Causes of the Civil War
Slavery in Texas (1)
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Many settlers brought slaves with them to Texas
Was a cheap source of labor to work the cotton fields
Slaves were considered property
Some slaves escaped to Mexico, where slavery was illegal.
Slavery in Texas (2)
• Most Northerners opposed slavery (there was some slavery
there…..surprising right)
• In the South, many people feared that the loss of slavery
would bankrupt the South
• The South threatened to secede (withdraw) from the Union if
slavery was outlawed
Growing Slave Population in Texas, 1825-1860
The Nation Splits Apart (3)
• Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
– gave the people of Kansas and Nebraska the right to decide if their states
would allow slavery.
– Many Southerners favored this act, most Northerners did not
– People “snuck” into Kansas to vote
– Fighting took place
– “Bleeding Kansas”
Bleeding Kansas (4)
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act said that the people of a new territory
would decide for themselves whether the state would enter the
Union as a slave state or a free state.
• When Kansas tried to enter Union, pro-slavery men from Missouri
flooded into Kansas to make sure it entered as a slave state.
• They were countered by free state supporters (including John
Brown and his sons) who came into Kansas to make sure that it
came in as a free state.
• Violence broke out on a large scale. Pro-slavery men and antislavery men set up rival constitutional conventions and nobody
really had a clue what to do.
• Dozens of men (perhaps many more) were killed in violence
between the two rival factions and endless fighting resulted.
• It wasn't until the Civil War broke out that the situation was
resolved; Union troops basically took over the place and Kansas
entered the Union as a free state in 1864.
The Nation Splits Apart (5)
• States’ rights
– the idea that states have the right to limit the power of the federal
government
– Most Southerners believed that the federal government went beyond its
power by limiting the spread of slavery
The Nation Splits Apart (6)
• Agriculture vs. Industry
– The South had ranching and farming
– Depended on the North to manufacture raw goods into finished products
– Example…cotton into cloth
– The North had factories, manufacturing, and more transportation
– Had subsistence farming, so could provide for their own families (not to sell)
– Made money from manufacturing Southern goods
– When the U.S. splits apart both sides are hurt
The Nation Splits Apart (7)
• Nationalism v. Sectionalism
– The people in the North saw themselves as Northerners and as members of
their respective state, not as citizens of the United States
– The people in the South saw themselves as Southerners and as members of
their respective state, not as citizens of the United States
– Each section thought they were better than the other
– Should have seen themselves as an entire nation not as sections
The Nation Splits Apart (8)
• Dred Scott vs. Sandford
– This landmark Supreme Court case ruled that African Americans did not
have the rights of citizens
– Slaves were property not people
– This ruling prevented the U.S. Congress from outlawing slavery in the
territories
John Brown’s Raid (9)
• On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a small army of
18 men into the small town of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
• His plan was to instigate a major slave rebellion in the
South.
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He would seize the arms and ammunition in the
federal arsenal, arm slaves in the area and move south
along the Appalachian Mountains, attracting slaves to
his cause.
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He had no rations. He had no escape route. His plan
was doomed from the very beginning. But it did
succeed to deepen the divide between the North and
South.
• When he was captured, he was publicly hung in
Charles Town, West Virginia.
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Abraham Lincoln Elected (10)
Runs as a Republican
Wants to stop the SPREAD of slavery, not ABOLISH it
Is elected November 6, 1860
South Carolina secedes December 20, 1860
11 other southern states quickly follow
Texas Secedes (11)
• The Secession Convention
– Oran M. Roberts, chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court
– called a convention to discuss Texas leaving the Union
– Sam Houston urged Texas NOT to secede (wasn’t reelected)
– The delegates voted 166 to 8 to secede
– On February 23, 1861, the people of Texas voted to secede
Texas Secedes (12)
• Texas Joins the Confederacy
–Soon after the vote, Texas delegates helped to establish the
Confederate States of America.
–On March 5, 1861, the Secession Convention declared
Texas independent of the United States