Manifest Destiny Research Paper

Words: 550
Pages: 3

Manifest destiny and the Mexican War inflamed sectionalism because when Texas was given the the U.S., slavery was an issue., as it was allowed in territory it previously was not allowed in. The gaining of the Mexican territories made Americans believe in Manifest Destiny even more. The U.S.Constitution X Amendment allowed states the right to decide for themselves issues not prohibited by the federal government. Slavery was not mentioned in the Constitution at all. The Missouri Compromise stated that all land above latitude 36o; 30' N was to be forever free territory. Federal Courts decided that only applied to the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. So slavery could legally exist north of the 36 o;30' line. Abolitionists were upset …show more content…
Anti-slavery people, Free-Soil Party members and Democrats all created the Republican Party. When Nebraska voted, nobody was surprised that they voted to be free. The southern Democrats did not want to see again when Kansas voted. In March 1855 pro-slavery settlers proposed violence if the voting did not go as they wanted. During the election, thousands of pro-slavery supporters from Missouri rushed across the border and pretended to be Kansans. The election put pro-slavery candidates into office. During this time they upheld The Fugitive Slave Act and passed a law which made it a capital offense to debate slavery within Kansas. This was a violation of the U.S. Constitution I Amendment. Free soilers did not respond well to this. In May 1856 the Lawrence was raided and leveled; one resident was killed. John Brown responded by attacking a pro-slavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek; he killed five men. Brown later moved east and led the attack at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859. People considered the Bleeding of Kansas to be an isolated series of