Westward Expansion the Idea of Essay

While Taylor believed that the Union was not threatened by this decision, it became alarmingly apparent that the North and South ideas would differ greatly. The conflict had escalated regarding the slavery laws and the newly added territories that some of the Southern senators at the time -- Jefferson Davis, John C. Calhoun, and William H. Seward -- would fight for "equal position in the territories," to protect the citizens of the Southern states "against abolitionists" ("Compromise").

This dispute became further aggravated by Henry Clay's proposition of a bill to the Senate, which would certainly admit California as a free state, with no mention of whether the New Mexico and Utah territories would be allowed slaves. The bill also proposed a prohibition of the slave trade in the capital District of Columbia, as well as a stricter set of fugitive slave law. Once more, slave and territory disputes came hand in hand; long debates were held, and the threat of a Southern cessation loomed over Congress.It is true that westward expansion would create more opportunity for United States citizens to explore territories to the west of the colonial east. However, because of the already burgeoning differences between the North and South regarding slavery, territorial expansion had various political disputes attached to it. The spreading of slavery was prohibited by the Wilmot Proviso and the subsequent bills proposed by Clay and passed by Congress. Because of the South's stance on the matter, the threat of a break from the Union was slowly becoming a reality. Less than a decade later, the Civil War would break out, to finally settle the issue at hand begun by expansion to the West.

Resources

"Compromise of 1850." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2010): 1. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.

Taylor, Gilbert. "Manifest Destinies: America's Westward Expansion and the Road to the….....