Civil War

Civil War

Discuss the relationship between the Mexican-American War and the Coming of the American Civil War by identifying and explaining the historical significance of the Wilmot Proviso, the Free Soil Party, and the Compromise of 1850.

The Mexican-American war was a conflict between the United States and Mexico between the years 1846 to 1848 over the annexation of Texas that was claimed by Mexico as part of her territory. In the war, American authorities occupied New Mexico and California and later invaded areas of north western and eastern Mexico which resulted in the victory of United States over Mexico (Huntington, 2009). Later, borders were defined by Mexico and the situation was settled between the two countries. Mexico was already hunting down a civil war after the separation from Spain in 1821. There were a series of battles fought between those periods after the claim it was confirmed that the United States singled out Mexican territories claiming the expansion of borders.

Wilmot Proviso was a key event that had taken place that led towards the American civil war in relation to the Mexican American war that would have excluded slavery from any of the occupied territory from Mexico. The noteworthy involvement of the Free Soil Party that was active in those years had a major political influence in the civil war. Most of the former anti slavery party members formed it in New York State with a political manifesto to reduce the expansion of slavery towards the West arguing the fulfillment of the freedom of a man. In agreement with the Wilmot Proviso ideology of not introducing slavery into the new states; Free soil party was standing up to stop discrimination against African Americans (Huntington, 2009).

After the formation of invaded lands from Mexico and the Wilmot proviso, a strong opposition was faced by the South demanding Southern California to be included as a slave territory. The difference of opinion also built up the mindset and Texas took El Paso in 1850 which was part of the results of the compromise. The series of events that took place in order to determine the actual behavior of the American civil war over particular issues, that it had an impact linked with the rights and conditions of slavery against the government of the time (Elkins, 1976).

Discuss the relationship between the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the coming of the American Civil War

The Kansas Nebraska act was one of the major events that took place in defining the grounds for the great American civil war. The act allowed the people of the territories to decide themselves that whether they would allow slavery within the states or not. The pro slavery groups of south supported the acts which were represented as South states of America whereas other states were known as union states of the America (Huntington, 2009).

The anti-slavery forces that were led by john brown were standing opposed by pro-slavery forces that converted the territories into violence and thousands of people died naming it “bleeding ...