Download the american civil war - Cumberland School District

THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
EVENTS THAT LED TO THE WAR
Massive books have been written about the American Civil War. Maybe someday you will take more advanced
classes on this subject in which you’ll have to read some of these massive books. Maybe you want to read massive books about the Civil War for fun, like I do. Either way, understand that this is a very brief text that will
attempt to introduce to you about this very important time in American history... a time in which our country
almost split into two and maybe more, parts.
Some historians argue that the Civil War started with the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the
American Constitution. In order to keep all 13 states unified and joining the Independence movement, Northern
States agreed to allow slavery in the Southern States. Rather than dealing with the issue then, they decided to
put it off. They kept putting the issue of slavery off for 70 years until war became inevitable.
Many people think that Civil War was just about Slavery. It is true that the issue was a very large part of what
was happening, but there were other reasons as well. Southern states believed that each state should have more
rights than the Federal Government. The Federal Government had tried to assert its power over the states, saying that federal law superseded state law. The southern states believed that this was an attempt to take away
their freedom. They feared that the federal government would make a law banning slavery, and force them to
accept this as law.
The population of the North was becoming much more urbanized because of the Industrial Revolution. Former farmers were flocking to the cities for better paying jobs. Northerners were having many more babies than
Southerners, and the northern population was increasing much faster than the southern population. Immigrants
from Europe would move to the North in search of factory jobs rather than the farming jobs of the south...
which depended on slave labor anyway.
Not all southerners owned slaves. In fact, only one-third of them did. These slave owners were the richest of
the rich, and controlled southern politics. Northern abolitionists, those that wanted to slavery ended, saw the
southern slave owners not only as immoral, but also as corrupt, money hungry, greedy, and evil. As northerners became more vocal against southern slave owners, southerners became more defensive. This led to a rise in
nationalism for each region, not only in the south but in the north too. Rather than seeing themselves as Americans, northerners saw themselves as Northerners and southerners saw themselves as Southerners, which a very
different way of life.
missouri compromise
Every time a new state was admitted into the Union, it had to be declared as a
slave state or a free state. To put off war, federal politicians from the north and
south came up with the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This compromise, the
first of many, was unpopular in both halves of the country. It stated that every
state north of 36º North should be free, while every new state south of that line
would be considered a slave state. Because Missouri was north of that line, it
was given “special status” making it a slave state. Northerners were really ticked off about that. In addition,
Arkansas was admitted into the Union about that time, making the number of slave states equal to the number of
free states. 1820 was the beginning of the end. The war would not be averted after this time. In what appeared
to be a compromise just prolonged the problem rather than dealing with the problem of slavery. States above
36ºN that were already slave states would remain slave states. The southerners wanted that line to be moved
much further to the north.
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Compromise of 1850
As the country continued to move to the west, the issue of slavery became even more heated. At the end of the
Mexican-American War, in which Texas would be eventually admitted into the Union as a slave state, southern
planation owners continued to try and hold onto their power. The Compromise of 1850 featured five different
bills, all of them wildly controversial in both halves of the country. Texas, admitted as a slave state, was forced
to give up claims to the New Mexico Territory, but was given control of the Texas Panhandle and cash as compensation. Rather than say that states that might be formed out of the New Mexico and Utah Territories would
automatically be called slave states, it was decided that those new states would be able to vote on it themselves.
Southerners had to give up claims that southern California should become a slave state because it was south of
36ºN. Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, further angering Southerners.
The Fugitive Act was signed, which was deeply hated in the North. It stated that any slave caught running away
to the north and caught had to be returned to their masters in the south because they were considered property.
Most northerners saw blacks as people deserving of freedom and individual rights. This law did not sit well
with them at all.
Northerners who were angry at compromises given to the Southern slave owners formed a new political party
called the Republican Party. Republicans were very opposed to slavery. Their party would gain strength and
power very quickly in the north, though it was almost non-existent in the south.
the kansas-nebraska act
Like the Missouri Compromise before it, it simply put off the problem instead of dealing with it. Things quieted down for awhile, but not for long. Four years after the Compromise of 1850, the Nebraska-Kansas Act was
passed.
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The lawmakers who signed this Act hoped that it would quiet the tensions between the two regions, but it did
just the opposite. The law stated that the Missouri Compromise would be repealed and that the citizens of the
new states of Nebraska and Kansas could decide for themselves on whether or not they should be slave states
or free states. The North saw this as a victory for southern slave owners. They felt that the southern politicians
would be able to control the votes in these territories and create slave states north of 36ºN. In addition, the new
Transcontinental Railroad, financed by northerners, was set to run through those states. Politicians from both
sides argued on the route that the rail should follow... Northerners did not want to see the tracks run through a
slave state. Nebraska, still sparsely populated, would become a battle ground over this issue.
Look at the “primary source” below (remember a primary source of information comes from a specific time
period... this map is from the 1850’s). The states shown in pink are Free States, those in gray are Slave States,
and those in green have yet to be decided as they were still territories. Notice Kansas-Nebraska in the middle.
Because of their proximity to the 36ºN line, they became a battle-ground state in the debate.
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It was a very complicated debate, and several things happened because of it, including a northern Senator being
nearly beaten to death by a southern Senator. Missourians, who were pro-slavery, began moving into the territory to influence the vote.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act pretty much cancelled out the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of
1850, and further divided the nation into two separate halves.
john brown
John Brown was an abolitionist. An abolitionist believed in the
ending of slavery. John Brown has been called a fanatic and a
lunatic, and even a fanatic patriot. He was so against slavery
that he decided to rebel the government in what we would call
today “terrorist plots.”
From Kansas, he and his supporters were different than most
Abolitionists who carried out peaceful demonstrations. Brown
and his men believed that violence against Southerners was the
best way to get their point across. He and his men killed five
pro-slavery southerners in Kansas in 1856. In 1859, he led a
raid on Harper’s Ferry, a federal arsenal in Virginia, with the
intent of stealing weapons and arming slaves that would attack
southern plantations. Seven men were killed, including a free
black, and ten were seriously wounded. Brown was captured
and taken to trial.
Captured in Virginia, he would found guilty of murder and
treason under Virginian law. He was sentenced to hang.
Southerners celebrated his death, seeing the death of a terrorist and traitor displayed before them. Northerners saw him as a martyr... somebody that died for a holy cause.
Either way, his death caused the deepening division between North and South to grow even wider. Many southerners blamed the Republican Party, an upstart party that was anti-slavery, that had been born in Ripon, Wisconsin, just a few years before.
John Brown is still controversial, even today. Do you consider him a hero? Did his cause (ending slavery)
justify his means (terrorism and murder)? The War Between the States as it was called in the South, or the Civil
War as it was called in the North, would begin 16 months later.
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave, born in Virginia and eventually purchased by a US army officer. He followed his master from Missouri to Illinois and the Wisconsin Territory which was free soil. His
master even allowed him to marry at Fort Snelling in the Wisconsin Territory, which
was generally prohibited to slaves.
Scott, his wife, and his young daughter became the property of John Sanford after
the death of his previous masters. He sued for his freedom based on the fact that
he had resided in a free state, and once there, should have been freed. Initially, the
courts disagreed with Scott. They stated that he should have sued for his freedom
once in Illinois or Wisconsin. They more or less said it was too late.
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Scott pursed his freedom, with the case eventually reaching the United States Supreme Court. It became a political question on whether or not slavery should be legal. Abolitionists and those who supported the status-quo
awaited the outcome.
The Supreme Court voted 7-2 against Scott’s quest for freedom. Chief Justice Roger Taney summed it up by
saying that no black man could ever become a citizen of the United States, whether or not he was free or a
slave. Since Scott was black, he was not a citizen, and since not a citizen, he could not legally sue the courts.
Abolitionists were outraged, while Southerners rejoiced believing that Justice Taney had stood up for the South.
It was another polarizing event that further divided the North and the South.
the election of abraham lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was a tall, gangly lawyer from the new state of Illinois. Considered a “Westerner” by the rest
of America, it was very unlikely that this quiet and unassuming man would ever become President... much less
one the greatest Presidents in American history. But he did, and our lives became forever affected by his leadership and his decisions.
Politics in the 1860’s were quite a bit different than they are today. For one thing, there was more than two
major political parties, making winning a majority in the Electoral College much more difficult. Each party had
a different opinion on what to do regarding the controversy over slavery. Lincoln believed in abolition, but his
main concern was that the Union of all states remain intact. Ironically, the southern states said that if he got
elected President, they would leave the Union. The country was on the very edge of destruction, and it didn’t
look like there was any possibility to save it.
Lincoln and one of his opponents, Stephen Douglas, also from Illinois, had a series of famous debates. Douglas
argued in favor of compromise... that states with slavery should be allowed to keep their slaves, but that slavery
should not be allowed in the Territories. That split the Democratic Party into the Southern Democrats and the
Northern Democrats. Running for the Southern Democrats was John Breckinridge, a pro-slavery candidate that
would carry all the southern states.
Take a look at the electoral college map of the election of 1860 below.
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