Download The American Civil War resolved two fundamental

Causes of the US Civil War The American Civil War resolved two fundamental questions left unresolved by including: the revolution: The publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin: Depicting the evils of slavery, it offered a vision of slavery that few in the nation had seen before. Whether the United States was to be a dissolvable confederation of sovereign The book succeeded at its goal, which was to start a wave of anti-­‐slavery states or an indivisible nation with a sovereign national government; sentiment across the nation The Dred Scott Case: Dred Scott was denied US citizenship because he was Whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men were created with an African-­‐American. It also overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country had restricted slavery in certain U.S. territories. in the world. The Fugitive Slave Act: held individuals responsible for harbouring fugitive slaves even if they were located in non-­‐slave states. Causes of the US Civil War: The election of Abraham Lincoln: Even though things were already coming to a Economic and social differences between the North and the South: The southern head, when Lincoln was elected in 1860, South Carolina issued its "Declaration of economy was a one crop economy, depending on cotton and therefore on the Causes of Secession." They believed that Lincoln was anti-­‐slavery and in slavery. On the eve of the Civil War, some 4 million Africans and their favour of Northern interests. Before Lincoln was even president, seven states had descendants toiled as slave labourers in the South. On the other hand, the seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. In fact, the Louisiana, and Texas. northern industries were purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. A steady flow of immigrants, especially from Ireland and Germany during the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s, insured the North a ready pool of labourers, many of whom could be hired at low wages, diminishing the need to cling to the institution of slavery. States versus federal rights: Since the time of the Revolution, two camps emerged: those arguing for greater states’ rights and those arguing that the federal government needed to have more control. In the Civil War era, this struggle focused heavily on the institution of slavery and whether the federal government had the right to regulate or even abolish slavery within an individual state. The sides of this debate were largely drawn between northern and southern states, thus widened the growing divide within the nation. The fight between Pro-­‐slavery and Anti-­‐slavery supporters: As America gained land from the Louisiana Purchase and later with the Mexican War, the question of whether new states admitted to the union would be slave or free. The Missouri Compromise passed in 1820 prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30ʹ′ north except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri during the Mexican War. The Compromise of 1850, created by Henry Clay and others to deal with the balance between slave and free states, northern and southern interests. Growth of the Abolition Movement: Increasingly, the northerners became more polarized against slavery. Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slaveholders. This occurred especially after some major events Pathway to War: Southern Secession: In 1860, South Carolina voted to dissolve the state’s contract with the United States and strike off on its own. South Carolina sent emissaries to other slave holding states urging their legislatures to follow its lead and nullify their contract with the United States and form a new Southern Confederacy. Six more states joined South Carolina: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Fort Sumter: On April 10, 1861, knowing that resupplies were on their way from the North to the federal garrison at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, provisional Confederate forces in Charleston demanded the fort’s surrender. The fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused. On April 12, the Confederates opened fire with cannons. At 2:30 p.m. the following day, Major Anderson surrendered. War had begun. Lincoln called for volunteers to put down the Southern rebellion. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee, refusing to fight against other Southern states and feeling that Lincoln had exceeded his presidential authority, reversed themselves and voted in favour of secession. Source: http://www.historynet.com/causes-­‐of-­‐the-­‐civil-­‐war Source:http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm Source: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-­‐war-­‐overview/overview.html