Causes of the Civil War

Missouri Compromise• Slave State- allowed slavery• Free state- did not allow slavery• Date- 1820• What did it do? Missouri joined the Union as a slave

state. Maine joined as a free state. Set border for slave and free states to join the Union. This kept the balance of slave states and free states.

• How long did it last? 30 years

Compromise of 1850• California- joined the Union as a free state• New Mexico and Utah- the people here decided if

they wanted slavery or not (popular sovereignty (vote)

• Fugitive Slave Law- said that anyone caught helping slaves escape would be punished and all slaves had to be returned back to the south.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin• Author- Harriet Beecher Stowe• Date- 1852• Story- Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This

book was very popular, but was not a true story. It gave many people the wrong idea about slavery.

Kansas Nebraska Act• Date- 1854• Canceled out- the rules of the Missouri

Compromise• What did this do? Said that the people in Kansas

and Nebraska could vote on if they would be a slave state or free state (popular sovereignty).

• Bleeding Kansas- people for and against slavery began fighting. The fighting was so bad it became known as this.

• Better or worst for the North and South? Worse, because it increase tensions.

Dred Scott Decision• What happened? Scott took his case to court. He

said he should be free, because he lived on free land and his owner died. He lost because slaves didn’t have any privileges and

• Slaves were labeled as- property. The judge said property is protected under the Constitution.

• Missouri Compromise- was keeping people from owning property and this was unconstitutional.

• North- was very upset; made the tension worse.• South- liked the ruling.

John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry• John Brown- white abolitionist from the north– abolitionist- person who wanted to end slavery.

• Harper’s Ferry- in Virginia, a federal armory where muskets and rifles were stored.

• What happened: John Brown raided Harper’s Ferry. He planned on stealing the guns and weapons and give them to the slaves to fight with. The US Army showed up and captured Brown, who was later hanged.

The Underground Railroad• Harriet Tubman was one of the best known

conductors. She returned to the south 20 times and guided 300 people to freedom.

• Really underground? No• Where did the routes go? From the south to the

northern states and to Canada. Some went to Mexico and the Caribbean Islands.

• Where were the hiding places? Barns, attics, secret rooms, called stations

• Who were the conductors? Free Africans, white northerners who opposed slavery and some church leaders.

States’ Rights • States’ Rights- constitutional issue saying that

states should have the final authority over the federal government. The sates should make all the rules.

• Who were for them? Southerners• What did these defend? Slavery – The northerners believed that the nation was a

Union and shouldn’t be divided.

Lincoln’s Election• Date- 1860• Who supported who? Northern democrats

supported Stephen Douglas. Republicans wanted to stop the spread of slavery and supported Abraham Lincoln

• What happened- Douglas and Lincoln debated. Douglas said states should vote, Lincoln said there should not be slavery. Lincoln won the election.

• Who left (seceded)- South Carolina, then Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Texas and formed the Confederate States of America.