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CAUSES OF
THE CIVIL WAR
Sectionalism
In the 1800s the people of the United States felt loyal to and supported a particular section of the nation, rather than the
United States as a whole. This divided the country into two major regions, the North and the South.
The North was primarily industrial in nature. Business and industry played major roles. While the North was not known
for its agricultural production it was the largest producer of grain. Life was faster and commerce important.
The South was primarily agricultural. The southern economy was based upon the existence of large family farms known
as plantations. The plantation economy relied on cheap labor in the form of slaves to produce tobacco and then cotton.
The plantation lifestyle produced a slower more leisurely lifestyle. Farmers on the plantation did not do the work
themselves. They were referred to as the "gentleman farmer."
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Slavery
When the North American continent was first colonized by
Europeans, the land was vast, the work was harsh, and
there was a severe shortage of labor. Men and women were
needed to work the land. White bond servants, paying their
passage across the ocean from Europe through indentured
labor, eased but did not solve the problem. Early in the
seventeenth century, a Dutch ship loaded with African
slaves introduced a solution—and a new problem—to the
New World. Slaves were most economical on large farms
where labor-intensive cash crops, such as tobacco, could be
grown.
Torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the
moral and constitutional issues it raised, white Southerners
grew more and more defensive of the institution. They
argued that black people, like children, were incapable of
caring for themselves and that slavery was a compassionate
institution that kept them fed, clothed, and occupied. Most
Northerners did not doubt that black people were inferior
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to whites, but they did doubt the kindness of slavery.
The Missouri Compromise
Passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States
Congress. It accomplished the following:
1. Brought Missouri in as a slave state.
2. Prohibited slavery north of the parallel 36°30′.
3. To balance the number of "slave states" and "free states," it admitted Maine as a
free state.
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The Tariff of 1828
The Southern states did not produce many manufactured goods so it had to purchase them elsewhere.
They decided to buy goods from Britain instead of the North because they were cheaper. This hurt
northern industries. On May 19, 1828 Congress passed the Tariff of 1828. This tariff was a tax on
imported goods. The major goal of the tariff was to protect industries in the northern United States. The
tariff hurt the South because it forced them to either pay a tax on imported goods or buy goods from the
North at a higher cost.
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Compromise of 1850
1) Admitted California as a free state.
2) Abolished the slave trade in Washington, D.C.
3) Passed the fugitive slave law.
4) Guaranteed Congress would not pass laws regarding slavery for the rest of the
territories won from Mexico.
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Abolitionists
People, mostly in the North, began to speak out about their opposition to slavery.
They wanted it to end, even if it meant going to war.
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852, is an
anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet
Beecher Stowe. It was the best-selling novel of
the 19th century and the second best-selling
book of that century, following the Bible. It is
credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause
in the 1850s.
In the first year after it was
published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold
in the United States; one million copies were
sold in Great Britain. In 1855, three years after it
was published, it was called "the most popular
Harriet Beecher Stowe
novel of our day." The impact attributed to the
book is great, reinforced by a story that
when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start
of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, "So this is the
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little lady who started this great war."
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for
settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those
territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty (vote) whether they would allow slavery within each
territory. The act was designed by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The initial purpose of
the Kansas–Nebraska Act was to open up many thousands of new farms and make feasible a
Midwestern Transcontinental Railroad.
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Many pro-slavery Missourians crossed into Kansas for the sole purpose of voting to
make slavery legal.
Anti-slavery settlers moved from the East with the express
purpose of making Kansas a free state. A clash between the opposing sides occurred
and was later called “Bleeding Kansas.”
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Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia between 1795
and 1800. In 1820, he was taken by his owner, Peter
Blow, to Missouri, where he was later purchased by
U.S. Army Surgeon Dr. John Emerson. After purchasing
Scott, Emerson took him to Fort Armstrong in Illinois,
which was a free state.
Scott sued Emerson for his freedom in a Missouri court
in 1846. Scott claimed his presence and residence in
free territories required his emancipation.
Dred Scott
The case eventually made its way to the Supreme
Court. In March of 1857, the United States Supreme
Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared
that all blacks -- slaves as well as free -- were not and
could never become citizens of the United States.
Therefore, they had no right to sue in U.S. courts.
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John Brown was an American abolitionist who
first gained attention when he led small groups
of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis.
Unlike most other Northerners, who advocated
peaceful resistance to the pro-slavery faction,
Brown demanded violent action in response to
Southern aggression. He believed he was the
instrument of God's wrath in punishing men
for the sin of owning slaves.
In 1859 Brown’s goal was to capture the
John Brown
weapons in the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry,
Virginia and give the guns to the slaves so they
could fight for their freedom. He was caught
and executed.
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The United States had been divided during the 1850s on questions surrounding the expansion
of slavery and the rights of slave owners. In 1860, these issues broke the Democratic Party
into Northern and Southern factions, and a new Constitutional Union Party appeared.
Running for the presidency in 1860 were Republican Abraham Lincoln, Southern Democratic
John C. Breckenridge, Constitutional Union John Bell, and Democratic Stephen Douglass. In
the face of a divided opposition, the Republican Party, dominant in the North, secured enough
electoral votes in 1860 to put Abraham Lincoln in the White House without support from the
South.
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Many southerners thought Lincoln would end slavery as President therefore, after
his election, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas,
Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded from the Union and
formed the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was chosen to be their
President.
Jefferson Davis
Confederate Flag
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