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Causes of the Civil War
Using your textbook, look up and answer the following questions regarding the long
term and short term causes of the Civil War.
Long Term Causes
1. States Rights v. Strong Central Government Debate
a. What was the South’s view of States Rights v. Central Government
b. What was the North’s view of States Rights v. Central Government
c. When did the debate over states rights v. central government begin?
2. Missouri Compromise
a. Why was there a debate over Missouri becoming a State?
b. How was the debate resolved?
c. How did Missouri’s State resolve the question about the future
expansion of slavery?
d. What is the date of the Missouri Compromise?
3. Annexation of Texas
a. What issues developed between the Texans and Mexico?
b. Why did Andrew Jackson not Annex Texas
c. How did Northerners view the war with Mexico
d. Did Texas become a slave state after the War?
e. When was Texas and the rest of old Mexico become part of the United
States
4. Annexation of California
a. What debated existed about California becoming a state
b. Define the Wilmot Proviso and what was the South’s Response
a. Why did David Wilmot support slavery in Texas?
b. How does this contradict the Missouri Compromise?
c. When was the Wilmot Proviso proposed?
d. How did John C. Calhoun counter the proviso?
e. What did Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton say about
Wilmot and Calhoun’s debate?
c. Define Popular Sovereignty?
a. How does Popular Sovereignty conflict with the Missouri
Compromise?
b. Who adopted the principle of popular sovereignty?
d. Define the Compromise of 1850?
a. What did president Zachary Taylor say about California and
New Mexico Statehood?
b. What was the south response to Taylor?
c. Who was Henry Clay and what were his eight resolutions for
compromise?
d. What was Calhoun’s response?
e. What happened to President Zachary Taylor?
f. What were the final five resolutions that became the
Compromise of 1850?
e. Define Fugitive Slave Act?
a. How did the act impact the north?
5. Bleeding Kansas
a. What was the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Date?
b. How did Kansas Statehood spark the slavery debate in the region?
c. Who were the Jayhawks and who were the bushwackers? Why did the
two get along
d. What happened in the Kansas Elections of 1855?
a. How were pro-slavery factions able to win?
b. What was the anti-slavery response?
c. How did this divide the state?
e. What is Bleeding Kansas?
a. What was the Sack of Lawrence
b. What was the Pottawataomie Massacre
c. Who was John Brown?
d. What was the Raid at Osawatomie?
e. What was the “Boarder War”
f. How did Bleeding Kansas increase sectional politics in the United
States?
a. What had each party adopted by the election of 1856?
g. What was the Lecompton Constitution, how did it impact Kansas
Statehood?
a. Why did the State constitutional convention propose the
Lecompton Constitution?
b. Why did the State legislature reject the Lecompton
Constituiton?
c. Why did President James Buchanan support the constitution?
d. What was congresses vote on the Lecompton constitution?
e. What did Kansas voters eventually vote on the Lecompton
constitution, and what did this signify?
6. Dred Scott v. Sandford Decision
a. What is the date of the Dred Scott Decision
b. Why did Dred Scott sue for his freedom?
c. What was Supreme Courts Decision? (Hint: Citizenship)
d. How did the decision impact the Missouri Compromise
e. How did the decision challenge popular sovereignty
Short Term Causes
1. Charles Sumner and “Bully” Brooks
a. Who was Charles Sumner and why did Preston S. Brooks beat him on
the Senate Floor?
b. What impact did the beating have on the North?
c. What impact did the beating have on the South?
d. What impact did it have on John brown?
2. The Formation of the Republican Party
a. What issue was central to Republican Ideology?
b. Who joined of the Republican Party?
c. When was the party formed and how did it do in the Election of 1856?
3. Lincoln-Douglas Debate
a. Why did Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debating?
b. What was Douglas view on the expansion of slavery?
c. What was Lincoln’s view on the expansion of slavery?
d. How did the south view Lincoln?
e. How did the north view Lincoln?
f. Who won the debate?
4. Raid of Harpers Ferry
a. What religious certainty did John Brown hold?
b. Define the raid on Harpers Ferry? When was it?
c. What impact did John Brown have on North and South?
5. Election of 1860
a. What was the South’s reaction to Lincoln’s candidacy in the election of
1860? Why?
b. What was the result of the election?
c. How many votes did Lincoln receive in the south? Why?
d. What was Lincoln’s view of slavery during the election of 1860?
e. What did Lincoln call for during his first Inauguration?
6. Battle at Fort Sumter
a. What was South Carolina’s reaction to Lincoln’s election?
b. Define secession?
c. What happened on February 1st, 7th, and 18th in 1861?
d. Who was Jefferson Davis?
e. What choice did Lincoln face with Fort Sumter?
f. What was the Battle of Fort Sumter and how did impact relations
between the North and South?