US CIVIL WAR QUESTION: How did the development of the west (US) contribute to the US Civil War?

Question

I know how the industrial and "moral" development of the North and South contributed to the start of the US Civil War but I have no clue how the development of the west contributed to it. Anyone know? It would be VERY helpful.

Also, if anyone can give me more detail about the theory that the north got involved in the war to gain more control of the south, rather than to stop slavery, that would be good too. I've heard that the North used slavery as a moral excuse to start the war rather than a logical one and that the main goal of the north was to just gain further economic and political control of the south.

This is for an essay, thanks. If you can't get to both questions, answer my first one if you can't get both.

Answer 1

The development of the West made the conflict between the pro- and anti-slavery forces more acute, thus serving as a contributing factor to the reason for war. Both forces realize whichever side gains more control over the new territories; that side will control the nation. As the source I cited below states:

"Much of the political battle in the 1850s focused on the expansion of slavery into the newly created territories[in the West]. Both North and South assumed that if slavery could not expand it would wither and die.

Well-founded Southern fears of losing control of the Federal government to antislavery forces, and northern fears that the slave power already controlled the government, brought the crisis to a head in the late 1850s. "

Slavery in the South deprived the industrial Northeast of a potentially low cost labor source and made farm products from the Midwest less competitive. Therefore, from the practical economic standpoint, there were reasons for the North to want to abolish the plantation system in the South; by force if necessary.

Slavery indeed was the issue but it wasn't for the main interests of the slaves.

Answer 2

No war is started for one single reason. Many differences, misunderstandings and conflicts over time lead to war. Slavery was the BIG issue and as western states were added to the Union there was a lot of controversy over whether a "slave" state would be added along with a "free" state in order to maintain the voting balance in the U.S. Senate. There are many theories about why the war started. Many in the South felt that Lincoln would try to outlaw slavery so decided to secede from the Union after he was elected president. They felt that the individual states had the right to do whatever they wanted and that the federal government couldn't dictate to them. Lincoln took the Union to war to prevent the secession from tearing the country apart. Not everyone on the South was for secession just as many people in the North weren't against slavery. Many times the differencies split families and brothers or fathers and sons fought on opposite sides. The reasons were diverse and many on both sides of the conflict.

Answer 3

Do some research on the Compromise of 1850. One of the problems faced by the Union was whether or not to let the people in the new western states and territories keep slaves.