Causes of the Civil War

1. Missouri Compromise

1.1. 1820

1.2. Missouri Compromise

1.3. As America began moving west the issue of whether or no slavery should be allowed in the new states forming out west became an issue. The first state in which became an issue was Missouri. Its addition to the United States threatened to upset the balance between free states and slave states. In 1820, Senator Henry Clay persuaded congress to approve the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise stated 1. Maine was admitted as a free state. 2. Missouri was admitted as a slave state. 3. Maine north of Missouri's southern border was free. 4. Southern slave owners gained the right to pursue escaped fugitives into free regions.

2. Wilmot Proviso

2.1. 1848

2.2. Wilmot Proviso

2.3. Since the Missouri Compromise did not apply to the large territory gained from Mexico in 1848, representatives David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed that congress band slavery in all territory that might become a part of the United States and as a result of the Mexican American War. The proposal passed the House but failed the Senate.

3. Free Soil Party

3.1. 1848

3.2. Free Soil Party

3.3. In the election of 1848, both the wigs party and the democratic party hoped to win by not taking stand on the issue of slavery. Anti-slavery wigs and democrats joined forces to create a new political party. It called for the territory gained in the Mexican American War to be free soil, a place where slavery was banned.

4. Election of Zachary Taylor

4.1. 1840

4.2. Election of Zachary Taylor

4.3. In the election of 1840, the controversy or the Wilmot provise led to the development of the free soil party. Democrats nominated Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, the Wigs nominated Zachary Taylor, and the free soil party nominated former democratic party president Martin Van Buren. Senator Cass suggested that people in each new territory should decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. Zachary Taylor, a hero of the Mexican American War won the election.

5. The Compromise of 1850

5.1. 1850

5.2. The Compromise of 1850

5.3. Gold was found in California and thousands moved to the area. Soon the territory had enough people to be admitted as a state. Since it was above the Missouri compromise line, people felt it would be a gold state. This angered the south and they threatened to secede. Henry Clay made the compromise. He hoped this would end the slavery debate forever.The compromise stated that 1. California was admitted to the union as a free sate. 2. Slave trade was banned from the north. 3. Congress declared that it could not regulate the slave trade between slave states. 4. popular sovereignty would be used to determine the issue of slavery in the rest of the Mexican cession 5. The south received a new fugitive slave law.

6. Fugitive Slave Act

6.1. 1851

6.2. Fugitive Slave Act

6.3. This act allowed special government officials to arrest any person accused of being a runaway slave even if they were falsely accused.It required northern people to help capture any accused runways if authorities requested assistance.

7. Uncle Tom's Cabin

7.1. 1852

7.2. Uncle Tom's Cabin

7.3. Written by Stephen Douglas in 1854. This led the nation closer to war. The book was about a enslaved African american man who was badly abused by a cruel cruel man. because of this book people that wasn't really concerned with slavery was very concerned afterwards.

8. Kansas Nebraska Act

8.1. 1854

8.2. Kansas Nebraska Act

8.3. Pro slavery and Anti-slavery people settled in the area of Kansas. Stephen Douglas wanted to see railroads in these areas. In these areas slavery was going on but they were above the Missouri compromise line so it was illegal. This act revered the comprise. Northers were angry. This led the nation closer to war.

9. Bleeding Kansas

9.1. 1855

9.2. Bleeding Kansas

9.3. Since pro slavery and Anti slavery people lived there they was trying to win majority so the state would be admitted as a slave or free state. On March of 1855 the majority was slave state. Anti slavery people refused to accept the results and held another election. Violence broke out. April, pro slavery sheriff was shot when he tried to arrest some antislavery settlers in the town of Lawrence. He returned with 800 men and attacked the town. Three days later John brown, a anti slavery settler from Connecticut led seven to a pro slavery settlement near Pottawatomie creek and killed 5 pro slavery men and boys. This started a wild spread of fighting in Kansas.

10. Bloodshed in the Senate

10.1. 1855

10.2. Bloodshed in the Senate

10.3. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was leading abolitionist senator and made fiery speeches denouncing the pro slavery legislature in Kansas. In one of his speeches he singled out Andrew butler which was elderly. A few days later his nephew Congressman Preston Brooks marched to senate chamber and beat him with a heavy cane until he fell to the floor bloody and unconscious. He never really recovered from his injuries.

11. Republican Party

11.1. 1854

11.2. Republican Party

11.3. The Whig party split in 1854.Many formed a new political party called the Republican party. Their goal was to stop the spread of slavery. There anti slavery stand attracted many northern democrats and free-soil members. The party became powerful. Democrats lost control of two northern state legislative. Two years later, the party ran its first candidate for president, John C. Fremont.

12. The Election of 1856

12.1. 1856

12.2. The Election of 1856

12.3. First republican candidate John c. Fremont (army officer who help win California's independence in the Mexican American war) waged a strong antislavery campaign and won 11 out of 16 free states. Democrat James Buchanan won the election.

13. Dred Scott v. Sanford Case

13.1. 1857

13.2. Dred Scott v. Sanford Case

13.3. Dred Scott was a enslaved African american owned by a U.S Army doctor. They lived were slavery was illegal so Scott got a anti-slavery lawyer and sued for his freedom. the case was so big it went to the supreme court. Three days later, the vi dict was that he's not free. They said this because first, Scott had no right to sue in federal court because African Americans were not citizens and also that the compromise is unconstitutional so therefore all African Americans are slaves.

14. Lincoln and Douglas Debate

14.1. 1858

14.2. Lincoln and Douglas Debate

14.3. Lincoln was chosen as the elected candidate for Senate against Senator Stephen Douglas in 1858. Lincoln and Douglas did not get along ( they both dated the same girl Mary Todd and she marries Lincoln). Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates. Douglas defended popular sovereignty and said each state had the right to decide for or against slavery. he painted Lincoln as a dangerous abolitionist who wanted equality for African Americans. Lincoln took stand against the spread of slavery. He said slavery would die out on its own. Douglas won the elections but Lincoln was known throughout the nation.

15. John Brown Attacks Harper Ferry

15.1. 1859

15.2. John Brown Attacks Harper Ferry

15.3. John Brown was driven out of Kansas after the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre and returned to new England. There he plot his plan to free people in the south that were enslaved. In 1859 brown and a small group of supporters attacked the town of Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His goal was to take the guns from the U.S Army that they store.He hoped African American would support him. He gained control of the guns but then they troops came and injured and captured him. They took him to court and he was sentenced to life.

16. Political Parties Divide

16.1. 1860

16.2. Political Parties Divide

16.3. The democrat Party party split into two parties during the election of 1860 because Northern Democrats refused to support slavery in the territories. Some Southerners wanted to fix the problems between the North and South and formed the Constitutional Union Party. They wanted to protect slavery and keep the nation together.

17. Election of 1860

17.1. 1860

17.2. Election of 1860

17.3. Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln to run for president in 1860. Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas as their candidate. Southern Democrat chose Vice President John Breckenridge of Kentucky. The Constitional Union nominated John Bell of Tennessee. The election showed just had fragment the nation had become. Lincoln won every free state and Breckenridge won all slave states except four. Bell won Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Douglas won Missouri. Lincoln received 40% of the popular vote but received enough electoral votes to win the election and become president

18. Southern States Secede

18.1. 1860

18.2. Southern States Secede

18.3. Lincoln's election made the south feel like they no longer had a voice in the national government, They believed that the president and Congress were against their interest, especially slavery. South Carolina seceded ( left the united states) first when the news reached the state. They called a special convection. On December 20, 1860 the convection passed a declaration that "the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other states, under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved. Some more states followed South Carolina out if the union.

19. Confederate States of America

19.1. 1862

19.2. Confederate States of America

19.3. In February of 1861, the leaders of the seven seceding states that left the union met in Montgomery, Alabama to form a new nation that they called Confederate States of America. By the time Lincoln took office took office in march, they had written a constitution and named former senator Jefferson Davis as president.

20. Critten Plan

20.1. 1861

20.2. Critten Plan

20.3. A plan develop by senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky to compromise with the union one last time. It was presented to Congress in the late February, 1861 while the south was forming its new government but it did not pass.

21. The Economy of the North and South

21.1. 1820

21.2. The Economy of the North and South

21.3. The North was industrial with factories and paid for work. The South was agricultural with large plantations and small farms. slave labor was used in the South.