1

The Causes

Of The Civil

War

1820-1860

The American Civil War

The Recipe for War

Manifest

Destiny

States RightsSectionalism

Abolitionists

Dred Scott

Decision

Fort Sumter

Election of

1860

Cause #1= Manifest

Destiny

Do Now: Why is Manifest

Destiny a cause of the

Civil War?

Cause #2The Failure to Compromise

2

1- Maine becomes a free state

2- Missouri becomes a slave state

3- Slavery will be outlawed in any new state

north of Missouri’s southern border

The Mexican War

(1846-1848)

The U.S. won the Mexican Cession and had to decide whether or not to allow slavery in this territory

1- California becomes a free state

2- Popular sovereignty

3- Fugitive Slave Act

Compromise of 1850

Popular Sovereignty-

the people in a territory

decide whether or not to

allow slavery

Fugitive Slave Act-Law requiring all citizens,

both northern & southern,

to help catch and return

runaway slaves.

Hmmm,Slavery?No slavery?

3

Effects of Fugitive Slave Act The Kansas-

Nebraska Act (1854)

1- Louisiana Purchase divided in to 2 territories:

Kansas and Nebraska

2- Popular Sovereignty would be used to decide if

slavery would be allowed in these territories

What Happens When

People Are Asked to

Decide Whether or Not

To Allow Slavery?

4

“Bleeding Kansas”� Popular sovereignty

caused a small scale

civil war in Kansas

� Battles broke out

between pro-slavery

settlers and anti-

slavery settlers

� Both sides murdered

each other and 200

died in 4 months. Both Nebraska and Kansas

eventually became free states

Why was it important to maintain a balance

between free and slave states in Congress?

Equality ensured that no one side would

have the power to pass a law regarding

slavery that the other side disliked.

Sectionalism: Loyalty to a region or

state as opposed to the whole nation

Cause #3

One example of the government being too powerful.

• Unconstitutional

• Favors the North and Hated by South

• South Carolina argues for Nullification and Secession in 1828

Tariff Of

Abominations

(1828)

5

States Rights

•Southern States believed that the

Federal Government was too powerful

and favored the North

•Believed their rights were being violated

Abolitionist

Wanted to abolish or

end slavery in the

United States

William Lloyd Garrison

Frederick DouglassHarriet Tubman

The Grimke Sisters

Sojourner Truth

Cause #4

�Helped over 300 slaves escape to the North � Nicknamed

Moses �$40,000 bounty

on her head.

“Moses”

Harriet Tubman and the

Underground Railroad

6

Uncle Tom’s Cabin(published 1852)

Written By

Harriet

Beecher

Stowe,

(a

northerner)

One of the most influential books ever

written, this novel, which dramatized

the cruelties of slavery.

An Anti-Slavery Bestseller!

NorthernersHelped open their eyes to the

cruelty of slavery

SouthernersOutraged by the book!

Southerners claimed it was

not an accurate picture of

southern life.

Southerners viewed

this as an attack on

their lifestyle and

looked to protectslavery even more

Northerners

now saw

slavery as a

MORAL ISSUE

which they

could no longer

ignore

Supreme Court Case:

Scott v. Sanford(1857)

Court has to decide if a slave is brought

to a free state does that make him

automatically free?

•Dred Scott is a slave who

once lived in a Free State

•His master dies and he is

sent South

•He sues for his freedom

The Supreme Court decided

that:

� Slaves were not citizens

and were property

� Congress could not ban

slavery

� The Constitution protects

property, and because

slaves were property,

Congress could not ban

slavery and take away an

individual’s property

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Impact of the Dred Scott Decision

It strengthened the

Abolitionist

movement

They realized that

the government was

going to do nothing

They had to work

harder to free the

slaves

John Brown’s Raid(1859)

Abolitionist who tried to

raid the federal arsenal at

Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.

His plan was to arm

the slaves and start a slave

uprising.

Brown was

captured

and put on

trial. He

was

convicted of

murder and

treason, and

then

hanged.

Impact of John Brown

The North

Was a hero in the

north. Many

considered him a

martyr because he

was willing to give

his life for his

beliefs

The South

Southerners were

outraged by Brown’s

actions. Many became

convinced that the

North wanted to

destroy slavery

Northerner’s sang, “John Brown’s body lies a mold’ring in

The grave, but his soul goes marching on….”

8

Lincoln and the Election of 1860

Stephen Douglas- Northern Democrats

John Breckinridge- Southern Democrats

There were four candidates for president

John Bell- Constitutional Union Party

Abraham Lincoln- Republican

Abraham LincolnLincoln believed

slavery was

morally wrong, but he

was

not an abolitionist

Lincoln only wanted to

stop slavery from

spreading West. He

did not want to free the

slaves in states where

it existed already

A House Divided…On June 16, 1858, he stated:

“A houses divided against itself cannot stand. I

believe this government cannot endure permanently

half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union

to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall –

but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will

become all one thing or all the other.”

What was

Lincoln’s

house????

The Republican Party(1856)

The Republican Party was created

by Northerners who were

committed to stopping the spread

of slavery

This was the first

time sectional political

parties developed over

the issue of slavery

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…And The Winner Was

Abraham

Lincoln!

With less

than

40% of the

vote

Impact of the Election

The South believed that

they no longer had a voice

in government.

To Secede or Secession- to

withdraw from the country

The first state to secede was South

Carolina

The War begins…The Confederacy

attacks Fort Sumter in

South Carolina on

April 13, 1861

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Secession!Based on the documents, What are

three reasons given for secession?

South Carolina-

Mississippi-

Alabama-

States Rights, Natural Rights

and the Declaration of

Independence

Protection of slavery

Election of Lincoln

The Civil War

11

Southern

States

seceded

The ConfederacyJefferson

Davis was

elected

President

Richmond,

Virginia

became the

capital