Download SOL 9b: States` Rights and Slavery

States’ Rights and Slavery
SOL USI.9b: The student will demonstrate
knowledge of the causes, major events, and
effects of the Civil War by: b) explaining how
the issue of states’ rights and slavery
increased sectional tensions.
The Shaky Union
1) The South feared that the North would take
control of CONGRESS and SOUTHERNERS
began to proclaim states’ rights as a means
of self-protection.
2) The North believed that the nation was a
UNION and could not be divided.
3) While the Civil War did not begin as a war to
abolish SLAVERY, issues surrounding
slavery deeply divided the NATION.
Issues that Divided the Nation
1) An important issue separating the country
related to the power of the FEDERAL
government.
2) Southerners felt that they had the power to
declare any national law ILLEGAL. Northerners
believed that the national government’s power
was SUPREME over that of the states.
3) Southerners felt that the abolition of SLAVERY
would destroy their region’s economy.
Northerners believed that slavery should be
abolished for MORAL reasons.
Compromises Attempting to
Resolve Differences
1) Missouri Compromise (1820): Missouri entered
the Union as a SLAVE state. Maine entered the
Union as a FREE state.
2) Compromise of 1850: California entered the
Union as a FREE state. Southwest territories
would DECIDE about slavery (popular
sovereignty).
3) Kansas-Nebraska Act: People in each state
would decided the SLAVERY issue (popular
sovereignty)
Southern Secession
1) Following
LINCOLN’S election,
the southern states
seceded from the
Union. Confederate
forces attacked FORT
SUMTER in South
Carolina, marking the
official beginning of
the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural
Address: Monday, March 4th, 1861
Lincoln Presidential Advertisements
Southern Secession
2) Lincoln and many NORTHERNERS
believed that the United States was one
nation that could not be separated or
divided. Most Southerners believes that
states had FREELY created and joined the
union, so they could freely leave it
The South Secedes
The South’s Attack on Fort Sumter,
South Carolina: April 12-13, 1861
Arial View of Fort Sumter in South
Carolina