[ 5.5 ] Causes of the Civil War
[ 5.5 ] Causes of the Civil War
Learning Objectives
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Explain how slavery was one reason that Texas became involved in the Civil War.
Explain how issues in the 1850s such as states’ rights and sectionalism began to split
the United States apart.
Describe how Texas made the decision to secede from the United States.
[ 5.5 ] Causes of the Civil War
Key Terms
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states’ rights
Resistance
William Goyens
secede
abolitionist
nullification
sectionalism
tariff
John Reagan
vigilantes
Francis Lubbock
Slavery in Texas
There were several causes of the Civil War. Disputes between the North and the South
had grown for years. The leaders of the North and South argued over public lands and
states’ rights. States’ rights is the idea that states have the right to limit the power of the
federal government.
Slavery in Texas
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Slavery in Early Texas
Slave Population Grows
How Growing Cotton Promoted Slavery
How Enslaved Persons Were Treated
Daily Lives of Enslaved Persons
Resistance to Slavery
Free Black Texans
Opposition to Slavery
Slavery in Texas
This painting, based on an image from 1852, shows enslaved African Americans being sold at a slave
market. Assess Credibility What techniques did the artist use to temper the drama of this event?
Slavery in Texas
Analyze Graphs What likely caused the enslaved population of Texas to grow so greatly during the
1850s?
Disagreements Divide the Nation
Events in the 1850s pushed the nation closer to civil war. One of these events was the
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This act gave the people of Kansas and Nebraska the right
to decide if their states would allow slavery. An earlier law, the Missouri Compromise of
1820, had stated that this land would be free of slavery.
Disagreements Divide the Nation
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States’ Rights and Sectionalism
Disagreements Over Tariffs
The Dred Scott v. Sandford Decision
The Elections of 1857 and 1859
The “Texas Troubles”
Disagreements Divide the Nation
Analyze Information What did the federal government hope to accomplish by passing a number of
these laws?
Disagreements Divide the Nation
Enslaved African American Dred Scott unsuccessfully tried to win his freedom in the courts.
Texas Secedes
Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, won the presidential election of 1860. All the states that
he won were in the North. Lincoln received no votes in Texas. Many Southerners and
Texans worried what he might do about slavery. Pressure for secession grew. Petitions
from around the state called for Governor Sam Houston to call a convention to remove
Texas from the United States. Houston refused.
Texas Secedes
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The Secession Convention
Texas Joins the Confederacy
Texas Secedes
Analyze Maps Why did support for secession likely vary from place to place in Texas?
Texas Secedes
Francis Richard Lubbock became governor of Texas in 1861, the year Texas joined the Confederacy. He
supported the Confederacy and worked to grow the military power of Texas.
Quiz: Slavery in Texas
Which statement best describes life for enslaved African Americans in Texas?
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They lived in large homes.
They worked four days a week.
They had only enough food to survive.
They were prevented from getting married.
Quiz: Disagreements Divide the Nation
How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act move the nation closer to war?
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Most Northerners supported the act.
Most southerners disagreed with the act.
The act said Kansas and Nebraska could not have slaves.
The act violated an earlier compromise regarding the slavery issue.
Quiz: Texas Secedes
What happened when Texas seceded?
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B.
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The state left the Union.
The state left the Confederacy.
The state became its own republic.
The state became a slave-free territory.