CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Missouri Compromise

The Problem:

•In 1819, 11 states permitted slavery and 11 did not, giving an equal balance of representation.•Slaveholding Missouri asked to join the Union.•Admitting a slave state would shift the balance in favor of the Southern slave states.•Should territories of the Louisiana purchase be admitted as slave states or free states?

The Missouri Compromise

The Solution:

House Henry Clay proposed the “Missouri Compromise” which would allow Missouri’s admittance as a slave state while simultaneously admitting Maine as a free state.

The Compromise also prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36-30N latitude.

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

The Compromise of 1850

The Problem:

• After acquiring the Mexican Cession, the US must again decide whether the territories there will be admitted as slave states or free states.

The Compromise of 1850

The Solution:• California would be admitted as a free state• The New Mexico territory would have no

restriction on slavery.• The slave trade, but not slavery itself, would

be abolished in the District of Columbia (Washington D.C).

• A stronger Fugitive Slave Law that was criticized in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Problem:

•In 1854 Stephen Douglas proposes that “popular sovereignty” should be how the slavery issue should be decided in new territories.•This would overturn the Missouri Compromise.•He makes this proposal to get Southern support for a railroad in the North.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Response:

•The law passed, overturning the Missouri Compromise.•The act led to bloodshed in Kansas when it was time to vote.•Critics of the act formed a new political party, The Republicans, “overnight”.

– They wanted to let slavery continue in the South, but not extend it to any new territories.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

The Dred Scott v. Sanford

The Problem:• Dred Scott, a Southern slave, was taken to the

North by his master and then back to slavery in the South.

• Scott sued for his freedom.• Should he be considered “Free” because he

had been on free soil and then taken back to slavery?

Dred Scott

The Decision:

• The court states:– Scott is not a citizen, so he is not entitled to bring a

lawsuit before the court.– Africans could never become citizens because they

were not included when the Constitution was written.– Slaves are property and Congress has no right to take

away slaveholder’s property.

• What it means:– Congress can’t legally prohibit slavery in new

territories.– The Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

THE DRED SCOTT DECISION

Dividing IssuesThe Problem:• Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858):

– Debates during election for state Senator– 7 debates, each 3 hours long, entirely about slavery– Lincoln says:

• Dred Scott decision wrong, African Americans are humans beings with rights and no person could claim a moral right to enslave them.

– Lincoln lost the election, but his position was clear.• John Brown’s Raid (1859):

– A white abolitionist that starts a slave revolt at Harpers Ferry. It is ended quickly, he is tried and executed.

– He is a hero in the North.– The South is alarmed and fearful.

Dividing IssuesThe Problem Continued:• Election of 1860:

– Lincoln is the Republican Candidate.– 2 Democrat candidates because North and South

can’t agree on one.– Lincoln wins but did not take a single Southern state.

• What is the South to do?

The Nation Splits Apart

• 6 Weeks after Lincoln is elected, South Carolina secedes – They followed the same process to leave the Union that they did to join it (Special convention and vote)

• By February 1861 - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia joined in secession as well (Eventually there would be 11)

• The Confederate States of America was born– Capital: Montgomery, AL (Richmond, VA)– President: Jefferson Davis

THE SOUTH SECEEDS

THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS…