Analyze the ways in which controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories contributed

to the coming of the Civil War. Confine your answer to the period 1845-1861.

Throughout the years, America has been exceptional at solving political issues through
compromising. However, with all the political issues leading up to 1861, war was almost inevitable. If
America had been able to compromise about slavery issues, we might have been able to avoid war. The
controversy over the extension of slavery into western territories did much damage to the state and
stability of our country since we failed to compromise on a series of events. The three big events that
led to war were the annexing of Texas, the Wilmot proviso, and the formation of the Republican Party.

As the north was in the heart of the Industrial Revolution, they relied heavily on the textile mills
to support them, especially with all the immigrants that were coming to the north. On the other hand,
the south relied more and more heavily on agriculture to sustain them. As more textile mills were being
built in the north, the south needed slavery in order to provide the resources that the northern mills
could purchase. When Texas wanted to be annexed, however people were afraid that it would upset the
balance.

Now that Texas was a slave state, the north was lower in the balance. After the Mexican cession,
the Wilmot proviso tried to get passed, which would mean that every new state in the Mexican cession
would become a free state. This infuriated the south since it would stop the spread of slavery in the new
territory. The south grew more and more and angrier with the north because of this, and even more
with John Brown. John Brown led a slave army to try and defeat the plantation owners in the south,
which left them paranoid and fearful of losing their slaves, especially since many slaves were running
away to be protected by the northerners.

As the abolition movement was well underway, the south grew more and angrier with the
north. They even decided that if a Republican president was elected, they would secede. At the time,
the Republican Party was a brand new party whose views were completely against the south. Though
they did not want an immediate end to slavery, they wanted to stop the spread of it. In addition to this,
California was admitted as a free state, which upset the balance to sixteen to fifteen in favor of the
north.

If the north and south had been able to compromise on some of these issues, war could have
potentially been avoided. The MO Compromise is a relevant event to this since it shows how America
can compromise. In order to save the balance, America admitted Missouri as a slave state, and Maine
became a free state. One of the arguments against this, however, is that if America compromised with
the south, slavery might not have been abolished. Though it hurt the US at the time, it ended with a war
that resulted in the ending of slavery, which was a big achievement for America and humanity. Though
the controversy over the extension of slavery ended in a war due to a series of events that we failed to
compromise on, the outcome of it all was good since slavery had ended in the US.