Peyton CampbellMrs. PatrickApril 10, 2014Period 4A Nation DividedKnown as the Second War for Independence, the Civil War was the most devastating conflict in American history, resulting in more than 600,000 brutal and horrific deaths. In 1861, eleven Southern states formed the Confederate States of America and seceded from the Union due to the growing issue of slavery and the way the government was run. Compatriots from all over the world have fought for four years for their freedom and rights. The controversy over slavery did not end and instead expanded across the nation. Social and political disputes were the main causes that led to the civil war. Social problems gave the North and South a different perspective on slavery, making it a major cause of the Civil War. Beginning as a plan to satisfy the nation by equalizing the number of free and slave states, the Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills that increased the issue of land slavery. Senator Daniel Webster, a supporter of Clay's idea, declared: "There can be no such thing as peaceful secession." (Webster, 1850). Clay's proposal attempted to resolve the social issue of slavery by accepting California into the union as a free state and letting popular sovereignty decide whether slavery should be allowed in New Mexico and Utah. However, the Compromise of 1850 led to further social controversy in the nation. The North did not want slavery to expand into the West, while the South thought that compromise was unnecessary and that they should not argue about land and slavery. This caused great chaos as both sides fought to claim the land as their own. Additionally, the Fugitive Slave Law was one of five bills in the Compromise that further increased sectionalism on the issue… middle of paper… slavery that led to the Civil War. Social and political events contributed to issues relating to slavery, growing sectionalism, and leading to the horrific deaths of average citizens in the bloody Civil War. Continuous social compromises were added trying to reduce problems between each region, but ended up causing more chaos and conflict. Political debates and speeches gave each side a voice during the war and managed to convince people to think the same way about their leaders. Although events like the Compromise of 1850 and the Lincoln-Douglas debates started the nation's greatest war, the outcome of the war gave everyone new hope. New laws were enacted and old ones were revised, bringing about equal rights and a sense of nationalism. The traumatic war of the century led to the creation of a new nation and a new perspective, realizing the American dream.