Essay from the year 2015 in the subject History - America, grade: B, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, course: Emergence of a Superpower - US Political History and Foreign Policy, language: English, abstract: Slavery was a fundamental problem that existed for a long period of time and caused a controversy to the United States. The long, unsolved and neglected issue would be a strong reason for the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, especially when it became a heated debate in the government and among the people. Prior to the Civil War, however, slavery also met with other issues that added to the tensions among the people in the government, such as the Whigs, the Democrats, the Republicans, and eventually the North and the South. Their differences had apparently caused some serious conflict although compromises or agreements were always attempted. Ultimately, it was the division that led to the civil war. This paper will discuss the conflict that occurred prior to the war in 1861 and assess the nature of the conflict. It will look at the role of slavery and analyse whether it was the main factor for the outbreak of the Civil War.