Emily Crilley

Mr. W
Honors US History
19 January 2017

In the pre-Civil War United States, the extension of slavery caused massive
controversy. It would go on to become the main cause of the Civil War. The
extension slavery, caused by the Mexican Cession, Dred-Scott Decision, and the
Freeport Doctrine, contributed extensively to the Civil War.
When the United States won the Mexican-American War, they bought the land
west known as the Mexican Cession. This land became controversial when California
wanted to join the Union. This would cause an imbalance in the congress between
the slave and free states. The Mexican Cession, though important to the ideal of
Manifest Destiny, was highly controversial when it came to the extension of slavery.
The Dred-Scott Decision allowed slavery in a free state, causing anger in the
abolitionist movement. In this decision, it was decided that a slave, living in a free
state, would not be granted his freedom because he was property and seen as less
than human, so he could not even go to court for his emancipation. This caused
upset because the state was a free state knowingly housing a slave.
Finally, the Freeport Doctrine propelled slavery as a main cause of the Civil
War. During the Lincoln and Douglas debate, popular sovereignty was brought into
question. Douglas responded with the Freeport Doctrine, which claims territories
have popular sovereignty to make laws for or against the issue of slavery without
making it completely illegal. This discussion became known as the Freeport Doctrine
and angered many, mostly Republicans who did not want to extend slavery in the

recently acquired territories. The Freeport Doctrine would go on to later divide the
Democratic party and this would cost the Democratic party and this would cost the
Democrats the presidency, losing to Republican Lincoln. The Freeport Doctrine could
be regarded as the event that won Lincoln the Presidential Office. Lincoln did not
want slavery to spread, for economic reasons, as most Republicans would agree,
but he also did not want to go to war.
It can be argued that there are many causes of the Civil War, but slaverys
extension was the main cause of the Civil War. This expansion was apparent in the
Freeport Doctrine, popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession, and the Dre-Scott
Decision. All of these examples, and more, such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act and
Bleeding Kansas, contributed to the inevitable Civil War.