Westward Expansion

1. Westward Expansion By: Marc Collucci, Tonianne Daniello, Ali Ruchman, Rebecca Schneider, NamalSeneviratne

2. Westward expansion was the predominate cause of the Civil War. Thesis

3. Northwest Ordinance • The Northwest Ordinance organized newly acquired territory and prohibited slavery in all new states. • Southerners depended on slavery, while North was driven towards abolition over the years. • This marks the beginning of the conflict. • Missouri Compromise • It was created because the North and South did not know what to do with the land. • Before it was balanced 10:10. • If there was no expansion, there would not be an upset in the balance in the first place. Historical Context1607-1860

4. Compromise of 1850 • California • Seward’s Higher Law speech: Stating that California should be a free state because of a higher law of the Constitution. • Opposition that the speech met. • Seward did not want any compromise, and the same feeling would make the South want to break away. Historical Context1607-1860 (Continued)

5. Kansas-Nebraska Act • Bleeding Kansas • Bleeding Kansas is the first time the tensions broke into bloodshed. • A new property causes violence, and the violence would be reflected in the Civil War. • Political Party Differences • Free Soil Party • Republican Party • Both parties did not want the expansion of slavery. • They did not want states with slavery already to be forced into abolition. Antebellum Period1840-1860