The Impact of Political Breakdown (1854-1859)

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The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Its Impact

One of the main triggers for the political breakdown was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This law allowed settlers in the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether slavery would be allowed within their borders.
The Act virtually nullified the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that had tried to maintain a balance between slave and free states. The new approach of ‘popular sovereignty’ reopened the national controversy over slavery.
Politics became increasingly polarized. The Act gave rise to the Republic Party, a coalition of anti-slavery Whigs, Democrats, and Free-Soilers. The party’s stated mission was to prevent the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Violence In and Over Kansas

Violence soon erupted over the slavery question in Kansas and came to be known as Bleeding Kansas. It was a microcosm of the violence that would soon consume the nation.
Another essential event was abolitionist John Brown’s raid on the settlement at Pottawatomie Creek in 1856. Brown’s violent tactics showed a new readiness among some anti-slavery activists to use force to end the institution.
The ‘‘Sumner-Brooks Affair’’ in 1856 further revealed the country’s bitter divisions. After Senator Charles Sumner gave an antislavery speech, Representative Preston Brooks physically assaulted him in the senate chamber, causing outrage in both regions.

The Dred Scott Decision

The Dred Scott Decision by the Supreme Court in 1857 dealt a major blow to the Republic Party that sought to prevent the spread of slavery.
The court ruled that Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in a free state, had no rights as a citizen and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories, declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
This decision further inflamed the sectional conflict and pushed the nation closer to disunion and war.

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

In 1859, John Brown led an armed assault on the federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. He planned to initiate a slave revolt, but the raid ended in failure.
Nevertheless, the event frightened southerners, who saw it as evidence of widespread northern support for a slave insurrection.
Brown’s raid and his subsequent martyrdom lit another spark for the Civil War, with the nation splitting further apart over contentious disputes on slavery.

Overall, the political breakdown between 1854 and 1859 was marked by increasing sectional tension, escalating violence, and an overall sentiment that compromise was no longer possible. These were among the key catalysts for the eventual outbreak of the Civil War.