Causes of the Civil War USH-3.1

I. Missouri Compromise Missouri applying for statehood showed the first problems. It was to be the 1st new state out of the Louisiana Purchase Northern states did not want Missouri to enter as a slave state. It would upset the balance between slave and free states. It would set a precedent that they could all be slave states

I. Missouri Compromise The compromise said: Missouri entered as a slave state. Maine entered as a free state. No slavery in any new state from the Louisiana Purchase above 36° 30’ N. Southerners learned they needed to keep the balance in the Senate.

II. Wilmot Proviso People saw Polk give up land in Oregon but want slave land in Texas David Wilmot of PA proposed all land from Mexico be “free soil” No slave labor Passed the House but failed in the Senate Showed the need for a balance

III. Compromise of 1850 California became part of the US after the Mexican-American War. When gold was discovered in 1848, people moved to Cali. Gold miners didn’t want to compete with slaves so they wanted CA to be “free soil.” This would upset the balance of free and slave states.

III. Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 said: CA would be a free state. Slave trade was outlawed in Washington DC. New Fugitive Slave Law allowed catching slaves in free states. The rest of the Mexican Cession got to vote whether or not to have slavery. This is known as popular sovereignty.

IV. Kansas-Nebraska Act Kansas was in the northern part of the Louisiana Territory so it couldn’t be a slave state. The KS-NE Act repealed the 36° 30’N line prohibiting slavery Done to get Southern support for a northern transcontinental railroad route

IV. Kansas-Nebraska Act It gave KS and NE popular sovereignty. Slave owners and abolitionists moved to Kansas to sway the vote. Fighting between the groups led to “Bleeding Kansas.”

V. Dred Scott v Sandford Dred Scott was a slave who sued his master after being taken to a free state. He claimed “once free, always free.” The Supreme Court decided that blacks were not citizens so they had no rights in the US.

V. Dred Scott v Sandford The Court said that Scott was property and the gov’t couldn’t take away property. Any law that made you give up your slaves was unconstitutional Missouri Compromise KS-NE Act State laws freeing slaves North was angry and South was happy

VI. Abolitionists Want to outlaw slavery Help with the Underground Railroad Stowe writes Uncle Tom’s Cabin Never went to the South to see it first hand Northerners are upset by the violence b/c they think it’s like that everywhere Southerners are mad b/c it makes them all look bad

VI. Abolitionists Abolitionist John Brown attacked the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry to arm a slave revolt. His capture and trial made sectionalism worse by scaring slave owners.

VII. Election of 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln campaigned on a platform of “free soil.” Free soil said that slavery should not EXPAND into the territories. Lincoln won election with the electoral votes from the North. The South and border states split their votes.

VII. Election of 1860 After Lincoln’s election, SC called a special convention to secede. They unanimously voted for the Ordinance of Secession It said that the rights of SC had not been and would not be protected by the federal gov’t. Six others quickly followed with eventually 11 states creating the Confederate States of America.

Confederate States of America United States of America Two Nations Confederate States of America United States of America California Minnesota Connecticut Missouri Delaware New Hampshire Illinois New Jersey Indiana New York Iowa Ohio Kansas Kentucky Pennsylvania Rhode Island Maine Vermont Maryland West Virginia Massachusetts Wisconsin Michigan Alabama Arkansas Georgia Florida Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia