Do Now
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Record in your Agenda: Civil War unit
test on Friday (things to study: life in
North/South, events leading to the war,
key battles/events of the war)
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Get out your group’s newscast script
The Road to War
Major Events leading to the
American Civil War
Slavery Caused the Civil War
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The issue of slavery divided the North and the South in the
1800s
Slavery had existed in all 13 colonies at one point in time (the
first slaves had arrived in 1619 in the colony of Jamestown)
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Individual states could abolish slavery (Rhode Island was the
first to do so in 1774– before it was even a state; it was a
colony at the time– most northern states had abolished slavery
by 1804)
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It could be outlawed in the whole country– but that would have
taken a law passed by Congress.
Why did Congress Never Outlaw Slavery?
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Congress is divided into the House of Representatives (based
on population) and Senate (2 per state)
By 1850, the Northern population was far greater than the
Southern population– meaning there were more Northern
representatives in the House– and meaning that an anti-slavery
bill could easily pass in the House. Advantage?
As long as the # of Northern and Southern states remained
equal, then the number of Northern and Southern Senators
would remain equal in the Senate– meaning there was little
chance of an anti-slavery bill passing in the Senate.
Advantage?
If a bill only passes in the House, but not the Senate, then it
can’t become a law.
So, this is why Congress not able to pass a law abolishing
slavery before the Civil War.
Keeping the # of slave and free states at an equal number was
very important to slave holding states for this reason.
Missouri Compromise (1820)
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Missouri
Compromise (1820)
 Drafted by Henry
Clay of KY
 Missouri enters as a
slave state
 Maine enters as a
free state
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The # of free and slave
states remains equal–
thus, the # of Senators
free and slave remain
equal
Line drawn through
Louisiana Territory at
36 latitude: slavery
would be allowed in
new states only below
this line
Missouri Compromise (1820)
Update your Concept Map!
Compromise of 1850
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The Missouri
Compromise was
successful for about 30
years
Recall: with the
discovery of GOLD in
California in the late
1840s that thousands of
people rushed to CA in
hopes of striking it rich
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The population of
California grew so
rapidly that by 1850 it
had applied to join the
country as a state
Since the MO
Compromise line was
drawn only through the
Louisiana Territory, the
question became:
would CA enter as a
free or slave state?
(either way, CA would
upset the balance in the
Senate)
Compromise of 1850
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Recall: the U.S. had recently provoked
Mexico into war and had won a
significant amount of land with the
Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo to end the
Mexican American
War
Compromise of 1850
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Like the MO
Compromise, this
compromise was
drafted by Henry Clay
of KY
California entered as a
free state
The rest of the Mexican
Cession land (NM and
UT territories) would be
open to slavery
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The slave trade was
ended in the nation’s
capital (Washington,
D.C.)– but slave owners
there could keep their
slaves
A stricter fugitive slave
law was enacted–
obligating Northerners
to return runaway
slaves to Southerners
Compromise of 1850
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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In 1852, Harriet
Beecher Stowe (a
northern abolitionist
woman) published a
novel, Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
 Although fiction, the
novel depicted the
cruelties of slavery
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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Stowe’s novel was
widely popular in the
North– and sparked
outrage in the South
In 1862 (during the
War) Stowe met
President Lincoln who
supposedly remarked
that she “was the little
lady who made this big
war.”
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
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The Kansas-Nebraska
Act is an example of
political “wheeling-anddealing”
Illinois Senator Stephen
Douglas supported
building a railroad to
connect the Eastern
U.S. to the Pacific
Ocean
He wanted the railroad
to run from Chicago
through the Louisiana
Territory
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Southerners wanted the
railroad to originate in a
Southern city and not
Chicago
Douglas fashioned a
deal: If the Southerners
agreed to let the
railroad run from
Chicago then Douglas
would help overturn the
ban on slavery above
the MO Compromise
line
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
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In 1854, Congress
passed the KansasNebraska Act
1. The remainder of the
Louisiana Purchase
land (all of it north of the
MO Compromise line)
would be divided into 2
territories: Kansas
Territory and Nebraska
Territory
2. The issue of slavery
would be decided in
both territories by
popular sovereignty–
the people in each
territory would decide
whether to be free or
slave by voting on the
issue
3. The KS-NE Act
eliminated the MO
Compromise line
Bleeding Kansas
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Anti-slavery and
pro-slavery people
rushed to both
Kansas and
Nebraska so they
could be counted in
the vote
 Violence broke out
between the two
factions
Bleeding Kansas
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In 1856, white
abolitionist (from New
England) John Brown
led a raid on a proslavery settlement in
Kansas
 In what became known
as the Pottawatomie
Creek Massacre, Brown
and his sons murdered
5 pro-slavery men
 Brown managed to
evade capture and
claimed he acted on the
orders of God
Bleeding Congress
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Blood was not only
spilled in Kansas but
on the floor of the
Senate in
Washington as well
 The “SumnerBrooks Affair” of
1856
The Dred Scott Case
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In 1857, the Supreme
Court ruled on the case
involving a slave, Dred
Scott, who had traveled
to and lived in Illinois
(free state) and
Wisconsin (free
territory)
Upon his master’s
death, when he was
transferred as property
to his master’s widow,
Scott sued in court for
his freedom based on
his having lived in free
areas
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The Supreme
Court’s decision was
a blow to
abolitionists
 The Court ruled that
Scott was not a
citizen– and neither
was any African
American (free or
slave)
The Dred Scott Case
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The Court further ruled
that Scott was not free
because he had
traveled to free soil as
property
Finally, the Court ruled
that the MO
Compromise ban on
slavery was
unconstitutional–
Congress could not ban
slavery in any territory
Raid at Harper’s Ferry
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Recall John Brown
from the
Pottawatomie Creek
Massacre
 Now in Virginia in
1859, Brown wanted
to start a slave
rebellion
He and a small group of
men broke into the
national arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry to steal
weapons to arm the
slaves
 U.S. Army troops under
the leadership of Col.
Robert E. Lee captured
Brown and his men
 Brown was convicted of
treason and sentenced
to death
1860 Election of Lincoln
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4 candidates for
President
 Republican: Abraham
Lincoln
 Northern Democrat:
Stephen Douglas
 Southern Democrat:
John C. Breckinridge (of
KY)
 Constitutional Union:
John Bell
1860 Election of Lincoln
Lincoln’s campaign
position on slavery:
slavery could continue
where it already existed
BUT it could not expand
into new states/territories
 This position frightened
Southerners
 As a result of Lincoln’s
election, Southern states
begin to secede (break
away from the U.S.)
 SC is first, with 11 total
states by 1861
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