Events Leading to the Civil War

Events Leading to the Civil War“Dividing the National Map”

3 Causes of the Civil War

• Sectionalism: As the North began to industrialize, it became increasingly reliant on wage laborers. As demand for cotton exploded with the creation of the cotton gin, the South became even more reliant on slave labor. The North and South were becoming separate “sections” of the country, each with distinct cultures, economies, and social systems.

3 Causes of the Civil War

• States’ Rights: The old debate over federalism had never really died. Because of its higher population growth, the North would increasingly dominate the federal government. The South responded by claiming that the individual states should have more power to make decisions over issues such as slavery.

3 Causes of the Civil War (3 S’s)

• Slavery: During the 1800s radical abolitionists (mostly in the North) intensified their opposition to slavery at the same time that slavery was becoming even more essential to the economy of the South.

• What information could you, as a historian, gather from this picture?

• What do you want to know about them?

• Why do you think this picture was taken?

Picturing Slavery

• How can we critically read graphic sources?

• What are their inherent values and limitations?

How can historians learn about the experiences of slaves?

Qualitative Research

Based on non-numerical

written, audio or visual sources.

Quantitative ResearchBased on statistical evidence.

A Slave Advertisement

Slave Auction House

Atlanta, Georgia (1865)

-Source: Engraving from Henry Bibb, Narrative of the Adventures and Life of Henry Bibb, an American

Slave, Written by Himself, New York: 1849

Gang Labor

Peter, a slave with scarring from a whipping. Louisiana, 1863

• Make a hypothesis about who took this picture and why it was taken.

Enslaved Dock WorkersAlexandria Virginia (1860)

A Pro-Slavery Lithograph (1850)

Use the charts provided to answer the “New Perspectives on Slavery Questions” (pg 4-5)