What caused the Civil War?

True or False?1. Only 25% of the whites in the South owned

slaves.2. Only 7% of Confederate Soldiers owned slaves.3. The vast majority of slaves taken out of Africa

were sold by other Africans.4. Famous northern generals such as Grant and

Sherman owned slaves.5. The most famous Confederate Generals did not

own slaves.6. Over 10,000 blacks willingly fought for the

Confederate army.7. Over 3,000 free blacks in Louisiana and South

Carolina owned slaves.8. The Civil War is far more complicated than you

first thought.

Key Questions Can one government successfully rule two

vastly different sections of a country? Are state governments better at serving

the citizens than a federal government? (i.e. should state governments be more powerful than the federal government?

Should states be allowed to nullify harmful federal laws?

Is it legal for a state to secede from the U.S.?

Are states without slavery more prosperous that states with slavery?

Etc…..

Events Preceding Civil War Northwest Ordinance (1787) – Prohibited

slavery in the Northwest Territory

1808 – International Slave Trade banned

Missouri Compromise (1820) • Engineered by Henry Clay• Senate tied with 11 slave and 11 free states• Missouri would be admitted as a slave state• Maine would be admitted as a free state• Slavery would be prohibited above the 36º 30’ line

(north)

b Nullification Crisis (1832-33)

• Tariffs favored Northern manufacturers and hurt Southern planters

• “Nullification” created by John Calhoun (states could abolish or nullify federal laws)

• South Carolina threatens secession• Compromise tariff drafted by Henry Clay

Wilmot Proviso (1847) – plan that would prohibit slavery in the territory gained from Mexico (southwest ordinance)

Handout Questions Name the parties (3) and candidates

(2) running for president in 1848, who won?

Name the parties(2) and candidates (2) running for president in 1852, who won?

Name the parties (3) and candidates (3) running for president in 1856, who won?

Bell Ringer Who was known as the Great

Compromiser? What is another word for nullify? What does it mean to secede? Why did the South hate tariffs? How many slave states and free

states were there after the Missouri Compromise?

What is abolition?

Compromise of 1850 Created by Henry Clay (with the help

of Stephen Douglas) California admitted as a free state Western territories organized without

mention of slavery Abolished slave trade in Washington

D.C. Fugitive Slave Law- Made it illegal to

help slaves escape

Underground Railroad (1830-1860)• Led by Harriet Tubman• System of houses (“stations”) and secret routes

to help slaves escape

Abolition Movement – groups in the North opposing slavery

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)• Book by Harriet Beecher Stowe• Contained stories she had heard from runaway

slaves• Convinced many Northerners of the evil of

slavery

Popular sovereignty – allowed citizens of a state to decide whether or not it would allow slavery

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)• Repealed the Missouri Compromise• Allowed both territories to use “popular

sovereignty”• “Bleeding Kansas” – wars fought in Kansas

between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups

• Created by Stephen Douglas

Bell Ringer Who won the election of 1848? Who won the election of 1852? In what year was the Wilmot Proviso? Name to two different groups of

Whigs. What was a “fire eater?” What was a “doughface?”

Republican Party formed (1854)• Platform: Stop the spread of slavery

Dred Scott Decision (1857)• Dred Scott v. Sanford• Slave named Dred Scott claimed freedom

because his owner took him to a free state• Court ruled that slaves were “property”• Constitution and citizenship did not apply to

slaves and free blacks• Congress had no right to restrict slavery

from territories (UNCONSTITUTIONAL)

Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)Abe Lincoln vs. Stephen DouglasBoth running for U.S. Senator from IllinoisDebates based on slavery and state issuesDouglas (Democrat) argued for popular sovereigntyLincoln (Republican) argued against expanding slaveryDouglas wins electionLincoln: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”Freeport Doctrine – (Stephen Douglas)

• stated that “free” states could still discourage slavery by refusing to pass laws that protect slavery

Bell Ringer

Why were Lincoln and Douglas debating? What happened to Dred Scott? What party was Lincoln from? What did the Supreme Court say about laws like the

Missouri Compromise and the NW Ordinance, which restricted slavery from certain territories?

How did the South feel about the Republican Party?

John Brown’s Raid (1859)• Brown and his followers try to start slave

revolution (Harper’s Ferry, VA)• Brown was quickly tried and hanged

Election of 1860 Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat) – favored popular

sovereignty

John Breckenridge (Southern Democrat) – favored Dred Scott Decision

John Bell (Constitutional Union Party) – goal was to keep Union together

Abraham Lincoln (Republican) – stop the expansion of slavery

Lincoln wins

December 1860 – South Carolina secedes (withdraws)

By February 1861, seven states are seceding

February 4, 1861 – “Confederate States of America” is established• Jefferson Davis chosen as President

April 12, 1861 – Confederates bombard Ft. Sumter, SC; Civil War begins

CONFEDERATE STATES – South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina

BORDER STATES – (Slave states still in the Union) Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and later, West Virginia (broke from Virginia, June 1861; became a state June 1863)