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Key Events and Issues
Leading to the Civil War
Background to the Conflict
Pre-Civil War Days
Slavery Issue
Slavery
– Settlers from the South who moved
west took their slaves
– Settlers from the North didn’t own
slaves and thought slavery was wrong
– WHO would WIN? Would there be
slavery in the new territories or NOT ???
New Compromises
Henry Clay
– Worked hard to settle
differences dividing the nation
– Congressman from Kentucky
– Free state: didn’t want slavery
– Slave state: wanted slavery
– Everything was EVEN until Missouri
became a state
The Missouri Compromise
Asked to join the U.S. as a slave state
This would make more slave states
than free
Missouri would join as a slave state
AND Maine would join as a free state
Imaginary line would be drawn through
the rest of the Louisiana territory
Solutions to the Problem
North of the line = Free States
South of the line = Slave states
Results of the Missouri
Compromise of 1820
Kept the peace for nearly 30 years
Six new states joined the Union –
3 slave and 3 free….
still equal in number
AND THEN along came…
California
Compromise of 1850
California was allowed to be admitted
as a free state and slave trade was
outlawed in Washington D.C.
However it was agreed that all other
territories in the Mexican Session
would be able to “vote” on whether
they would be slave or free
Voting on the issue is called
“Popular Sovereignty”
Hopes for Peace Fade
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Gave people living there the choice by
voting on whether the state should be
free or slave
Hundreds who felt strongly (for or
against slavery) moved in to “vote”
Tempers FLARED and over 200 people
were killed in the dispute
Nicknamed “ Bleeding Kansas”
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott sued his master for his freedom
Supreme Court ruled that once a slave,
living in a free state, didn’t change that
Said Scott had “none of the rights and
privileges” of American citizens
Also said Congress had no right to outlaw
slavery because the Constitution protects
people’s right to own PROPERTY and slaves
were PROPERTY ! ! !
Annexation of Texas
It wanted to be admitted as a
slave state
Northerners felt it should be
admitted as a free state
Southerners felt it should be
admitted as a slave state
It took 9 years before Texas was finally
admitted to the Union as a slave state
Disagreements Continue!
States’ Rights
– South felt each state should have the
right to decide if they were free or not
– South feared the Federal Government
was getting too strong and wanted the
states to have more rights like it was
under the Articles of Confederation ! ! !
– North wanted a stronger National
Government and recognized the
authority of the government
Lincoln works for Change
Violence because of the Kansas-Nebraska
act got everyone’s attention
Abraham Lincoln was against the SPREAD of
slavery
Republican Party formed to fight the spread
of slavery
Lincoln ran for Senator
Stephen A. Douglas, author of the KansasNebraska Act, was his OPPONENT! The
battle is ON . . .
The Election of 1860
Democratic Party candidate:
Stephen Douglas
Democratic Party south:
John Breckinridge
Republican Party:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Constitutional Unionist:
John Bell
Abraham Lincoln
Republican candidate
Against the SPREAD of slavery
Promised not to stop slavery in the
South where it was already practiced
Said he hoped it would one day END
there, too
Worried White Southerners
Many in the South were afraid if Lincoln
were elected, slavery
would be outlawed
Some even said they would LEAVE the
Union if Lincoln was elected
Lincoln Elected President
November 6, 1860
December 20, 1860 South Carolina’s
leaders seceded from the Union
Later SIX other states seceded:
– Mississippi
– Florida
– Alabama
– Georgia
– Louisiana
– Texas
Confederate States of
America
South Carolina
Mississippi
Florida
Louisiana
Alabama
Georgia
Texas
Border States
These were states that were slave
states, but didn’t join the Confederate
States of America!
– Delaware
– Kentucky
– Maryland
– Missouri
Civil War: Union v. Confederacy
The Civil War has Begun!
Lincoln called for Americans to
join the army to stop the rebellion
Frightened southern states not
in the Confederacy now joined
with the other 7 states
Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee,
and North Carolina
11 States Strong
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
was named the
president of the
Confederacy