Download Causes of the Civil War

Causes of the Civil War
The issues that tore
our nation apart.
Important dates
• On your timeline put the following dates:
1) 1861- Sam Houston resigns
2) 1861- Civil War begins
3) 1863- Battle of Galveston
4) 1863- Battle of Sabine Pass
5) 1864- Battle of Palmito Ranch
6) 1865- Civil War ends/Lincoln assassinated
7) June 19, 1865- Enslaved people find out they are
free
February 10, 2016
• Review the three fundamental issues dividing the
North and the South at this time: states’ rights,
tariffs, and slavery. I want you to choose one
issue, and organize into three groups based on
the issues they chose. I will allow you to use
your phone to research the issue you chose. Then
each student in the group will need to write an
essay explaining the group’s issue from both the
North’s perspective and the South’s perspective.
February 19th
• Today I want you to take the sheet of paper you
have been given, write your name on the top along
with today’s date. You are then going to write me at
least ¾ of a page on the following topic:
COMPARE PRESIDENT LAMAR WITH
PRESIDENT HOUSTON. Remember these are the
two presidents of the Republic of Texas we
compared a few weeks ago. You may not use a
book to help you with this, you must use the
knowledge you have gained through this class.
Cause #1
North
South
Sectionalism
Prior to the Civil War, the United States
was not really united.
North
South
Our country was more like two separate
countries sharing the same land.
The North had industry, large cities, a
diverse population, and favored the
politics of the Republican party which
supported the abolition of slavery.
The South had an economy based on
agriculture, a plantation lifestyle, the
views of the Democratic party, and
the institution of slavery.
Southerners were especially loyal to
their section. They thought of
themselves...
•as citizens of their own
state first,
•as Southerners second,
•and as U.S. citizens third.
This loyalty to your state or section
of the country first and the nation
second is called...
The intense feelings of sectionalism
further divided the country into two
separate sections- North and South.
Cause #2
Slavery
Slavery was a cause of the Civil War
for two reasons.
However, many
#1. The South
people in the
viewed slavery
North viewed
as a necessity to
slavery as evil and
maintaining
economic wealth. unconstitutional.
#2. Slavery was not just a moral
issue but a political issue as well.
If there were more
slave states in the
U.S., then the
South would have
more power in
Congress.
If there were
more free states
in the U.S., then
the North would
have more power
in Congress.
Both Northerners and Southerners
fought fiercely over the moral and
political issue of slavery.
If the U.S. had been founded without
slavery, then the following causes of the
Civil War may have never been issues.
Cause #3
States’ Rights
States’ rights is the idea that each
state had the right to determine
whether or not to follow federal laws.
United
States
Law
Southerners supported states’ rights.
They believed that they had the right
to own slaves and even secede, or
leave the Union, if they desired.
Southerners were also angry at
Congress using its power to impose
taxes on the South’s agricultural
products.
They felt that any federal tax restricted
the rights of the individual states.
Northerners did not support states’
rights. They believed the national
government had final power.
The federal government had the power
to make laws that applied to all states,
including imposing taxes.
Cause #4
Tariff
A tariff is a tax on trade
Texans supported low tariffs to
continue to trade cotton with European
Nations.
Southern states produced 80% of the
World’s supply of cotton. The US
federal government imposed protective
tariffs
Cause #5
Nullification
Crisis
1832- President
Jackson and
Congress passed
the Tariff of
Abominations.
Congress raised
tariffs on raw
materials and
manufactured
goods.
The South had to
sell cotton at low
prices to stay
competitive, while
they had to pay
high prices for their
manufactured
goods
This resulted in the
Nullification Crisis
in which South
Carolina believed
that states had the
right to nullify a
federal law that it
considered
unconstitutional
After Lincoln’s
election, eleven
southern states
eventually seceded
from the Union and
formed the
Confederate States
of America.
Texas’s lawmakers
voted to secede by
a vote of 166 to 8,
and the people of
Texas voted for
secession by a
margin of more
than 3 to 1.
South Carolina
threatened to
secede but a
compromise ended
the threat
The issue
continued to brew
until 1862
Abraham Lincoln and other Northerners
viewed Southern secession as an
unconstitutional act.
On April 12, 1861 Southern troops
attacked Ft. Sumter, a Union garrison off
the coast of South Carolina.
No one was killed on either side during
this first battle of the Civil War.
It was a “bloodless opening to the
bloodiest war in American history”.
Let’s review the main causes of the Civil War:
1. Slavery
North
South
2. Sectionalism
3. States’ rights
4. Tariffs
5. Nullification Crisis
United
States
Law