Causes and Events Leading to the Civil War Unit Objectives To learn and write persuasively about the causes of the Civil War To learn about slavery and the Southern justification for it To analyze the differences between the Union and Confederacy To identify key figures and leaders of the Civil War and know their impacts

Issues between the North and South 1. Slavery What was the Southern Justification for it?

COULD NOT SURVIVE ECONOMICALLY WITHOUT IT (COULD NOT AFFORD TO PAY WORKERS)

Why did the North not need it?

NORTH HAD FACTORIES AND SMALL FARMS, NOT PLANTATIONS

2. Sectionalism: Regional issues like tariffs and slavery drove the North and South further and further apart until it almost seemed like two separate nations North: Urban, industrial, anti-slavery (although still very discriminatory)   South: Rural, agricultural, pro-slavery

3. Secession:

WITHDRAWING FROM THE UNION The South feared the election of Lincoln would lead to a movement to abolish slavery Fueled by states’ rights vs federal supremacy and issues like nullification that were never settled from previous disputes—did the South have the right to secede from the Union??? Was it legal/Constitutional?

Events Leading to War Missouri Compromise (1820) 1. Missouri = 2. Maine =

1. Missouri = SLAVE STATE 2. Maine = FREE STATE 3. Slavery prohibited north of 36’ 30 (Southern boundary of Missouri—Missouri would enter as a slave state despite being north of this line) Why was the Missouri Compromise only a short-term solution?

WHEN CALIFORNIA APPLIED FOR STATEHOOD THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE LINE CUT CALIFORNIA IN TWO AND DID NOT SETTLE THE ISSUE THERE

Compromise of 1850: 1. California = 2. What did the South get? 

Compromise of 1850: 1. California = FREE STATE 2. What did the South get?  NEW TOUGH FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW 3. How would slavery be decided in other western territories? --Popular Sovereignty (Let the people decide for themselves with a referendum vote)

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas wanted to extend the railroad from Chicago to California but needed federal funds to get it done; Federal funds were only available in states, not territories, so Kansas had to become a state to qualify

The entire territory was above 36’ 30’ and should have been free, according to the Missouri Compromise, but Douglas was still afraid he couldn’t get the Southern votes to get Kansas admitted as a free state The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 divided Kansas Territory into two territories that could apply for state-hood providing the possibility that one could be free and the other slave Douglas proposed that Popular Sovereignty decide if slavery would be allowed in Kansas but no firm referendum date was selected—What problem did that create in Kansas?

“Bloody Kansas”:

“Bloody Kansas”: PEOPLE FROM BOTH SIDES FLOCKED TO KANSAS TO TRY TO SWAY THE VOTE LEADING TO BLOODSHED Kansas was so divided that the issue was not settled until it finally was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861

Foundation of the Republican Party (1854-56) First meeting was held in Ripon, Wisconsin   Original practical goal of the party: STOP THE SPREAD OF SLAVERY INTO THE TERRITORIES --Why not make ending slavery the goal of the party?

IT WAS NOT SEEN AS A PRACTICAL GOAL AND NO ONE WOULD VOTE FOR A PARTY WITH IMPOSSIBLE GOALS

Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was attacked by South Carolina Senator Preston Brooks for making a strong anti-slavery speech; Brooks was kicked out of the Senate but re-elected in the next election; Both became symbols of the dispute over slavery

Dred Scott Supreme Court Case (1857) Scott was a slave whose owner had taken him to live in free territory, so he sued for his freedom Two crucial decisions by the Supreme Court 1. SCOTT COULD NOT SUE BECAUSE HE WAS NOT A CITIZEN 2. PROHIBITING SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL (DEPRIVED SLAVE OWNERS OF THEIR 5TH AMENDMENT PROPERTY RIGHTS)

John Brown’s Raid (1859): Brown was an abolitionist and a radical who believed the slaves should armed so they could fight for their own freedom; He marched on Harper’s Ferry federal arsenal in Virginia expecting many to join his cause—few did and the raid was easily put down; Brown became a symbol to Southerners of Northern radicalism

Election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won First Republican President and only time in history a “third-party” candidate won the presidency Southern reaction: The South feared Lincoln, a Republican, would find a way to abolish slavery even though he never campaigned on abolition, so South Carolina led seven Southern states in seceding from the Union