Causes of the Civil War
The Mexican-War Ended
The Mexican War of 1848 ended and the US gained more than 500,000 square miles of land.
The additions caused bitter debate about slavery. Some leaders tried to encourage popular sovereignty, the idea
that political power belongs to the people, who should decide on banning of allowing slavery.
Compromise of 1850
With this compromise, California was able to enter Union as a free state. The rest of the Mexican Cession was
divided into two territories-Utah and New Mexico-where the question of slavery would be decided by popular
sovereignty.
People from north and south had different opinions. Seward did not want to compromise and Calhoun of SC felt
that if California entered as a free state it would destroy the “nation’s balance”
Fugitive Slave Act
This act made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas.
Slaveholders were permitted to take suspected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who decided their fate.
This act upset northerners who were uncomfortable with the commissioner’s power and they did not like the
idea of a trial without a jury. They also disagreed with the higher fees for returning slaves. As a result, over
time, violence did erupt.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
This novel was an anti-slavery novel created by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She spoke out powerfully against
slavery. The main character, a kindly enslaved African American named Tom, is taken from his wife and sold
“down the river” in Louisiana. In a rage, Legree, his owner, has beaten him to death.
The impact of her book is supposedly the “the little lady who made this big war”- the slave narratives outraged
the south and increased sympathy and support for the abolitionist movement
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A plan that would divide the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase into two territories-Kansas and Nebraska-and
allow the people in each territory to decide on the question of slavery.
Antislavery northerners were outraged because they thought it was a terrible plot to turn free territory into a
dreary region inhabited by masters and slaves. It also caused both pro and anti slavery supported to rush to
Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
-Civil War between the two governments/200 were killed
Sack of Lawrence: man who was killed in the pro-slavery attack
Pottawatomie Massacre: Brown and his men killed five pro-slavery men in Kansas
Brooks attacks Sumner: Senator Charles Sumner of Mass criticized pro-slavery people and insulted Butler, a
pro-slavery senator. Representative, Preston brooks, a relative of Butler used a walking cane to beat Sumner
unconscious in the Senate Chambers.
Dred Scott
-Dred Scott was an enslaved man who sued for his freedom after his slaveholder died
-The decision was that he was not considered a citizen who had rights and therefore had no right to sue in
federal court. It was decided that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
This decision increased social tensions, overturned the Missouri Compromise, increase the chance of the spread
of slavery, and declared that African Americans were not citizens.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
-Illinois Republican nominated Lincoln for the US Senate and his opponent was Democrat Stephan Douglas
-Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became the history Lincoln-Douglas debate
Lincoln was trying to prevent the spread of slavery in the West
Lead to the…
Freeport Doctrine
-the notion that the police would enforce the voters’ decision if it contradicted the Supreme Court’s decision in
the Dred Scott Case
-this put the slavery question back in the hands of the American citizens
John Brown Raids (Harper’s Ferry)
-John Brown started an uprising. He wanted to attach the federal arsenal in Virginia and steal weapons there. On
Oct. 16, 1859, his raids began when he and his men took over the arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. In hopes
of starting a slave rebellion but slaves were too fearful. Eventually they captured him and he was hung. Even
some northern though his actions were too extreme.
Election of 1860
Presidential election
-Stephen Douglas w/ John Breckinridge of Democratic
-John Bell of Constitutional Union Party
-Lincoln of Republican
Lincoln becomes President
-won election, the south seceded, Lincoln tried to preserve the union
-he announced in his inaugural address that he would keep all government property in the seceding states and he
tried to convince the southerners that his government would not provoke a war