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Essay: ar The American Civil War was a military conflict between the United States of America (the Union), and 11 secessionist Southern states, organized as the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). It was the culmination of four decades of intense sec ....

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.... of different responses to antislavery practices such as the Underground Railroad and reactions to runaway slaves and the Fugitive Slave laws that spurred from all sections of the country. Finally, there was the economic distress factor, of both foreign and domestic roots, that included everything from tariffs to the financial crash of 1857. These in turn caused sectional disputes over the use of the federal government’s public lands. In early 1848, when gold was discovered in California, “a horde of adventurers poured into the valleys.” (Bailey, 400). “Free-soilers” and “slaveryites” argued over the ....