SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES It has been said that the institution of slavery caused The Civil War. In the years leading up to America’s bloodiest war, the new territories the United States acquired began to get enough citizens so that they may become states. The question that ripped Congress and this country apart was whether or not these new states would be admitted as free or slave states. You see, until these states appeared …showed first 75 words of 955 total…

…showed last 75 words of 955 total…to “cover the land with ‘the blight of slavery.’” (144). The institution of slavery is a great tragedy in our nations history, and that led us to another great tragedy, The Civil War. No matter which one of the three positions regarding slavery in the territories was taken, war was inevitable. It was impossible to please everyone, and the only true resolution came after the war and the loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives.