The Road to War United States Civil War

SECTIONALISM

NORTH•Industrial•Paid labor for workers

SOUTH•Agricultural•Free labor (slaves) did the work

Caused by economical differences between the two regions

Composition of U.S. Before 1860

Free Slave Territories

Right to be free• Greatest problem of slavery – violation of

every human being's unalienable right to be free

Compromise of 1820Also known as the

• Missouri Compromise of 1820

Proposed by

• Henry Clay

Why was it needed?

• Keep balance of slave & free states equal in the Senate

What did it do?

• Missouri enters as a slave state

• Maine enters as a free state

• Southern boundary of Missouri becomes dividing line between slave/free

The Issue of States’ Rights• Southerners – all lands acquired

from Mexico open to slave holders

• Northerners – demanded all new

regions be closed to slavery

Then…in California• January 1848 – gold discovered

• Congress had to make a decision quickly WHY ??

CaliforniaCalifornia wanted to join Union as free state – BUT – was split in half by Missouri Compromise Line

(oops!!!!)

So…***Henry Clay – you’re up!!!

Because…

Compromise of 1850Proposed by

• Henry Clay

Why was it needed?

• California wanted to join as a free state

• Was split in half by Missouri Compromise Line

What did it do?

• CA enters as a free state

• Washington, DC bans slave trading but not slavery

• Strong Fugitive Slave Laws are passed

CALMING or NOT ???• For 3 years, the

compromise settled most differences

but…• The new Fugitive Slave Law

deeply offended Northerners

• Northerners continued to help fugitives escape, and made the Underground Railroad more efficient and more daring than it had been before.

Kansas-Nebraska Problem!• Slave-holders in Missouri objected to Kansas

becoming a free territory because they would have 3 free-soil neighbors (Illinois, Iowa and Kansas)

• They feared their state would be forced to become a free state as well

Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854Proposed by

• Stephen A. Douglas

Why was it needed?

• Kansas and Nebraska territories use popular sovereignty to decide if free or slave

What did it do?

• Bleeding Kansas – slave holders vs free soilers got into armed conflicts

Bleeding KansasBoth southern slave holders and antislavery families move in – armed conflict results in lots of blood shed. Kansas became known as “Bleeding Kansas.”

Slave or Freed Man ??Dred Scott •Missouri slave•Master moved to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory (where slavery banned)•Master returned to Missouri •Scott sued for freedom

Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)

Decided by

• Chief Justice Roger Taney

What was the argument?

• “Should Dred Scott be free or not?”

What was the decision?

• Slaves were property, not citizens – not automatically free on free land

Effects of Dred Scott Decision

• angered North• Southern --great victory--it gave “judicial

voice” to their justification of slavery

Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858***Debates between

Illinois congressional candidates:

Stephen A. Douglas vs. Lincoln (new Republican Party)

***DouglasDouglas won the election

***Lincoln gained national attention for his views on slavery

• Abraham Lincoln regarded slavery as

““a a Necessary Necessary EVIL”EVIL”• Speech in Peoria, Illinois, in 1858—declared:--

““all national legislation should be framed all national legislation should be framed on the principle that slavery was to be on the principle that slavery was to be restricted. It should NOT spread into restricted. It should NOT spread into

the new western territories!”the new western territories!”

Tensions Grow!!!!Tensions Grow!!!!

***Southerners are feeling threatened !!

Then…John Brown

Was he Saint or Satan?Was he Saint or Satan?

John Brown’s Raid (1860)Led by

• John Brown (white abolitionist)

What was the purpose?

• Raided federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA in hopes of starting rebellion against slave owners

What were the effects?

• Brown was defeated and hanged; hated by Northerners and Southerners

1860 Presidential Election• Republican – Abraham Lincoln • Northern Democrat – Stephen A. Douglas• Southern Democrat – John Breckenridge• Constitutional Union Democrat – John Bell

Presidential Election of 1860

Who won?

• Abraham Lincoln (Republican)

What happened?

• South Carolina seceded

Why Secession?The election of Abe Lincoln as the 1st Republican President increased the South’s fear that Lincoln would abolish slavery in South

South Carolina secedes• Lincoln’s election led to

South Carolina’s decision was to be the 1st southern state to secede from the Union

• Lincoln’s election caused the start of the CIVIL WAR

Secession of South Carolina

Justification• States’ rights

Reaction• Lincoln refuses to

recognize secession

Southern justification for slavery…

States’ RightsStates’ RightsThe belief that since the constitution reserved certain powers for the states

which superseded federal powers, a state superseded federal powers, a state could secede from the Union if they were could secede from the Union if they were

not allowed to nullify a federal law!not allowed to nullify a federal law!

Secession: Legally VoidSecession: Legally Void• Abraham Lincoln

sworn in.• In his inaugural

address, he refused to recognize the secession, considering it "legally void."

Jefferson Davis says…

““As a As a necessitynecessity,, not a not a choicechoice,, we we have resorted to the remedy of have resorted to the remedy of separation, and henceforth our separation, and henceforth our energies must be directed to the energies must be directed to the conduct of our own affairs…If conduct of our own affairs…If this be denied to us…we will be this be denied to us…we will be forced to forced to appeal to armsappeal to arms!!

Fort Sumter, South Carolina

1st shots of

Civil War fired

here

WAR!

• The battle began in April of 1861 when the Confederate Army took over Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.  

Fort Sumter, South Carolina

What happened?• South wanted to test

Lincoln’s vow to hold on to federal property

Consequences• Civil War begins

Fort Sumter

Civil War, Death and DestructionA war had begun in which more Americans would die than in any other

conflict before or since.