences would be born again to doom the republic.

The three-fifths rule supposedly solve the problem of sectionalism that existed the Union. Slavery was not an important issue in the states but as the population grew and started to think about human rights slaves became to be gradually emancipated in Northern states and differences started to grow again culturally and economically. “Some Northerners thought Southerners would recognize the inefficiency of slavery and end it voluntarily”1 but the events that will c

All the tensions began to build up when ideas of reforms were starting to be heard especially reform in slavery. The creation of an abolitionist movement, the revival of religious values, moral reforms began to anger Southerners who tought they were being excluded from the rest of the country who they taught was conspiring against them. All the fears of division between the North and the South began to emerge. “The North began to believe that the South aimed to expand slavery everywhere (which some did), but more importantly, that the South had too much power - such as the introduction by Congress of a ‘gag rule’ in 1836 to prevent abolitionist petitions being discussed.” 2This was the first step towards the Civil War.

All the old issues about slavery like the “Missouri Crisis” or the “Nullification Crisis” came back on the political scene but added to these new issues came the issue of territorial expansion during the Mexican War. Many began to see that as westward expansion continued the sectional conflict would just get worse. They taught since new lands meant new opportunity, and since the South was “very eager to extend slavery in order to increase profits” the South would control politics and would disrupt the North. This became the main issue in national politics.

The Civil War maybe would have never happened if it wasn’t for the Wilmot Proviso, the Mexican War or the Compromise of 1850. Every time the North and South had differences it was solved. It was going to be the same for the slavery issue but

Some topics in this essay:
Wilmot Proviso, South North, North South, Mexican War, Civil War, War Union, Union Slavery, Abraham Lincoln, Republic Mexico, Republic North, wilmot proviso, civil war, north south, compromise 1850, main issue, three-fifths rule, state’s rights, ban slavery, slavery issue, market revolution,