Causes of the Civil War

States Rights Southerners believed that the individual state governments should have more power than the federal government (in Washington DC). They believed that Federal Power could be misused to do things that the southern states didn’t like, like take away their property (slaves), impose high tariffs on them, and take away other rights.

Slavery Without firing a gun, without drawing a sword, should they make war on us, we could bring the whole world to our feet... What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years?... England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her save the South. No, you dare not to make war on cotton. No power on the earth dares to make war upon it. Cotton is King. -Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina Only 25 percent of Southerners owned slaves but almost all Southerners supported slavery while most northerners opposed it. Slavery was important to the booming cotton industry

Tariff Disputes Tariff= a tax on imported goods. South= wanted low tariffs to keep prices low on the goods they bought North= wanted high tariffs to protect its manufactured goods against foreign goods.

Free Soil vs Slave Territory Fights Missouri Compromise of 1821 Missouri was admitted as a slave state Maine was a free state The Compromise of 1850 California as a free state Fugitive slave law New Mexico territory can vote on slavery.

Cultural and economical Differences South= life revolved agriculture, wealthy planters and the economy they controlled. North= industry; cities were the center of society.

Events leading to the Civil War

Rise of Abolitionist Abolitionist are people who believed that Slavery was morally wrong and wanted to end it. Some famous abolitionist include: William Lloyd Garrison foundered of the the famous Abolitionist newspaper the Liberator. Harriet Tubman leader of the Underground Railroad that helped escaped slaves find their way north. Frederick Douglass a free black man who was a elegant speaker for the abolitionist movement

Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Book by Harriet Beecher Stowe It portrayed the moral issues of slavery. Tells the story of Tom, a long suffering slave, who helps his nieces escape to freedom. Many southerners believed the book falsely criticized the South and slavery.

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854 the people in the Kansas-Nebraska territory wanted statehood. There was another huge argument over the territory. According to the Missouri Compromise both new states should have been free soil but Southerners wanted the people to vote on the slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska act was passed that allowed the people in the territories to vote if they wanted Slavery. Only two southerner senators voted against it, including Sam Houston of Texas who said that it would cause the Union to “Go down in a sea of blood and smoking ruin.”

“Bleeding Kansas” Fighting broke out in Kansas against Free-Soil Jayhawks and Border Ruffian’s (pro-slavery). Hundreds are killed in fighting that lasted for over 10 years. Kansas was voted a Free State in 1861

Rise of the Republican Party The Republican Party was established in the early 1850’s to stop the expansion of slavery. The Republicans were made up of Northern Democrats and members of the now extinct Whig party and really became popular around the time of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They became the party for Abolitionist. Abraham Lincoln and Charles Sumner. Two early important Republicans

1856-Charles Sumner attacked by Preston Brooks Preston Brooks a Senator from South Carolina beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with his cane on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Dred Scott Decision 1856 The Supreme Court decision ruled Scott (a slave) was not a U.S. citizen but property of his owner. Dred Scott, a Missouri slave, sued for his freedom after his owner died. His owner had lived in non slave states. Ruling meant no slaves could ever be a U.S. citizen and slaves could be owned even in “free-soil states”

1859: Abolitionist John Brown and his followers seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. They hoped to stir a slave revolt and end slavery in Virginia. Brown (who had murdered slavery men in Kansas) was captured and hanged. The Southern states were shocked and started organizing southern militias. Harpers Ferry

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Abraham Lincoln was against slavery and challenged the Author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Stephen Douglas, to a serious of debates regarding slavery. These debates became very famous and made Lincoln a political star. Lincoln argued that slaves are not property but human beings who should get basic human rights.

The Election of Abraham Lincoln The south was opposed to Republican Lincoln in the White House and threatened to secede or leave the Union if he won the election of 1860. The Democrats split into two parties which caused Lincoln to win with only 40 percent of the votes and became the 16th President. Southern propaganda of Lincoln. “Thus always to tyrants “

Abe Lincoln in 1860 Abe Lincoln in 1865