A Union in Peril

Causes of the Civil War

Westward Expansion and Slavery

� Expansion continually raised slavery issue

Balance of Power 1820

� In 1818 IL admitted as a free state(11 free vs. 10 slave)

� Alabama (AL) admitted as a slave state(11 free vs. 11 slave)

� 1820 Missouri (MO) applied for statehood� Balance of power debated

Missouri Compromise of 1820

� Henry Clay� Maine (ME) entered as free� Missouri (MO) entered as slave

(12 free vs. 12 slave)

� Louisiana Territory split in half (36 / 30’)� North of line = free (except MO)� South of line = slave

Nat Turner’s Rebellion� Slave� Preacher� 1831� Virginia (VA)� Eclipse = sign from God� 80 followers� Attacked 4 plantations� Kill about 60 whites� Captured/tried/hanged� 200 slaves killed after

Wilmot Proviso

� Mexico Am. War 1846� New land from Mex. – Free or Slave? � Ban slavery in any land won from Mexico?� Debated in Congress� Never passed

Conflicts 1850

� 1849 California (CA) applied for statehood

� Wash. DC was a major slave market

� Runaway slaves

� Slave states spoke of secession

Compromise of 1850

� Henry Clay� The slave trade (not slavery) abolished in DC� California (CA) admitted as free

(16 free vs. 15 slave)� Popular sovereignty used to decide slave

issue in New Mexico (NM) and Utah (UT)� Popular sovereignty = people who live in the

state will vote/decide� Fugitive Slave Act – all citizens required to

return runaways

Abolition Movement

William Lloyd Garrison� Newspaper

- The Liberator

Fredrick Douglass� Runaway slave� Educated� Lecturer� Newspaper

-The North Star

Harriet Beecher Stowe� Book – Uncle Tom’s Cabin� 1852

Harriet Tubman� Underground Railroad

Kansas Nebraska Act

� 1854

� Stephen Douglass

� Kansas Nebraska Territory to divide into 2

� Popular sovereignty to be used to decide

� Repealed Missouri Compromise of 1820

Bleeding Kansas

� Northerners and Southerners race to Kansas (KS)� Some legitimate settlers, many “settlers”

� Rival governments set up� Proslavery – Lecompton, KS� Anti-slavery – Topeka

� Violence, riots, small scale civil war

Pottawatomie Massacre

� John Brown� Extreme abolitionist� May 1856� Pottawatomie, KS� Attacks 5 sleeping proslavery men� Chops off hands and kills

Results� Triggers more violence� Further worsens N./S.

relations

Violence in the Senate

May 19th 1856� Charles Sumner gave speech “The Crime

Against Kansas”� 2 days long� Attacked slavery� Abusive remarks toward Andrew Butler (SC)� Made fun of his speech

May 22nd 1856� Preston S. Brooks (Butler’s nephew)� Walks into the Senate� Beat Sumner over the head with cane� Sumner seriously injured (brain damage)� Returns to Senate 3 years later

Result� South applaud actions� North denounce� Further worsens relations

Dred Scott Decision

Background� Dred Scott, slave

� 1834, taken by owner to live in IL and WI for 4 yrs.

� Later owner and Scott moved back to Missouri (MO)

� Owner died

The Case� 1854 Scott files suit� Argument

� - Owner took him north of Missouri Compromise line for 4 years . . .

� - He should be a free man

The Ruling� 1857� African Americans are not citizens . . . � Have no rights/privileges� The Missouri Compromise of 1820 is

unconstitutional

Result� Worsened N/S relations

� Greatly expanded reach of slavery

Harpers Ferry

The Plan� Harpers Ferry, Virginia (VA)� 1859� John Brown

� 21 men� Take weapons from federal arsenal� Give to slaves� Begin slave rebellion

The Results� Does not work� No slaves join� Brown captured/tried/hanged� South celebrates� North mourns, becomes a martyr

Election of 1860

� Lincoln (Republican)

� Pledged would halt the spread of slavery . . .

� BUT not interfere with slavery in the South

� His name did not appear on most southern ballots

The Results� Won no southern states

� Won all free states

� Lincoln only won 40% of the popular vote

� Won enough electoral votes to win

Southern Secession� Many fear the end of slavery

� Felt lost voice in gov’t

� SC leads the way� Secedes Dec. 20th 1860

� Soon after: MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, and TX

� Mass gov’t resignations in D.C.

Secession

� February 1861 southern delegates write a new constitution

� Form the Confederate States of America (CSA)

� Elect Jefferson Davis President

� Lincoln did not even swear in until March!!!

Lincoln’s Dilemma

� Confederate soldiers began seizing gov’tbuildings/forts in the south.

Fort Sumter

� April 12th, 1861

� Confederates attempt to seize Fort Sumter (SC)

� Shots fired

� The war begins!