Causes of the Civil War Causes of the

Causes of the Civil War

Causes of the Civil War 1. The Missouri Compromise: (1819) Decided that an imaginary line at 36 30’ N. latitude would divide the Louisiana Purchase into Free and Slave territories. 2. Wilmot Proviso: fearing that slavery would spread in the new western territories the North issued the Wilmot Proviso which banned slavery in the west. The South felt threatened

Causes of the Civil War California and other western territories wanted to join the Union as Free states, this angered the South. 3. The Compromise of 1850 Created by Henry Clay. 1. California enters Union as Free state 2. New Mexico would be divided into Utah and New Mexico. *Popular sovereignty, or the right of people to create their own government through vote, determines slavery issue. 3. Slave trade in Washington D. C. would be abolished. 4. Fugitive slave law required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves.

Causes of the Civil War

Causes of the Civil War 4. Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 * required all citizens to catch runaway slaves * citizens found helping fugitive slaves would be fined one thousand dollars * Northerners resented the act and many chose not to follow it.

Causes of the Civil War 5. Kansas-Nebraska Act -Created by Stephen Douglas - Allowed Kansas and Nebraska to vote on whether to practice slavery or not. - Northern states claimed this act went against the Missouri Compromise. - Both the North and South sent settlers to Kansas to vote on whether or not to have slavery. - Southern Border Ruffians attacked anti-slavery settlers traveling to Kansas. Southerners also illegally crossed the boarder to vote. Kansas entered the Union as a slave state.

Causes of the Civil War 5. Kansas-Nebraska Act con’t -Northern settlers did not recongnize the slave government and formed another government. Gang violence between the two sides escalated. - Abolitionist John Brown with his gang murdered 5 proslavery men. This violence became known as Bleeding Kansas

Causes of the Civil war 6. The Dred Scott Decision - The Supreme Court said that Dred Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom because slaves were considered property. -Furthermore, the Supreme Court said that Congress could not outlaw slavery because it was protect under the Constitution.

Causes of the Civil War Lincoln-Douglas Debates - Abraham Lincoln, a member of the newly formed Republican Party challenged Stephen Douglas for a sit in the senate. - Although Lincoln lost the election, the series of debates made Lincoln and his speeches very well known and popular among the people. Raid of Harpers Ferry - Abolitionist(person who wanted to end slavery) John Brown raids an arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to lead a slave revolt. - Brown is captured and sentenced to death. - northerners mourn Brown as a martyr, which angers the South.

Causes of the Civil War 7. Election of 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln vs. Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas vs. Southern Democrat John Breckinridge - Lincoln wins the election with overwhelming support from the North. - Southerners believed that Congress and the President would now be against them. - Many southern states felt the need to secede (to remove).

Causes of the Civil War The South Secedes - December 20, 1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union. - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas secede as well. - The South felt it was their right to secede as states in the Constitution. - The seceded states called themselves the Confederacy and chose Jefferson Davis as their president. - President Lincoln stated there would be no war unless the South attacked the Union.

Causes of the Civil War Attack on Fort Sumter - April 11, 1861: Confederate troops fire upon Union Fort Sumter. - April 13, 1861: Major Robert Anderson was forced to surrender to the Confederacy. - The Civil War had begun.