Causes of the Civil War

1. Causes of the Civil War

2. Missouri Compromise (1820) • Missouri-Slave State • Maine-Free State • 36° 30’ N latitude • Nullification Crisis (1832) • States Rights

4. Wilmot Proviso (1846) • New Territory gained from Mexico would not be allowed to have slavery • Free Soil Party • Against the expansion of slavery

5. Compromise of 1850 • California-Free State • Popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico territories • Slave trade in Washington D.C. abolished • Fugitive Slave Act • Texas border set

7. 1852 • Harriet Beecher Stowe • Writes “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” • Tells of the cruelty of slavery • Gains support for Abolitionists • Angers the Southern planters

8. Kansas-Nebraska Act • Repealed Missouri Compromise • Popular sovereignty would let citizens vote on issue of slavery • “Bleeding Kansas” • “Sack of Lawrence” • John Brown retaliates at Pottawatomie Creek

9. Republican Party Formed (1854) • Abolitionists and anti-slavery Northerners join together to form new party • Goal: • To stop the expansion of slavery in the territories (not to abolish slavery) • Win control of Congress

10. Dred Scott • Sued for his freedom saying that he had lived in states where slavery was illegal

11. Dred Scott Case • Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that: • Scott was not a citizen - could not sue in a Federal Court • Slaves were viewed as property • Protected by 5th Amendment • Missouri Compromise and any law passed to ban slavery was considered “unconstitutional”

12. Lincoln-Douglas Debates • 1858 Senate election in Illinois • Stephen Douglas-Democrat candidate • Believed in the idea of “popular sovereignty” • Abraham Lincoln-Republican candidate • Thought slavery was “morally wrong”

13. Douglas wins, but Lincoln gains national attention Freeport Doctrine-causes Douglas to lose southern Democratic support

14. John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia • John Brown-extreme abolitionist • Captures an arsenal (a storage place for weapons and ammunition) • Sends the word that he wants slaves to join in and start a rebellion against slaveholders • Captured, tried and sentenced to hang • Abolitionists see Brown as a martyr

15. Republicans- Abraham Lincoln Constitutional Union John Bell Southern Democrats- John C. Breckinridge Democrats- Stephan Douglas Candidates for President(1860)

16. Results

17. Lincoln Wins • Without one vote from a Southern State

18. Secession (1860) • Southerners believe that their way of life is threatened and they have the right to secede • South Carolina leads the way • (December 20, 1860) • Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia secede by February

19. South Secedes

20. Confederate States of America • Formed on February 4, 1861 • Form new government protecting slavery and limiting central government (states’ rights) • Capital • Montgomery, Alabama • Elect Jefferson Davis president • Eleven states eventually join

21. Abraham Lincoln President of the Union Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy Two Presidents

22. South • Quickly takes forts and government property in the South • Does not control Fort Sumter

23. Fort Sumter • President Lincoln sends supplies and relief to Union troops at the fort • President Davis (Confederate) thinks that Lincoln is preparing the fort for war and orders an attack • April 12, 1861-Confederate troops attack and capture fort • 1st Battle of the Civil War • No deaths