Causes of the Civil War Social Studies Survey

I CAN: Define the Wilmot Proviso Analyze the Dred Scott Case and its importance on Slavery within American History Understand the importance of Henry Clay and his ability to compromise Interpret the importance of the Fugitive Slave Clause Define the Kansas-Nebraska Act

Wilmot Proviso (1846-1848) The war with Mexico allowed the U.S. to expand even farther west. With new territories, came the repeated question of whether slavery should be allowed to spread. Wilmot Proviso – proposal by David Wilmot that said, “ neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist” in the western territories.

US Before the Civil War

Wilmot Cont. Wilmot Proviso passed in the House of Representatives, but never came to a vote in the Senate. John C. Calhoun of S. Carolina argued that property can be taken into new territories – including slaves.

Dred Scott v. Sandford In 1823, the U.S. Supreme Court supported Calhoun’s opinion in the Dred Scott case. Dred Scott was a slave who had been taken North with his master for work. After returning to Missouri, he sued his master for his freedom. He argued that he was no longer a slave since he had lived in a free territory. The Supreme Court ruled against him. Slave owners could take their property with them anywhere in the country.

Free Soil Party Emerges Popular sovereignty – each new territory would vote on whether to allow slavery. Free Soil Party 1848 – opponents of slavery and abolitionist members of the Liberty Party joined together. They believed that the spread of slavery should not be allowed on the “free soil of the western territories.” Some wanted to stop the spread of slavery. Many wanted lands left open to white farmers.

Free Soil Political Cartoon

GOLD RUSH 1849 – gold is discovered in California. There were 15 free states and 15 slave states. If California enters as a free state, it would create a majority in the Senate. Fearful southerners begin to consider secession. A series of compromises were used to try to hold the union together.

Henry Clay – “The Great Compromiser” 1820 – Missouri Compromise – Maine would enter as a free state and Missouri would be slave. Territories north of Missouri would remain free. Compromise of 1850 – California would be free. There would be no restrictions on slavery in the Mexican Cession. The slave trade in the District of Columbia would be outlawed. Southerners were allowed greater power in recovering escaped slaves.

Missouri Compromise

1820

Fugitive Slave Act (1850) Fugitive Slave Act – slave owners could point out escaped slaves and have them returned. No proof of escape was needed. Federal marshals were required to help catch the slaves and they could require ordinary citizens to help.

Opposition to Fugitive Slave Act Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who made speeches against the new law, published a newspaper called The Liberator. Harriet Tubman – helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad. Levi Coffin – hid over 3,000 slaves in Indiana and Ohio who had escaped across the Ohio River. Harriet Beecher Stowe – wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin to depict the true face of slavery – about the slave, Tom and his cruel master, Simon Legree.

The Two Harriets Turn to your nearest neighbor and determine a way to remember the two Harriets. Harriet Tubman – Harriet Beecher Stowe -

Kansas-Nebraska Act Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) – There was debate about whether to have a northern or southern starting point for the Transcontinental Railroad. This led to debate over slavery in the territories. This act proposed that the new territory would be divided – Nebraska would be free, Kansas slave. Part of the Missouri Compromise had to be repealed to allow for this. Bleeding Kansas – northerners rushed to Kansas to create an anti-slavery majority. People living along the Missouri border rushed over to vote illegally for a pro-slavery legislature.

March, 1856, Kansas had two governments March, 1856, Kansas had two governments. One anti-slavery, one pro-slavery. Violence erupted, 200 people were killed and there was $2 million in property damage.

Causes of the Civil War - Horace Greeley, on the Kansas- Nebraska Act “We are not one people. We are two peoples. We are a people for Freedom and a people for Slavery. Between the two, conflict is inevitable.” - Horace Greeley, on the Kansas- Nebraska Act “The two systems (slave and free) are . . . Incompatible. They have never permanently existed together in one country, and they never can. - Sen. William H. Seward