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Causes of the Civil War
Do Now:
• Brainstorm and write as
many responses to the
following prompt in
your notebook: What
do you know about
what CAUSED the Civil
War?
Weekly HW:
1. Killer Angels pages 73-154
2. Last Tutorial – Analysis
Agenda:
• John Green
• Causes of the Civil War
• Unit 2 Test Analysis
What really
caused the
Civil War?
Let’s go back in time..
Missouri Seeks Statehood
Missouri
becomes
a slave
state
Boundary is
set to
determine
where
slavery can
exist
Maine,
formerly
part of
Mass.,
becomes
a free
state
Missouri
Compromise of
1820 –preserved
balance of
power
Mexican American War
1846-1848
New territory brought
up an old question
Should slavery be
allowed in the newly
acquired territory?
Land gained from
Mexican War
renewed the
sectional struggle
over the extension
of slavery…it also
threatened the
balance achieved in
1820
Wilmot Proviso
• What: 1848  David Wilmot suggested
barring slavery in acquired territory
from Mex Am War
• Supported in N, but not S  passed
House, but defeated Senate… why?
• Why?  Wilmot thought it was
necessary to protect “rights of white
freemen” to live & work in new
territories w/o competing with slaves
• Why remember? 
– Led to Free-soil Party (free soil, free
speech, and free men)
– Southern leaders saw it as an attack
and move to restrict the spread of
slavery
– Reawakened dormant sectional
tensions over the expansion of
slavery
To 1850!
Three Main Positions on Slavery in the New
Territories
1.
Free Soil Movement: all Blacks—
slave or free—should be excluded
from new territories.
– Keep the West a land of opportunity for
Whites only.
– Free Soil Party: wanted to prevent the
expansion of slavery & give free
homesteads to farmers
– “Conscience” Whigs (opposed slavery) &
antislavery Dems
2.
3.
4.
Southern Position: Restricting the
expansion of slavery violated their
Constitutional rights to their
property.
Moderates: Extend the Missouri
Compromise line to the Pacific
Ocean.
Popular Sovereignty: a vote of the
residents of a new state should
decide whether slavery is extended
into that state.
1848 Election:
Zachary Taylor (W) beat
Senator Cass (D)
because of votes given
to free-soil party (Van
Buren) in NY/PA.
California Seeks Statehood
In 1850, the United
States had the same
number of free and
slave states
California, which
grew as a result of
the Gold Rush,
wanted to enter the
union as a free
state, which would
tip the balance in
the Senate
Compromise of 1850
• Henry Clay = Great Compromiser 
Proposed:
– The immediate admission of CA as
free state
– The organization of territorial govt in
Utah & New Mexico w/o immediate
decision whether would be free or
slave
– Abolition of slave trade in D.C.
– Enactment of stringent new Fugitive
Slave Act
• Daniel Webster urged senators to
compromise “for the preservation of
the Union”
• After months of debates, Stephen
Douglass (IL senator before AL) passed
Clay’s proposals as separate bills
Agitation over Slavery
Fugitive Slave Law
Purpose: track down and capture
slaves.
• Made escape from slavery a
federal crime.
• Right to a jury removed for
anyone who claimed to be a free
Black and not a runaway slave.
Underground Railroad
• It was not well-organized.
• It was dominated by free Blacks
and ex-slaves, not white
abolitionists.
• Frederick Douglass, Harriet
Tubman, and Sojourner Truth
helped emancipate slaves during
the Civil War.
Literature on Slavery
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher
Stowe): revealed the cruelties of
slavery to Northerners.
Impending Crisis of the South
(Hinton R. Helper): Claimed
slavery had a negative impact on
the southern economy.
These events polarized
the country.
Kansas Nebraska Act
1854
• Stephen Douglas
proposed a bill that
would organize 2
territories, Nebraska &
Kansas
• NE & KS b/c of MO
Compromise banned
slavery
• To win Southern
support, Douglas
attached amendment
to repeal MO Comp.
• Popular Sovereignty =
let settlers decide
whether or not slavery
would be permitted in
their territory
Kansas Nebraska Act
Effects
• Territory of NE would be divided into 2
territories – KS and NE
• Their status as slave or free states would be
determined by popular sovereignty
• The act did the following:
– Repealed the MO Compromise of 1820
 heightening sectional tensions
– Permitted the expansion of slavery
beyond the Southern states
– Led to a divisive debate over the
expansion of slavery into the territories
– Ignited a bloody contest for control of
Kansas
– Split the Democratic Party
– Sparked the formation of the
Republican Party
Extremists and Violence
The Caning of Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner personally attacked
Andrew Butler on the Senate floor.
In retaliation, Butler’s nephew, Preston
Brooks, caned him nearly to death in
defending his family’s honor.
This action outraged the North, but pleased
the South.
Bleeding Kansas
• Slaveholders in Missouri set up
homesteads across the border in
Kansas to try to influence the
vote over slavery.
• Northerners created the New
England Emigration Aid Company,
which paid to transfer antislavery settlers to Kansas.
• Fighting between the two groups
was known as “bleeding Kansas.”
Constitutional Issues
The Lecompton Constitution
• This pro-slavery Constitution for
Kansas had the support of
President Buchanan but not of
the majority of Kansas residents.
• It was eventually defeated in the
House.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
• In 1858, Abraham Lincoln challenged
Stephen Douglas, who ran for reelection for Illinois’ US Senate seat.
LINCOLN
• A moderate, not an abolitionist
(against expansion)
• “house divided” speech made
southerners view him as radical
• Attacked Douglas’ indifference to
slavery
DOUGLAS
• Freeport Doctrine: slavery could not
exist in a community if the local
citizens did not pass laws enforcing it.
– Seen as not endorsing the Dred Scott
decision.
• Douglas won the debate; Lincoln
emerged as a national leader.
Rise of the Republican
Party
• Democrats & Whigs formed 2-party
system from 1830’s to 1850’s
• KS/NE Act killed Whig party &
formed Republican Party
• “Bleeding KS” had 2 governments:
– pro slavery
• Minority of pop
• Democrats
– anti-slavery
Election of 1852
Franklin Pierce (D) beat General Winfield
Scott (W), who ignored the slavery
issue, by a landslide.
-Pierce (NH) supported Fugitive Slave Law
and won all but 4 states  Whig
party dying
Election of 1856
James Buchanan (D) beat John
Fremont (R) and Millard
Fillmore (K-N); The Republicans
did carry most northern states.
• Majority of pop
• Republicans
• Whig party disintegrates under
violence in KS  joined Republicans
w/ anti-slavery Dems & KnowNothings
• Republicans
Dred Scott v Sanford (1857)
Dred Scott was enslaved in Missouri; after
living in Wisconsin for two years, he claimed
that living on free soil made him free.
His case was appealed to the Supreme Court.
CHIEF JUSTICE ROGER TANEY’s
RULING:
• Scott had no right to sue in court
because African Americans were
not considered citizens by the
writers of the Constitution.
• Under the Constitution, slaves were
private property & thus could be
taken into any territory & legally
held there in slavery
• Slaves could not be taken from
their masters, regardless of a
territory’s “free” or “slave”
Consequences:
• Southern Democrats were thrilled.
• Northern Republicans were shocked; the
decision caused many former Democrats to
vote Republican.
• Polarized country
• The ruling invalidates (repealed) the
Northwest Ordinance of 1787 & Missouri
Compromise of 1820
• Big part of Lincoln-Douglass Debates
John Brown’s Raid on
Harper’s Ferry
•
•
In 1859, Brown led a group of followers on an
attack of the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry,
Virginia.
– He expected to use guns to arm slaves to
use in a revolt.
– Federal troops captured him, and he was
hung after two days.
CONSEQUENCES!
– Rumors of slave insurrections  proslavery
Southerners linked John Brown (incorrectly)
to the now-hated “Black Republican” Party
– John Brown becomes a martyr (even
though fails)
– Intensified bitterness b/n N & S
The Election of 1860
NORTHERN DEMOCRATS
• Stephen Douglas (IL)
• Popular Sovereignty and enforcement of the Fugitive
Slave Law
SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS
• John Breckinridge (KY)
• Unrestricted expansion of slavery
• Annexation of Cuba as a slave territory
REPUBLICANS
• Abraham Lincoln (IL)
• Exclusion of slavery from new territories
• Protective tariff for industry
• Free land for homesteaders
• A railroad to the Pacific to encourage settlers
CONSTITUTIONAL UNION PARTY [former Whigs, KnowNothings, and Democrats]
• John Bell (TN)
• Enforcement of laws and the Constitution
• Preserving the Union above all
•
•
Lincoln won 40% of the popular votes and 59% of
electoral votes, more than any other candidate.
Every southern state voted for Breckinridge.
Lincoln is elected
1860
Secession of the Deep South
The Crittenden Compromise
• Sen. John Crittenden (KY)
• This was a last-ditch effort
to save the union
• It allowed slavery
everywhere south of 36°30’
(MO Comp)
• Lincoln couldn’t accept the
compromise.
Southern Reasoning
• Believed they were acting in the tradition of 1776.
• Said they had a right to dissolve a constitution that no longer protected them from tyranny.
• Thought Lincoln would permit secession without a fight.
•
•
•
December, 1860: South Carolina voted to secede.
Within 6 weeks, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas did the
same.
In February 1861, the states got together and wrote a Constitution for the Confederate
States of America
– Similar constitution, but restrictions on tariffs and slavery
– Jefferson Davis was president; Alexander Stephens was VP.
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