Short Essay

Dred Scott: Dred Scott was a slave owned by an army officer who lived for a time in
a northern state. Scott sued for his freedom claiming that he had been living in free
lands. The Supreme Court ruled in 1857 that as a slave he was not a citizen so had
no right to sue and, more importantly, Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in
the new territories, thus nullifying the Missouri Compromise.
Indian Removal Act: To help keep peace between the Americans and the Native
Americans, Andrew Jackson wished to relocate the Indian tribes west of the
Mississippi River to the Indian Territory. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian
Removal Act. This gave permission to federal representatives to strike agreements
with Indian tribes to sell their land and move to the Indian Territory.
Horace Mann: As part of the reform movements, Horace Mann from Massachusetts
organized efforts to promote public education and improve the training of teachers
so students would have better education. Mann, along with other modern educators,
believed that public education should nurture morality, patriotism, and respect
from the youth.
Dorothea Dix: During the Victorian era, middle-class women were rising up to
become active in the reform movements. Dorothea Dix was one of these women who
wanted to devote as much time as possible to help in the reform. The Sunday school
teacher worked diligently starting from 1841 to improve conditions in insane
asylums across the entire country. This time sparked the desire for women to have
equal rights as men.
Temperance: During the early years of the 1800s, there were many various reform
organizations and societies that took on problems such as drunkenness,
debauchery, ignorance, and slavery. One such association was called the American
Temperance Society in Boston, Massachusetts that was founded in 1826. The
organization was to warn Americans about the dangers of alcohol and how drinking
too much resulted in social ills and personal problems.
Carpetbaggers: In the early 1870s, carpetbaggers was a nickname given to the
freedmen and white Republicans by the Democrats in the South. Carpetbaggers
were usually recent immigrants from the North, who had joined the Republican
Party. While Democrats thought that carpetbaggers were greedy, selfish
opportunists but some were abolitionists and missionaries as well.
Scalawags: In the early 1870s, scalawags was a nickname given to the freedmen
and white Republicans by the Democrats in the South. Scalawags were usually
native southerners, who had joined the Republican Party. Many were Unionists who
had disagreed with secession in 1860-1861 but now supported the Republican
Party. Democrats thought that scalawags were greedy, selfish opportunists.

Preston Brooks: In 1856, a pro-slavery group entered Lawrence and burned down
many buildings. This violence sparked tension across the North and South.
Republican Charles Sumner of Massachusetts attacked Senator Andrew Butler of
South Carolina after hearing about the fight in Lawrence. This triggered
Congressmen Preston Brooks, Butlers nephew, to beat Sumner with his cane. In the
North, Brooks was considered a villain and a brute but in the South, he was
considered a hero.
Zachary Taylor: During the fight for western land with Mexico around 1847, the US
forces were under the leadership of Zachary Old Rough and Ready Taylor. Under
Taylors command, 5000 US troops defeated 20,000 Mexicans in the battle of Buena
Vista. Taylor then was nominated for president for the election of 1848. Whigs did
not like Taylor because they were opposed to slavery. However, Taylor still
managed to win the election and the Hero of Buena Vista became the next US
president.
John Brown: In 1856, a pro-slavery group entered Lawrence and burned down
many buildings included a hotel that was hosting the Emigrant Aid Society. John
Brown and his followers then reacted and killed five men, who he believed was proslavery, in the Pottawatomie Massacre. Later in 1859, Brown attempted to start a
slave rebellion across the south with his raid at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. He failed,
was arrested, and then tried and executed.
James Polk: The democrats nominated James Polk of Tennessee, who supported
annexation and land expansion, for president in the 1844 elections. Although more
Americans voted against Polk than for him, he still won. On May 9, 1846 the US and
Mexican forces started to fight over an area around the Rio Grande River which both
sides claimed to have possession of. Because of this, a declaration of war was called
on May 13, 1846. The US surprisingly won the war and with the downfall of Mexico
City, a treaty was made that Polk accepted and ratified in 1848.
Stephen Douglas: With the help of Clay and Webster, Stephen Douglas of Illinois
joined the Whigs and supported the Compromise of 1850. They all rallied up
Democrats from the Midwest and Upper South. Because of their strong efforts and in
a series of separate bills, Congress approved the compromise. However, in the years
after the compromise, the Whigs were destroyed. Douglas persuaded Congress to
pass the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 in an effort to unify his party once again.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Stephen Douglas had hopes of reunifying his political party
with the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. This Act opened up the territory to slavery
and allowed the citizens to choose whether they wanted it to be a slave or free state
based on the Popular Sovereignty. Douglas planned to have a railroad run from
Chicago to California so the Kansas-Nebraska Territory would be linked to the
Midwest also.

Andrew Jackson: Andrew Jacksons image was a man of the people. He was not
born into a high-class family; he was a self-made man, who raised himself to become
a successful lawyer, general, and politician. Jackson was able to build the Democratic
Party, which caused his rivals to organize the Whig Party. Jackson was responsible
for the modern two-party system in the government. During the election of 1828,
Jackson easily won against Adams and served as president for two terms (18291837).
Martin Van Buren: Martin Van Buren of New York supported Andrew Jackson and
built his own political party called the Bucktails in 1820. Buren teamed up with
Jackson to accomplish his goal of creating a new national party. When Jackson
decided to not run for a third term as president, he endorsed Buren for the election
of 1836. Buren won and he took office from 1837-1841. However, soon after taking
office, the country was struck with the Panic of 1837 and a depression. Most people
blamed Buren and he was not re-elected.
Andrew Johnson: Andrew Johnson was a determined Democrat from east
Tennessee. He was a Unionist who strongly opposed his states secession from the
Union. Johnson won the election and served as president from 1865-1869. Radical
Republicans in Congress disliked Johnson and from 1866-1868, they engaged in a
battle over Reconstruction, which the president lost. Congress in 1867 passed the
Tenure-in-Office Act to stop Johnson from dismissing Edwin Stanton, a Radical
Republican. Johnson considered this unconstitutional and dismissed Stanton in
1868. The House of Representatives attempted to remove him from office but was
short only one vote. In the following election of 1868, Johnson was not nominated
for another term.
Essay
There were numerous reasons that caused the Civil War (1861-1865)
between the North and South of the United States. The disagreement between the
North and South started back with the controversy of state or federal power with
Jefferson and Hamilton. Most Federalists, including Hamilton, believed in having a
strong, active Federal government. While the Republicans and Jefferson ultimately
believed that the nation needed a decentralized, limited government. They put more
power in the states because they believed that it better represented the people and
their sovereignty. This began the tension between the two sides. The dividing line
between the North and the South got bigger because of the differences of the
industrial North and the agricultural South. Both sides considered that their own
economic ways was the best for the nation to strive. I believe that the central
government was a help to the North Federalists and a hindrance to the South, who
did not want a large government.
However, I think that moral issues were the main reason for the Civil War.
The dispute over slavery and free labor made a personal argument between the
North and the South. Everyone, no matter where they lived, could relate to the issue

of slavery and pick a side. The divide between the North and South was ultimately
created because people were easily able to pick between owning slaves or not.
There were people who would murder to prove that slavery was wrong. John Brown
tried to organize a slave rebellion across the South and killed men who were proslavery. Nat Turner is another example of a person who was willing to commit
murder to prove a point. He led many men to different slave-owners farms and
attacked families. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was also passed over the issue of
slavery. The North and South may have started fighting because of political
concerns, but the war kept going because of the moral aspect of slavery.