Causes that led to the Civil War (1820-1861)

Causes of the Civil War

• Missouri Compromise, The Compromise of 1850, and Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Wilmot Proviso• Uncle Tom’s Cabin/John Brown’s Raid

• Dred Scott v. Sandford• Differences between North and South• Election of 1860• Secession of Southern states

New Territories

• California and Texas• Debate over whether or not new states

would allow slavery.• Missouri Compromise(1820)- Proposed

by Henry Clay to keep the number of free states and slave states equal.

New Territories

• As a result an imaginary line was drawn across the southern border of Missouri at latitude 36 30 N. and it only applied to the Louisiana Purchase.

New Territories

• Wilmot Proviso- Proposed by David Wilmot to ban slavery in the West.

• The House passed it in 1846, but shortly afterwards the Senate defeated it.

Tempers Flair

• California applied for admission to the Union in 1850 to be a free state.

• The issue was so heated that Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had a gun pulled on him by Senator Henry Foote of Mississippi while in the Senate.

Admission of California as a State

• In 1849, the number of free states equaled the number of slave states at 15/15.

• Tempers flaired with the admission of California because the balance between free and slave states would be off set.

Clay vs. Calhoun

Henry Clay• “the Great Compromiser”• Pleads for an agreement

between the North and South

• Fear of a nation that will break apart

• His plan “The Compromise of 1850”

John Calhoun• Senator of South Carolina• Refused a compromise• Demands that fugitive or

runaway slaves be returned to their owners

• Last reported words 1850: “The Poor South! God knows what will become of her now!”

Compromise of 1850

• Composed of FIVE parts:• Allowed California to enter Union as free

state.• Formed territories of New Mexico and

Utah and decision of slavery based on popular sovereignty

• Ended slave trade in Washington, D.C.• Created a strict slave law• Settled a border dispute between Texas

and New Mexico

Fugitive Slave Act: an act that outraged

• All citizens required to report runaway slaves

• Caught helping fugitive slaves would result in a $1000 fine and jail

• Judges given rewards for sending runaway slaves back to south

• Antislavery advocates in north outraged• Forced them to be apart of the slavery

system

Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Antislavery Bestseller • Published in 1852• Showed the evils of

slavery and Fugitive Slave Act

• Popular in North and hated in the South

• Southern complaint: did not give a true picture of slave life

• Made more northerners see slavery as immoral

Kansas

• Many Americans hoped that the Compromise of 1850 would end the debate over slavery in the West.

• However, shortly after the Compromise of 1850 proslavery and antislavery forces struggled to attain Kansas.

Election Day in Kansas

• One observer described election day in Kansas as being terrifying.

• The observer described the citizens from Missouri as being angry and armed while looking for a fight. (pg. 468)

Abraham Lincoln

• After hearing about the events that took place in Kansas, Abraham Lincoln predicted that bloodshed would occur.

• At this time, he was a young lawyer from Illinois.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Proposed by Stephen Douglas.

• Established territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

• Gave settlers popular sovereignty to decide on slavery issue.

Northern Outrage

• Many northerners were unhappy with the Kansas-Nebraska Act because it repealed the Missouri Compromise.

Tensions build in Kansas

•Proslavery and antislavery settlers moved into the Kansas territory.•Many farmers from neighboring states moved to the territory in hopes of gaining cheap land.

Two Governments in Kansas

• Proslavery:• Elections in 1855,

established a proslavery legislature.

• New laws were passed that made helping slaves escape punishable by death

• Antislavery:• Refused to abide by

laws of the proslavery government.

• Established their own governor and legislature.

Bleeding Kansas

• Proslavery raid on the town of Lawrence.(Antislavery stronghold)

• John Brown, an abolitionist, struck back by murdering five proslavery settlers.

• These events led to even more violence and by 1856, more than 200 people had been killed.

•

Violence in the Senate…Again!!!

• Abolitionist leader Charles Sumner of Massachusetts criticized Andrew Butler of South Carolina for proslavery views.

• Butler’s nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks, responded a few days later by marching into the Senate chamber and beating Sumner with a cane.

Dred Scott

• Slave that was from Missouri and had lived in Wisconsin and Illinois. (two free states)

• After Scott returned to Missouri his owner died.

• Issue led to the Supreme Court case known as Dred Scott v. Sandford.

Dred Scott • Scott’s lawyers argued that he had lived in

a free territory, so he was a free man.• Court ruled that Scott could not file a

lawsuit because he was not a citizen.• Court decision also stated that slaves

were considered to be property. • The Supreme Court also ruled that

Congress could not outlaw slavery, which made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

The Republican Party

• Formed to give a voice against slavery. • Supporters of the new party fed up with

Whigs and Democrats. • Main goal was to keep slavery out of

western territories.

Lincoln v. Douglas for Senate in 1858

Lincoln’s views• Slavery was morally

wrong.• Wanted to prevent the

spread of slavery.

• Douglas won the election by a slim margin.

Douglas’s views• Western territories should

decide slavery issue by popular sovereignty.

• Personally disliked slavery.

John Brown’s Raid

• Abolitionist that led a raid to the town of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.

• Planned to raid a federal arsenal and lead African Americans in a revolt.

• After gaining control of the arsenal Brown’s plans failed because Robert E. Lee’s men killed ten raiders and captured Brown.

Election of 1860

• Democratic party slit in two:• Southern democrats -supported slavery in

the territories. Represented by John Breckinridge.

• Northern democrats- refused to support slavery in the territories. Represented by Stephen Douglas.

Election of 1860

• Constitutional Union party- established to try and heal the split between the North and South. Represented by John Bell of Tennessee.

• Republican party- Represented by Abraham Lincoln.

• Abraham Lincoln won the northern states which sealed the election.

• However, Lincoln’s name was not even on the ballot in 10 southern states.

Southern Reaction

• Abraham Lincoln’s election left the South feeling like they had no representation in the federal government.

• As a result South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860 and Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas followed by 1861.

The Confederacy

• Southerners felt they could secede because Declaration said people could abolish government.

• Confederate States of America was formed and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was the first president.

The Civil War Begins

• Lincoln stated that there would be no war unless South started it.

• As a result, Confederate forces began taking over forts in the South.

Fort Sumter

• Located in South Carolina• Important to the Confederacy because it

guarded Charleston Harbor• Confederate forces demanded the fort to

surrender, but the commander refused to.• As a result, Confederate forces fired on the fort

until it surrendered.• This event marked the start of the Civil War.