1. Events Leading to the Civil War Chapter 6
Kansas Nebraska Act
Dred Scott Decision
Rise of the Republican Party
John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry
Election of 1860
Look for * and  to answer the critical thinking questions in your notes

2. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
The Nebraska Territory was divided into two parts: Nebraska and Kansas.
*How would the slavery question in this territory be decided? 
* What did this show the country about the Missouri Compromise line from 1820? 

3. The Struggle for Kansas
Northerners crossed the border to keep Kansas a free state.
Southerners crossed the border to make Kansas a slave state. (Border Ruffians)
Both sides claimed victory…
The white abolitionist John Brown lived in Kansas Territory in 1856. Brown and his sons were responsible for the brutal murder of several proslavery men near Pottawatomie, Kansas.  The men were called out of their homes at night and hacked to death with swords. This was just one of many incidents that earned Kansas Territory the name of "Bleeding Kansas.”

4. On May 19, 1856, Senator Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts antislavery Republican, addressed the Senate on slavery…criticizing Border Ruffians in Kansas and insulting a S.C. senator in the process. Days later, the senator’s nephew came in an beat Sumner unconscious with a cane. * What did this show the United States about the slavery question? 

5. Dred Scott vs. Sanford (1857)
Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri. Lived 4 years in Wisconsin with slave owner.
After returning to Missouri, Scott sued for his freedom after his owner died. He claimed that he should be a free man since he lived in a free territory (WI) for four years.

6. Supreme Court’s “Dred Scott Decision”
Q: Was Scott a U.S. citizen with the right to sue?
*What were the answers to these questions, and what parts of the Constitution were they based on? 
Q: Did living in a free territory make Scott a free man?
Q: Did Congress have the right to outlaw slavery in any territory?

7. Rise of the Republican Party
Whig Party disintegrates after Compromise of 1850 and President Millard Fillmore's support of it
Know Nothing’s gain support, but then divide over slavery issue
Whigs, Free Soilers, Know Nothings, and many Democrats, join to form a new party…the Republicans
*What was the official party platform of the Republicans with regards to the slavery question? 

8. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Stephen A. Douglas believed that each territory should be able to decide on its’ own whether or not to allow slavery by using popular sovereignty.
Abraham Lincoln believed that African Americans were guaranteed “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, as stated in the Declaration of Independence.
* What were the results of this famous debate? 

9. John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry
1859- John Brown seizing an arsenal (place where military weapons were stored) at Harper’s Ferry in Virginia in order to start an abolitionist’s revolution.
*What were the results of this rebellion ? 

10. Brown Executed by the Federal Government
“…the crimes of slavery of this guilty land will never be purged away without very much bloodshed…”
*How John Brown was viewed by North and South? 

11. Election of Lincoln: 1860
Original Confederate Flag
In response to Lincoln’s victory, South Carolina first seceded from the Union in 1861.
*Who was elected as their President and what was this “new country” called? 
Eventual Confederate Flag

12. Many southern states followed and seceded…(note “border states)
Civil War Begins at Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina was being guarded by Major Anderson…who was running out of food and supplies.
Lincoln’s message…”hold out, but surrender if needed.”
On April 15th, 1861, Confederate troops fired on the fort and the Civil War was on!

13. Essential Question
Why were the five main events leading to Civil War between 1850 and 1860 so important?
Directions: Write at least a one page answer on a separate sheet of paper and turn in when complete. Make sure to detail each of the 5 events and effectively show how this led to state secession and war. You will be graded on how thoughtful your analysis shows your understanding of the run up to the Civil War.