Causes of the Civil War Based on Rhodes
... to this question to be no while the Southerners, slave-owning and not, wanted the answer to be yes. The government therefore did the most logical thing it could. It compromised. In 1820 the Missouri Compromise settled the argument over slavery. This solution was followed in1850 by Clay’s Compromise which was again composed to calm the churning waters of the slavery issue and to quiet anymore talk of secession by southern fanatics. Then came the election of 1860. In the eyes of Rhodes the outcome of this election was, “The great factor in the destruction of slavery.” Abraham was won the election. Lincoln and the rest of the Republican Party believed that while they could not touch slavery where it already existed they could prevent it from spreading into new the territories. The Southerners, however, felt that they could not allow this to happen. They believed that a slave was property and that any encroachment on their right to own property was a violation of the Constitution. Secession now seemed like the best option to many Southerners. South Carolinians were among the first to openly demand secession from their state government. This action, of course, prompted the immediate response of “form a committee and draw up a compromise” from the federal government. This time, however, there was no compromising. The tumult over slavery had reached such a fevered pitch that no one draw a line that everyone foun...