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The Civil War
Social Studies Lesson Power Point
Laura G. Sarah T. Sheena S.
ED 639
The Civil War- Factors
Leading Up to the War
 8th grade American History
Objectives
 At the completion of this lesson, students
will be able to:
 recognize the political, economic,
geographic, and social factors that
influenced the outbreak of war
 Identify and define the major events/acts
Materials
 Textbook
 Atlas
 Handouts-maps, court materials, political
cartoons
 Colored pencils
 Note-taking materials
Useful Websites
The History Place
Civilwar.com
American Civil War
The Civil War
The American Civil
War Page
Economic Issues
 Tariffs, Tariffs, Tariffs
 A tariff is a tax paid on imports
 Hurt South because it raised the price of goods
that they had to buy; Protected North because they
could make their own goods and made it easier to
compete with foreign goods
 South was paying almost 87% of tariff revenue
while abolitionists were attacking their way of life.
 How would this make you feel?
 Tariff of Abomination-1828, was revised in 1833
under threat of secession
Secession and
Nullification
 Idea 1st appeared during War of 1812 when New
Englanders were upset with the war
 The 1828 Tariff was viewed as unfair and threatening
to the South
 VP John C. Calhoun wrote “The South Carolina
Exposition and Protest” advocating the right to nullify
federal laws –South Carolina followed his advice
 Andrew Jackson managed to avoid a war during the
Nullification Crisis by allowing a reduced tariff to be
passed
 Key issue was about states’ rights
The Issue of Slavery and
Expansion
 The Constitution failed to end slavery
 It gave South an advantage in House and the
Presidency with the 3/5 clause
 Cotton Gin (by Eli Whitney) revived the
importance of cotton and therefore slavery
 Slavery was an important aspect to the
Southern economy- cash crops/plantations
 Only 26% of whites in South owned slaves, yet
slaves were 1/3-1/2 of the population
 Why would non-slave holders support slavery?
Abolition
 The religious revivals of the 1820’s made
ABOLITIONISM an important issue
 Believed slavery was evil; wanted to abolish slavery.
Used publications (The Liberator), petitions, and
more extreme measures to end slavery.
 Others:
 Free-soilers- wanted to only limit the expansion of slavery
 Colonialists- wanted to end slavery and return them back
to Africa; advocated by Monroe, Lincoln, and many other
politicians and Northerners
 What present day country is a result of this idea?
Frederick Douglass
 Runaway Slave
 Joined abolitionist movement; was anti-colonization
 Was hired by William Lloyd Garrison as a speaker;
became world famous
 Also supported equal political rights for women
 May 1845, 5,000 copies of his book Narrative of the
Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave were
published
 1847 published own paper North Star in Rochester,
NY
 During Civil War, served as advisor to Lincoln
 What made Douglass so famous and so controversial?
The Missouri Compromise
•Created by Henry Clay
•Admitted Missouri as a slave state (1821), Maine as
a free state (1820); Kept the balance; Created
free/slave line at 36’30°N in hopes of resolving future
issues
•Western expansion was the desire and fear of both
sides
•New states would create an imbalance in
Congress
•Made the imbalance of states and slavery a major
issue in the political arena
The Compromise of 1850
 Collection of 5 compromises created by Henry
Clay as a way to keep the Union together
following the acquisition of territory from the
Mexican War
 Texas would relinquish the disputed land (for $10
million to pay off its debt to Mexico)
 NM, NV, UT, & AZ would be added without
mentioning slavery
 Slave trade would be abolished in DC (slavery
would still be legal)
 California would be a free state
 Fugitive Slave Law would be enacted
Compromise of 1850
 Kept the Union together for
another decade, but…
 The Fugitive Slave Law was the
most controversial of the acts
 It required citizens to aid in the
recovery of fugitive slaves and
denied fugitives to a trial by jury
 Abolitionists resolved to end
slavery immediately
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
 Passed by Congress on May
30, 1854; allowed the people of
Kansas and Nebraska to decide
whether they would be free or
slave
 Repealed the Missouri
Compromise since the states
were north of the 36’30°N line
 Upset many Northerners who saw
line as a permanent agreement;
was supported by many
Southerners as a way of
expanding slavery and political
support
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Aftermath of K-N Act: Bloody Kansas
Both pro- and anti-slavery settlers rushed to
Kansas to affect the vote
Pro-slavery won out, but the election was seen
as fraudulent; another anti-slavery election
was held- Result? 2 legislatures!
Violence erupted, led by John Brown
President Pierce sent troops to stop the
violence; another election was held, but it too
was charged with fraud and Congress refused
to recognize Kansas as a state (until 1861 as a
free state)
John Brown
•Raised in North by deeply religious, radical abolitionists
•Met Frederick Douglas in 1847
•Waged a war against those who supported slavery in Kansas
•On Oct. 16,1859, he led 21 other men on an assault against
Harper’s Ferry, a federal arsenal.
•Was put down by Federal troops led by Lee
•He was tried of treason and executed
•Seen as a martyr for the abolitionist cause and a major threat
to Southerners (and many Northerners)
•List some reasons why both Southerners and Northerners would be
opposed to abolition.
Dred-Scott Decision-1857
 Dred Scott was a slave who lived in Illinois
and Wisconsin (free states), then was moved
back to Missouri (a slave state)
 He appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes to
gain his freedom
 Court ruled that Scott was black, therefore not
a citizen and had no right to sue and should
be treated as property
 This ruling incited abolitionists; however,
Douglass believed the decision would bring to
light the issue of slavery and its eventual
downfall
Student Activities
 1. Write a persuasive letter for war
from the viewpoint of a Southerner
or a Northerner
 1-2 pages in length
 Use at least 3 of the discussed
factors to create your argument
 2. Complete a Map
Activity and Answer the
Questions
 On the map:
 Identify the territories and
the new states that were
added and when
 identify the states that
remained in the Union
 the border states
 the states that seceded
 with the dates of secession
 3. Analyze the political
cartoons.
 What do the cartoons mean?
 Who is the intended audience?
 Compare with a modern
political cartoon. What are the
similarities? Differences?
 4. Divide into 2 groups, 1 a defense team and 1 a
prosecuting team. Recreate the trial of Dred Scott
using the arguments of the historical players and
original arguments.
 5. Create a timeline of events that helped
lead to the eruption of the Civil War in 1861.