Trigger Events of the Civil War

[rangerrebew]

Trigger Events of the Civil War
 
Decades of Division

The Civil War was the culmination of a series of confrontations concerning the institution of slavery.
 

In the growth years following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, Congress was compelled to establish a policy to guide the expansion of slavery into the new western territory.  Missouri’s application for statehood as a slave state sparked a bitter national debate.  In addition to the deeper moral issue posed by the growth of slavery, the addition of pro-slavery Missouri legislators would give the pro-slavery faction a Congressional majority. 

Ultimately, Congress reached a series of agreements that became known as the Missouri Compromise.  Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state, preserving the Congressional balance.  A line was also drawn through the unincorporated western territories along the 36°30' parallel, dividing north and south as free and slave. 

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/trigger-events-civil-war

[Absalom]

While slavery was decisive, another economic reality was pivotal.
Since 1775, the South were free traders while the North were
protectionists, particularly w/the emergence of the GOP in 1850,
who were errand boys for the Northern Mercantile Class.