Causes Of The American Civil War
by Susette Corcino
1. Republican Party
1.1. 1854
1.2. Republican party
1.3. The Whig party split in 1854 and many northern Whigs formed a new political party called the Republican Party. Their main goal to stop the spread of slavery into the western territories. Their antislavery stand attracted many northern democrats and free-soil members. The party quickly became very powerful. In the first congressional elections held just a few months after the party was created , 105 of 245 candidates were elected to the House of Representatives. Democrats also lost control of two northern state legislatures. Two years later the party ran its first candidate for president, John C. Fremont.
2. Uncle Tom's Cabin
2.1. 1852
2.2. Uncle toms cabin
2.3. Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 , it was a novel about kindly Uncle Tom , an enslaved man who is abused by the cruel Simon Legree . The book became a best seller in the North . It shocked thousands of people who had been unconcerned with slavery before reading the book. The book caused people to view slavery as a human , moral problem and not just a political issue . White southerners were outraged.
3. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
3.1. 1854
3.2. The Kansas -Nebraska Act
3.3. Senator Stephen Douglas pushed through the act in 1854 which led the nation closer to war. He wanted to see a railroad built from Illinois through the Nebraska territory to the pacific coast. He suggested creating two new territories the Kansas territory and the Nebraska territory. Both where above the Missouri compromise line and would become free states which upset the southerners . To win southern support, he suggested that the issue of slavery be resolved by sovereignty. This would undo the Missouri compromise.
4. "Bleeding Kansas"
4.1. 1855
4.2. Bleeding Kansas
4.3. Both pro-slavery and Anti slavery settlers flooded to kansas to try and win the majority. Thousands of people from Missouri entered Kansas in March of 1855 to vote illegally in the election of a territorial legislature. Kansas had 3,000 voters but almost 8,000 people voted. Of the 39 people (legislators) elected , all but 3 supported slavery. Antislavery settlers refused to accept the results and held another election. Kansas now had two governments. Violence broke out. In April, a proslavery sheriff was shot when he tried to arrest some antislavery settlers in the town of Lawrence. He returned the next month with 800 men and attacked the town. Three days later John Brown, an antislavery settler from Conneticut let seven men to a proslavery settlement near Pottawatonie Creek and murdered five proslavery men and boys. This started widespread fighting in Kansas
5. Bloodshed In The Senate
5.1. 1859
5.2. Bloodshed In The Senate
5.3. Chalres Sumner of Massachusettes was the leading abolitionist senator and made fiery speeches denouncing the proslavery legislature in Kansas. In one of his speeches he singled out Andrew butler who was an elderly senator from South Carolina who was not present when he gave his speech. A few days later his nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks, marched into the senate chamber and beat Sumner with a heavy cane until he fell to the floor bloody and unconscious. Sumner never really recovered from his injuries.
6. Election Of 1856
6.1. 1856
6.2. Election of 1856
6.3. First republican candidate John C. Fremont waged a strong antislavery campaign and won 11 of the 16 free states. James Buchnanan won the election
7. Dred Scott Vs. Sanford Case
7.1. 1857
7.2. Dred Scott vs. Sanford case
7.3. Dred Scott was an enslaved person who had once been owned by us army doctor. They had lived in Illinois and Wisconsin for a short time where slavery was illegal. They settled in Missouri. With the help of an antislavery lawyer,Scott sued for his freedom because he argued that he was free because he had lived where slavery was illegal. The case reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court delivered its verdict in the case on march of 1857 , three days after president Buchanan took office. Chief Justice roger b. Taney wrote the decision for the court. Scott was not a free man for two reasons: 1. Scott had no rights to sue in federal court because African Americans were not citizens ; 2. merely living in free territory does not make an enslaved person free. Slaves were property and property rights were protected by the United States constitution. Thus, the Missouri compromise was unconstitutional. Southerners were happy because slavery was legal in all territories. Northerners were upset because now slavery could spread to the west.
8. The Lincoln And Douglas Debates
8.1. 1858
8.2. The Lincoln and Douglas Debates
8.3. Lincoln was chosen as the Whigs candidate for senate against senator Stephen Douglas in 1858. Lincoln and Douglas were political and personal rivals. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of public debates. Thousands gathered to hear them speak. Newspapers reported what each man said throughout the nation. Douglas defended speak and said each state had the right to decided for or against slavery. He painted Lincoln as a dangerous abolitionists who wanted equality for African Americans. Lincoln took a stand against the spread of slavery. He predicted that slavery would die out on its own but in the meantime Americans had an obligation to keep it out of the western territories. Douglas won the election but Lincoln was now known throughout the nation.
9. John Brown Attacks Harper's Ferry
9.1. 1859
9.2. John brown attacks harpers ferry
9.3. John Brown was driven out of Kansas after the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre and returned to New England. He began a plot to free people in the south that were enslaved. In 1859, Brown and a small group of supporters attacked the town of Harpers Ferry , Virginia. His goal was to take control of the guns that the U.S Army had stored there. He thought t that enslaved African Americans would support him. He would give them weapons and led a revolt. He gained control of the guns but troops commanded by Colonel Robert E. surrounded Brown's force before they could escape. Ten of Brown's followers were killed. Brown was wounded and captured. At his trial, he sat quietly as the court found him guilty of murder and treason. He was guity in Virginia on December 2, 1859. Many people in the North considered him a hero. Southerners were shocked that Northerners thought this about a person who tried to led a revolt against them.
10. Political Parties Divide
10.1. 1860
10.2. Political Parties Divide
10.3. The Republican Party split into two parties during the election of 1860 because the Northern Democrats refused to support slavery in the territories. Some Southerners wanted to fix the problems between the North and the South and formed the Constitution Union Party. They wanted to protect slavery and keep the nation together.
11. Missouri Compromise
11.1. 1820
11.2. Missouri Compromise
11.3. As America began moving West the issue of whether or not they should be allowed in the new states forming out west became an issue. the first state in which this became an issue was Missouri. It's 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. Main was admitted Asa free state. 2. Missouri was admitted as a slave state. 3. L.Territory north of Missouri's southern border was free 4.Southern slave owners gained the right to pursue escape fugitives.
12. Wilmot Proviso
12.1. 1848
12.2. Wilmot Proviso
12.3. Since the Missouri Compromise did not apply to the large territory gained from Mexico in 1848, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed that Congress ban Slavery in all Territory that might become part of the United States as a result of the Mexican American war. The proposal passed in the house but failed in the senate .
13. Free-Soil Party
13.1. 1848
13.2. Free-Soil Party
13.3. In the election of 1848 , both the Whigs party and the Democratic Party hoped to win by not taking a stand on the issue of slaves. Antislavery Whigs and democrats joined forces to create a new political tee-soil party . It called for the territory gained in the Mexican -American war to be "free soil" , a place where slavery was banned.
14. Election Of Zachary Taylor
14.1. 1848
14.2. Election of Zachary Taylor
14.2.1. In the election of 1848 , the controversy over the wilmont led to the development of the free-soil party. Democrats nominated senator Lewis of Michigan , the Whigs nominated van , and the free-soil party nominated former democratic president Martion senator cass suggested that the people in each new territory should decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery. Zachary Taylor , a hero of the Mexican American Zachary won the election.