NOTES: Causes of the Civil War

1) Missouri Compromise 1820 LA purchase land north of 36’30 = free South of line = slave All new land will be free

2) Wilmot Proviso 1846-1861 Bill that would have made slavery illegal in territory won during the Mexican War BUT, never approved… still don’t know what to do with territories

3) Compromise of 1850 WE GET TO CHOOSE!!! California = free Territories of NM & UT would decide for themselves (vote) whether slavery would be legal (popular sovereignty) Fugitive Slave Act = ordered all citizens to assist in the return of run away slaves.

4) Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe Book that showed the evils of slavery, and showed slaves as real people “So this is the little lady who made this big war?” … Lincoln to Stowe upon first meeting

5) Kansas – Nebraska Act 1854 WE GET TO CHOOSE TOO!!! WE GET TO CHOOSE!!! Overturns Missouri Compromise (gave north too much power) KS & NE use popular sovereignty

4. Who do you think this cartoonist sympathizes with and why? Murder!!! Help – neighbors, help, O my poor wife and children 4. Who do you think this cartoonist sympathizes with and why? HINT: Who are they for and who are they making fun of? 3. A platform is a document describing the ideals of a political party. Judging by the cartoon, what was an important element of the democratic platform? 2. What is a freesoiler? 1. What term is used when the “slave question” was to be decided by the people’s vote?

6) Bleeding Kansas -1856 "These men are all talk. What we need is action - action!" - John Brown Border ruffians cross into territory to influence elections John Brown retaliated by executing slave owners Preston Brooks (southern democrat) attacking Charles Sumner (northern republican) in the US Senate -- Sumner had given a fiery speech to the U.S. Senate which included insulting remarks concerning a member of Brooks' family; in retaliation, Brooks hit Sumner with his cane, which put him in a hospital for nearly five months

Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians) “Bleeding Kansas” Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)

7) ***Dred Scott Decision - 1857 Scott v. Sandford Slave sued for his freedom  Supreme Court rules slaves are NOT citizens, slaves are property!!! SLAVES = PROPERTY Dred Scott was the name of an African-American slave. He was taken by his master, an officer in the U.S. Army, from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois and then to the free territory of Wisconsin. He lived on free soil for a long period of time. When the Army ordered his master to go back to Missouri, he took Scott with him back to that slave state, where his master died. In 1846, Scott was helped by Abolitionist (anti-slavery) lawyers to sue for his freedom in court, claiming he should be free since he had lived on free soil for a long time. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney, was a former slave owner from Maryland. In March of 1857, Scott lost the decision as seven out of nine Justices on the Supreme Court declared no slave or descendant of a slave could be a U.S. citizen, or ever had been a U.S. citizen. As a non-citizen, the court stated, Scott had no rights and could not sue in a Federal Court and must remain a slave. At that time there were nearly 4 million slaves in America. The court's ruling affected the status of every enslaved and free African-American in the United States. The ruling served to turn back the clock concerning the rights of African-Americans, ignoring the fact that black men in five of the original States had been full voting citizens dating back to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The Supreme Court also ruled that Congress could not stop slavery in the newly emerging territories and declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820 to be unconstitutional. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery north of the parallel 36°30´ in the Louisiana Purchase. The Court declared it violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits Congress from depriving persons of their property without due process of law. Anti-slavery leaders in the North cited the controversial Supreme Court decision as evidence that Southerners wanted to extend slavery throughout the nation and ultimately rule the nation itself. Southerners approved the Dred Scott decision believing Congress had no right to prohibit slavery in the territories. Abraham Lincoln reacted with disgust to the ruling and was spurred into political action, publicly speaking out against it. Overall, the Dred Scott decision had the effect of widening the political and social gap between North and South and took the nation closer to the brink of Civil War. Peter Blow's sons (Dred Scott’s first owner’s children), childhood friends of Scott, had helped pay Scott's legal fees through the years. After the Supreme Court's decision, the former master's sons purchased Scott and his wife and set them free. Dred Scott died nine months later.

8) John Brown’s Raid 1859 Attacked a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, VA Plan to give weapons to slaves Brown captured & sentenced to be hanged Pres. Lincoln said of Brown, “he was a misguided fanatic” President Abraham Lincoln said he was a "misguided fanatic" and Brown has been called "the most controversial of all 19th-century Americans.

John Brown: Madman or Martyr?

9) Election of 1860 Lincoln offered moderate views on slavery (just did not want it to spread) Captured the presidency w/o a single electoral vote in the south – a sectional victory

1860 Election Results

1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!

10) Confederate States of America - 1861 Outraged by election Secessionists – wanted the south to secede, argued that since the states had voluntarily joined the US, they could choose to leave it South Carolina was the first

“Stars & Bars” – Confederate Flag Jefferson Davis Jefferson Davis was their president

Why do you think the border states would not secede?

11) Ft. Sumter - 1861 Federal fort (owned by Union) in Charleston, SC (Confederate territory) Confederates ordered for to surrender … Union refused  battle By firing on federal (union) property, the Confederates had committed an act of open rebellion  Lincoln had to respond

CIVIL WAR