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 There were many events that led to the outbreak of the
American Civil War.
 However, the main cause of the war was the issue of
slavery.
 What is slavery?
 Slavery:
 The practice of
owning slaves.
 When a person (the slave) is owned by another
person (the slave master).
 A slave does hard work (farming, cooking,
cleaning), under harsh conditions (hot
weather, bad treatment, and abuse), and does
not get paid for their services (job).
 Slavery had existed in America since 1619.
 By 1820, the northern states had ended the practice of slavery.
 However, the practice continued in the southern states. Slavery was a
major part of their economy (farming).
 Northern lawmakers wanted more free states to join the Union
(country). If there were more free states than slaves states, northern
lawmakers would be able to end slavery.
 Southern lawmakers wanted more slave states to join the Union
(country). If there were more slave states than free states, southern
lawmakers would be able to continue and spread the practice of
slavery.
 In 1819, the United States was composed of 11 free states and 11
slave states.
 However, the nation had several territories located in the west that
would soon become states. They could either join the union as a
free state, or as a slave state.
 Missouri wanted to join the United States as a slave state.
 Northern lawmakers in Congress did not want Missouri to enter
the nation as a slave state.
 (the group with the most power would be able to pass laws
supporting slavery, or against slavery)
 When there is a disagreement in government, a compromise
must be made.
Lawmakers in Congress made the following
compromise in order to avoid a conflict over slavery.

1.
Missouri (southern state) entered the Union as a slave
state.
1.
Maine (northern state) entered the Union as a free state.
1.
Congress drew a line across the Louisiana Territory, the
Missouri Compromise line. (36°, 30’ N)
1.
2.
Any territory entering the Union above the line would become a
free state.
Any territory entering the Union below the line would become a
slave state.
 Sectionalism: A loyalty to one region of the country
instead of the entire country.
 In the years before the American Civil War, three
different regions developed in the United States.
 The North (anti-slavery)
 The South (pro-slavery)
 The West (mixed views about slavery)
 The Northern and Southern regions of the United
States were growing apart due to many issues.
 Conflict over government: The North wanted a strong
federal government, the South wanted the state
governments to have more power than the federal
government.
 Slavery: The North wanted to end slavery, and stop
territories from becoming slave states. The South
wanted to keep slavery, and see more slave states added
to the Union.
The North
The South
The West
Wanted no more
slave states.
Wanted more
slave states.
Wanted to make
their own
decision about
slavery.
Taxes (on goods
from other
countries)
Wanted higher
taxes.
Wanted lower
taxes.
Wanted higher
taxes.
Immigration
Wanted more
immigrants.
Wanted fewer
immigrants.
Wanted more
immigrants.
Slavery
 In 1849, the United States was again equally divided between
free states and slave states.
 California wanted to enter the Union as a free state.
 Northern lawmakers in Congress wanted to pass a law that
would stop the sale of African American slaves in Washington
D.C.
 Southern politicians wanted Congress to pass the Fugitive Slave
Law.
 Fugitive Slave Law: Northerners had to arrest runaway slaves, and
give them back to southern slave owners.
 Once again, there was a disagreement in the government over
the issue of slavery, a compromise was needed.
The Compromise of 1850:

1.
California entered the Union as a free state.
1.
Popular Sovereignty would be used in the territories
acquired from Mexico. People in those territories would
decide if they wanted their territory to become a free state
or a slave state.
1.
Congress ended the slave trade in Washington D.C.
1.
Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law (1850).
 Abolitionists: People who wanted to end slavery in
the United States.
 The Underground Railroad
 Abolitionists created the Underground Railroad to
help slaves escape to the North or Canada and gain their
freedom.
 The Underground Railroad was a system of trails and
“safe houses” that helped African Americans in their
journey to freedom.
 The Underground Railroad
operated like a real railroad.
 “Tracks”: Were secret routes
that slaves traveled to reach
freedom in the North.
 “Stations”: “safe houses” or
other hiding places.
 “Conductors”: Individuals
who helped lead runaway
slaves to freedom in the
North. (i.e., Harriet Tubman)
 100,000 enslaved African
Americans used the
Underground Railroad to
gain their freedom in the
North.
 During the 1850s, abolitionists wrote books that
changed the way Northerners thought about slavery.
 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick
Douglass.
 Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
 Northerners began to question if slavery was right? Is
it right for one human to own another human? After
reading these books, many individuals in the North
wanted to see slavery ended in the South.
 The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) allowed Americans
to settle in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
 Popular Sovereignty: The people living in Kansas
and Nebraska would vote to decide if their territories
would become free states or slave states.
 Is popular sovereignty a good way for people to solve
the issue of slavery?
 Pro-slavery Americans and anti-slavery Americans moved to the Kansas
territory to take part in the vote that would decide if Kansas became a free
state or slave state.
 Some of the pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers were extremists.
 Extremist: A person with a very strong political view on a topic. Extremists
can sometimes become violent and harm those who do not support their
beliefs.
 During and after the vote, pro-slavery and anti-slavery extremists used
violence against each other.
 By 1856, 200 people had been killed by pro-slavery and anti-slavery extremists.
The territory became known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
 “Bleeding Kansas” proved that popular sovereignty was a failure. The nation
continued to split apart over slavery.
 Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri.
 While a slave, he travelled to the North with his master
(U.S. Army Surgeon Dr. John Emerson) and lived in a
free state (Illinois) for four years.
 Dred Scott went to court to obtain his freedom.
 His argument was that living in a free state made him
a free person.
 In 1857, the case was brought before the United States
Supreme Court, Dred Scott v. Sanford.
 The Supreme Court made the following decision.
1.
2.
3.
An African American (slave or free) is not a United
States citizen, they cannot bring a case to court.
A slave owner can move to any part of the country and
still own his property.
The Missouri Compromise (1820) is against the law.
Congress does not have the power to determine which
states can be free states or slave states. All United
States territories could become slave states.
 In October 1859, John Brown and 21 abolitionists attacked




a U.S. Army building in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Brown wanted to use the weapons from the building to arm
slaves in the South and start a slave rebellion.
Brown and his men were captured by the United States
army.
John Brown was executed for treason against the
government.
Brown’s death caused Americans to become more divided
over the issue of slavery.
 Northerners viewed Brown as a hero, while Southerners
viewed him as an extremist and terrorist.
 The most important issue in the 1860 election was
slavery.
 The South feared that a candidate from the Republican
Party, a party created by abolitionists, would win the
election.
 The Candidates and their beliefs on slavery.
 Abraham Lincoln (Republican): The government would end
slavery in U.S. territories.
 Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat): Believed in popular
sovereignty, each territory should be allowed to decide if
they wanted slavery.
 John Breckinridge (Southern Democrat): Supported the
practice of slavery.
 John Bell (Constitutional Union Party): Did not take a stand
on the issue of slavery, but was a slaveholder himself.
 Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860 and became the President of
the United States.
 The South was afraid of President Lincoln, they believed he would end
slavery.
 After Lincoln was elected president, southern states started to secede
from the United States.
 Secede: To break away from (no longer be part of) the United States.
 The southern states formed a new nation, known as the Confederate
States of America (the Confederacy).
 America was now divided into two separate countries.
 The United States (the North).
 The Confederacy (the Confederacy).