Amistad Issues

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Steven Spielberg portrays a connection between the Amistad case and the Civil War, failing to include the broader aspects that led to the inevitable conflict. Although the movie Amistad depicted the conflicting views of the north and south, there were many key issues that Spielberg neglected to include that were taking place during the 1800’s to1860’s. These issues were effected by the major changes occurring within the United States at the time. The social, political and economic events that occurred before, during, and after the Amistad case were the agents that fueled the conflict leading to the Civil War. During the Second Great Awakening, a religious revival exploded, molding new religious views into the minds of Americans. A Cane Bridge…show more content…
Polk’s election which resulted in the Mexican American War. As desired, through the treaty of Guadalupe, America received fifty percent of Mexico's natural territory from a payment of fifteen million dollars (Lecture, Sectionalism and the Civil War).This erupted a conflict of disputed territory of whether or not the land would contain slaves. Influenced by Henry Clay, the Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state while introducing popular sovereignty which allowed newly acquired territories to decide on slavery for themselves (MHL, The Compromise of 1850). The Compromise of 1850 undid the Missouri Compromise, that the states below the 36-30 parallel were slave states and everything above were free. However, Missouri entered the U.S. as an exception which prompted the first national fights. This issue also arose while Kansas and Nebraska were being admitted into the U.S.. The opportunity of popular sovereignty encouraged many Jacksonian democrats to move towards these territories influencing the proslavery…show more content…
In 1854, Stephen Douglas established the Kansas-Nebraska Act which permitted the people of the two states to decide whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. This idea of popular sovereignty was based off Jacksonian Democracy which allowed white men to partake in a state decision which was usually decided by the Federal Government. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise and conflict eventually arose. When proslavery and antislavery men flooded into Kansas in attempt to influence the decision, violence erupted. This uprising over the issue of slavery became known as Bleeding Kansas, the precursor to the Civil
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