The years leading up to the Civil War…

Lots of People (including immigrants) Life in the North Canals Cities Factories Lots of People (including immigrants) Railroads

Life in the South Rural Areas slavery plantations “Cotton Kingdom”

Border States

States located between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy) States located between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy). They chose not to secede and join the Confederacy.

Abolitionist

A person who worked to end slavery before the Civil War.

Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom while living in a free state. The Supreme Court stated that slaves are not citizens and cannot sue for freedom.

John Brown

Abolitionist who raided a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry in order to create a slave uprising. He also traveled to Kansas in order to influence the vote on slavery.

Fugitive Slave Act

Law which required escaped slaves to be returned to their owners in the South. Escaped slaves were never truly free while living in the U.S. This law was part of the Compromise of 1850.

Missouri Compromise

An agreement that continued the balance of slave and free states in the U.S. Missouri was admitted to the union as a SLAVE state, Maine as a FREE state. It also created an imaginary line across the U.S. which divided slavery in the south with freedom in the north.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 act that overturned the Missouri Compromise 1854 act that overturned the Missouri Compromise. This said slavery in new territories would be decided by popular sovereignty…regardless of it’s location either north or south of the Missouri Compromise Line.

Secession

The separation of the southern states from the United States The separation of the southern states from the United States. Those states then formed the Confederate States of America.

Cottonocracy

The white, wealthy, southern slave owners who held the majority of the political power in the south. They supported the idea of secession.

Compromise of 1850

Another act to keep the north and south happy Another act to keep the north and south happy. California entered the union as a FREE state, and the Fugitive Slave Act was created to appease southern slave owners.

Popular Sovereignty

The PEOPLE vote and decide on policies The PEOPLE vote and decide on policies. It was decided that Kansas and Nebraska would use popular sovereignty to decide the slavery issue.

Election of 1860

The final straw for southern states The final straw for southern states!!! Abraham Lincoln was elected to the presidency in 1860. Although he promised not to outlaw slavery, southern politicians did not believe him and chose to secede.