Download Causes of the Civil War

Causes of the Civil War
Tariff of 1828
• What is a tariff?
• The North wanted the tariff passed to get
the South to buy more homemade goods.
• The South objected because they were
not asked if they wanted to pay a tariff.
• S.C. threatened to nullify the law then
secede the Union.
• The South said the tariff was a violation of
states’ rights.
Missouri Compromise
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Missouri asked to join as a slave state.
Problem: upset the balance in Congress.
Compromise:
Missouri would be slave state
Maine would be a free state
Anything above the 36’ 30° line of latitude
would be free of slaves (except Missouri).
Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
• California had a gold rush in 1849 when
John Sutter discovered gold on his land.
• Soon after, California requested
statehood.
• Problem: Again, this would upset the
balance in Congress.
Compromise of 1850
• California would join as a free state.
• Fugitive Slave Act was passed- runaway
slaves had to be returned to their owner.
• Washington D.C. abolished slavery.
• The territories of New Mexico and Utah
could decide on the issue of slavery.
Compromise of 1850
The Georgia Platform
• Georgia’s General Assembly met to
discuss the Compromise of 1850.
• Georgia decided to support the
compromise because Georgia was not
ready for secession.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
• Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri that
once lived with his owner in a free state.
• He sued for his freedom in the U.S.
Supreme Court.
• The Supreme Court ruled that he was a
slave and did not have the right to sue.
Remember: slaves were not citizens then.
Underground Railroad
• Was not underground nor was it a railroad!
• Series of safehouses and churches ran by
abolitionists to help slaves reach freedom
in Canada.
• Famous conductor: Harriet Tubman
Abolitionists
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Wanted to abolish slavery:
Harriet Tubman
Frederick Douglass
John Brown
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Abraham Lincoln
Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Kansas and Nebraska Territories wanted
to join the U.S.
• Popular Sovereignty- the citizens there
were allowed to vote on the issue of
slavery.
• This led to a mini- civil war known as
“Bleeding Kansas.”
Raid at Harper’s Ferry
• On 1859, John Brown (abolitionist) led a
raid at the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA.
• Brown tried to get slaves involved by
giving weapons. That didn’t work.
• President Buchanan sent the military in.
• 10 died and Brown was wounded.
• Brown was hanged for treason.
Election of 1860
• Abraham Lincoln ran on a platform to end
slavery.
• Was elected in 1860.
• This led the southern states to begin
seceding the Union (U.S.). South Carolina,
naturally, was the first to secede.
Alexander Stephens and Georgia’s
Response to the Election
• Alexander Stephens, a GA politician, and
three other men were known as
“cooperationists.”
• They did not want Georgia to secede the
Union.
• They were outvoted and Georgia seceded
on January 19, 1861.
Confederate States of America
• GA’s capital at this time: Milledgeville
• GA’s Governor: Joseph Brown
• Jefferson Davis- President of the
Confederacy
• Alexander Stephens- VP of the
Confederacy