What Laid out the Foundation for the Civil War?

The Civil War did not just start over one action or decision, but the combination of many. One great reason for the start of the Civil War was abolitionism. Abolitionism was practiced heavily in the north and it taught that slavery was completely wrong and should be abolished, thus giving them the name Abolitionists. Another cause for the Civil War the Mexican War in the west. The US was continuing in their faith of manifest destiny and they seized all the land they could get west. The problem with gaining all this land though was if they were to make states there would have to be one Free State for every slave state to balance the power of the North and the South. The choice to stop creating this balance was the Kansas Nebraska Act. The Kansas Nebraska Act stated that the state would be slave or free due to popular sovereignty. This didn't work well and became a place for Pro-slave and anti-slave people to fight.

Abolitionism was an idea that many people believed in in the north. They did not realize the economic benefit of slavery in the south and also how the south did not all treat slaves in a cruel manner. Abolitionists taught that slaves in the south were constantly beaten and poorly cared for and not even recognized as human beings. This was not true at all, slaves were actually seen in most cases as family members and plantation owners in the south. They were treated with respect and they would care for the owner's children and even the women would nurse the babies. The south did not like how they were pictured as a hateful, cruel people. This was a definite factor in splitting the north from the south and setting the stage for the Civil War.

The Mexican war was the ending to America's manifest destiny. They were seizing land for the country to create into states and to expand the country in size physically and economically. After the Mexican war was fought they had to decide on how to create states and which ones would be free or slave. The north that controlled congress and the senate of course wanted to create more free states than slave. This, however, created a perfect scene for the Civil War to begin. When Free states outnumbered slave states, congress passed a strict fugitive slave law that would balance the