Causes of the Civil War
Stewing up trouble and turning up the heat
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Cultural Differences
Our Ingredients
John Brown’s Raid
Harpers Ferry
Bleeding Kansas
Kansas Nebraska Act
Slavery
States Rights
Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act
Dred Scott
Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
• Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Date: 1852
• vivid characters, dramatic incidences, showed
slavery as a cruel and brutal system.
• Inspired strong feelings in the North and the
South
» Northerners felt a stronger urge to abolish slavery
» Southerners felt even more threatened.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
=
"So you're the little
woman who wrote the
book that started this
great war.“
Abraham Lincoln
Uncle Tom’s cabin, the Broth or base for our stew,
helps to flavor the issue of Slavery in both the North
and the South.
Missouri Compromise 1820
Compromise of 1850
Proposed by
Henry Clay
Maine =
FREE state
Missouri =
SLAVE state
Missouri Compromise preserved the balance between free and slave states, and ended
the debate in Congress over slavery in new states and territories – for a while
Missouri Compromise (1820) and
Compromise of 1850
Potatoes take a while
to prepare, they must
be cleaned and peeled
and act as a filler in
the stew. These two
compromises were
issues that filled the
county with conflict,
but never addressed
the problem.
• Why an issue?
• Continued the conflict over
slavery and the attempt to
maintain a balance between
slave and free states.
• Balance of Power…
• North and South continued to
look for ways to change this
balance and gain control.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
• Opened the door for slavery in the
Kansas and Nebraska territories.
• Increased the tension and mistrust
between the North and the South.
Kansas and
Nebraska are
both known for
growing corn.
Stephen A. Douglas
proposed that states choose
for themselves whether to be
free or slave states;
popular sovereignty
Bleeding Kansas
Tomatoes and
Blood are
both red.
• Pro- slavery
and antislavery
groups
rushed to
the
territories,
armed
themselves,
Dred Scott
Chief Justice
Taney
Dred Scott
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott
thought he was
a free man,
sweet peas, the
onions make
you cry when
you find out he
was considered
property and
• Slaves = property.
• Slaves are not citizens not
protected under the U.S.
constitution.
• Missouri Compromise =
unconstitutional.
• popular sovereignty =
unconstitutional.
• outraged abolitionist in the
North, pleased Southerners,
dividing the country more than
ever.
States Rights
– Rights and powers independent of
the federal government that are
reserved for the states by the
Constitution.
– The belief that states rights
supersede federal rights
and law.
State’s Rights was a hot topic, constantly
heating up the differences between the North
Cultural Differences
The North and the South had very different societies and cultures.
Each was very loyal to their distinct region (Sectionalism)
North
 Center of Manufacturing,
 Favored high protective
tariffs
 strongly opposed to
slavery
 Efficient roads and
transportation
 Largest Cities
Cultural Differences
South
The North and the
South were as
different as salt
and pepper.
 Economy based on agriculture.
 Plantations grew cash crops,
cotton.
 Opposed tariff on manufactured
goods
 Favored Slavery.
Fugitive Slave Act 1850
• Required citizens to help capture slaves who
had run away.
• People who helped runaways could be fined or
imprisoned.
• Many Northern juries often refused to convict
people accused of breaking this.
Fugitive Slave Act
Conditions under the
Fugitive Slave Act helped
create the
Underground Railroad.
Carrots grow
underground and
slaves were often
caught and returned
even though they
often hid
underground. Also
Caught and Carrots
both start with C.
Raid on Harpers Ferry
This event was
the meat of
the idea that
the North had
a Conspiracy
against the
South.
• October 16, 1859, abolitionist John
Brown led a raid on an arsenal at
Harpers Ferry.
• The aim was to spark a slave
uprising.
• John Brown’s death = rallying cry
for abolitionists.
• Fears of a great northern
conspiracy confirmed.
Lincoln/Douglas Debates
• Senate Race in Illinois in 1858. Senator Stephen
Douglas vs. the little known Abraham Lincoln. Douglas
was against slavery personally, but believed that popular
sovereignty would resolve the issue without interfering
with national unity. Lincoln also personally opposed
slavery, but thought there was no easy way to eliminate
it where it already existed. He thought the solution was
to prevent its spread into the territories.
• Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates
leading up to the election. The seven debates took place
between August and October 1858. Slavery was the
main topic.
• Douglas won the Election but Lincoln gained a national
reputation. Southerners were feeling increasingly
threatened by antislavery movement in the Republican
Party.
Election of 1860
• Lincoln opposed slavery, but thought
there was no easy way to eliminate it.
• He thought the solution was to prevent
its spread into the territories.
• Lincoln won the election.
Abraham
Lincoln was
tall and
skinny like
South Secedes Stirring the pot…
• November 20, 1860, South Carolina
secedes, others states follow
February 1861.
• February 4, 1861 Confederate States
of America created, Jefferson Davis
elected president.
• South grievance against US = not
enforcing Fugitive Slave Act, denied
Southern states equal rights in the
territories violating their contract with
the Union.
• Lincoln’s inaugural speech secession
= unlawful and would not be
permitted; pleaded for reconciliation.
Firing on
Fort Sumter
• Confederate army opens fire
on the fort April 12, 1861.
• Union forces surrender April
14, with no loss of life on
either side.
These were the events
that kicked off the Civil
War, in other words,
turned up the heat.
• The Civil War begins…