TOP FIVE CAUSES OF THE CIVIL
WAR
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sectionalism
Inbalance of Political Power
The Spread of Slavery to the West
Growth of the Abolition Movement
Election of Abraham Lincoln
1. Sectionalism – Is when a person is more loyal to his or her region
than to the nation.
Sectional economic differences helped
cause the Civil War. These differences led the
nation to grow in different directions throughout
the 1800s.
The North was moving towards
industrialization and an economy based on
manufacturing. The South was rooted in an
economy based on agriculture and slave labor.
The West was the newest region of the nation
and the least populated. The different needs of
the nation caused the people to be more loyal to
the region they lived in than to the nation as a
whole.
Case study - The Nullification Crisis
of 1832 http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view_print.php?book=41392
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The Theory of Nullification
states that a State has the right
to nullify, or cancel, any law
passed by Congress if that law
is unfair or unconstitutional.
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In 1832 Congress passed a protective tariff
against European manufactured goods.
The tariff benefited the Northern
Manufactures but it hurt the Southern
economy, as depicted in the cartoon on the
left.
People in South Carolina turned to John C.
Calhoun, Vice President to Andrew Jackson
for help.
He came up with the theory of Nullification,
an extension to the State’s right’s theory
presented by Jefferson in response to the
Alien and Sedition Acts.
South Carolina threatened to secede if the
tariffs were enforced in their state.
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
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Issue: Can a slave sue for
his freedom?
Decision: No, a slave is not
protected by the
Constitution, they are not
citizens, but instead are
property.
Increased Sectional tension
between North and South.
The decision supported the
Kansas Nebraska Act which
overturned the Missouri
Compromise
Fugitive Slave Act
• The Fugitive Slave Act was
a law that required all
Americans to assist southern
bounty hunters searching for
runaway slaves.
• It made it a Federal Crime to
assist runaway slaves.
• Slave catchers in the
North became common
place.
• It presented a moral
question, should I follow
the law and therefore
slavery, or break the law
and oppose slavery?
Bleeding Kansas
It showed that pro
slavery and
supporters and
Abolitionist were
willing to use force
to support their
beliefs.
2. Political Power
Another cause of the Civil War was the imbalance of power
between the North and the South. This can be seen as argument for
State Rights.
 The North had the greater population so they held more seats in
Congress, and therefore controlled the government.
 Northern Congressmen passed laws that benefited the North
more than the South. These laws primarily dealt with tariffs to
protect the manufacturing industry of the North.
 Many Southerners disagreed with these tariffs, even going so far
as to call them abominations, and felt powerless to change the
laws that negatively affected them.
3. Slavery and Western Expansion
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With the addition of new territories in
the West, the issue of slavery in the
United States began to heat up.
Northerners and Abolitionist did not
want to see the practice expand into
the Western lands.
Southerners wanted to see slavery
expand to the West.
Congress agreed to several
compromises through out the early
1800 that helped to ease tensions.
These compromises only postponed
the Civil War.
Missouri Compromise of 1820
• In 1820, there was a balance between
slave states in the South and Free
states in the North.
• Missouri was seeking statehood in
1820.
• Many northern states were against the
addition of Missouri because they
wanted slavery.
• This would create an imbalance in
Congress between free and slave
states.
• To keep the balance, the following
compromise was made
• Missouri would enter as a slave state,
and Maine would enter as free state.
(Thus keeping a balance)
• Slavery was outlawed in the lands of
the Louisiana Purchase, north of
Missouri’s southern border.
Compromise of 1850
To regulate slavery in the lands
of the Mexican Cession.
Leaders in Congress agreed to
the following compromises.
• The rest of the Mexican Cession was
divided into the Utah and New Mexico
territories.
• These territories would have the right to
decide if they would allow slavery or not.
• Texas agreed to reduce it’s
size in exchange for the
United States paying off their
war debt.
• California was admitted to the
Union as a free state.
• The slave trade was banned
in Washington D.C.
• The Fugitive Slave Act was
passed. All Americans had to
follow the law.
Kansas – Nebraska Act
In 1854 Congress organized the
rest of the Louisiana Purchase
into the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska. The issue of slavery
heated up again as Congressed
passed an ordinance allowing
the people of these territories to
decide for themselves if they
would allow slavery in their
states.
Having both pro slavery and anti slavery
groups in the same state led to violence.
The fighting the occurred in Kansas became
known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
Both northerners and
southerners rushed to Kansas to
help decide the outcome of the
election.
4. Growth of the Abolition Movement
The north became center of the anti-slavery
movement called abolitionism. The
Abolition movement gained momentum with
the publishing of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In addition, the decision
in the Dred Scott vs. Sanford Supreme
Court case and the Fugitive Slave Act
angered northerners. Many people
became famous for their efforts to end
slavery, such as Fredrick Douglass, the most
notable Abolitionist of the day, Sojourner
Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, and Harriet
Tubman. Some even sought freedom for
slaves through violence, like John Brown
who led a raid on federal arsenal at
Harper’s Ferry VA.
The Abolitionists
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Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was a former
slave and poet that gave
speeches against slavery.
She is most famous for her
speech called “Ain’t I a
Woman.”
Like Frederick Douglass she
gave an authentic voice to the
abolition movement.
Abolitionist
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Fredrick Douglas was an
former slave and the most
famous abolitionist of the day.
Douglass was very intelligent
and a great speaker, he
helped to change people’s
minds about AfricanAmericans and those who
were enslaved.
The Abolitionists
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Harriet Tubman
Was a conductor of the
Underground Railroad.
After escaping from captivity via
the Underground Railroad, she
made thirteen missions to rescue
over seventy slaves using the
same underground network.
She risked her life as she was a
former slave herself.
She later helped John Brown, and
in the post-war era struggled for
women's suffrage.
The Abolitionists
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle
Tom’s Cabin.
The novel described the horrors of
slavery to many northerners who had
not really paid much attention to the
issue of slavery.
The novel was a huge success, and was
even made into a play that was
performed by different troops of
actors.
The significance of the play is that it
influence many people to join the
Abolition movement.
The Abolitionists
He was a prominent abolitionist
and journalist.
He is best known as the editor of
the radical abolitionist
newspaper, the Liberator, and
as one of the founders of the
American Anti-slavery society.
William Lloyd Garrison
Key Events in the Abolition
Movement
• John Brown was a radical
Abolitionist.
• He took it upon himself to
end slavery.
• His plan was to raid the
Armory at Harpers Ferry
Virginia.
• Then he would arm slaves
and have them fight for their
freedom.
• The raid was not successful,
and John Brown was
executed for this.
• He became a martyr for the
Abolition movement.
5. The Election of Lincoln
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All these issues were coming to a breaking
point during the Election of 1860.
Southern States were convinced that Lincoln
was an advocate of anti-slavery, and
dedicated to northern causes.
Therefore, they threatened secession if Lincoln
won the election.
Because Lincoln was elected president in 1860,
seven southern states seceded from the Union.
They were, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida,
Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.
Attack at Fort Sumter
• The Civil War began on
April 12, 1861 when
Confederate troops
bombarded the Federal
fort.
• Confederate forces had
demanded the Federal
fort be turned over to
them, however, Union
troops refused.
• The bombardment of
the fort marks the
beginning of the Civil
War.
20 important vocabulary terms for
the Antebellum Era
Sectionalism
McCulloch v. Maryland
Gibbons v. Ogden
Nullification theory
Nullification crisis
State’s Rights
Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Kansas Nebraska Act
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
“Bleeding Kansas”
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Tubman
William Lloyd Garrison
“The Liberator”
Sojourner Truth
Fredrick Douglass
John Brown
Fugitive Slave Law
secede