Causes of the Civil War USH-3.1

I. Missouri Compromise Missouri applying for statehood showed the first problems. Was to be 1st new state out of Louisiana Purchase Northern states did not want Missouri to enter as a slave state. It would upset the balance between slave and free states. It would set a precedent that they could all be slave states

I. Missouri Compromise The compromise said: Missouri entered as a slave state. Maine entered as a free state. No slavery in any new state from the Louisiana Purchase above 36° 30’ N. Southerners learned they needed to keep the balance in the Senate.

II. Wilmot Proviso People saw President Polk give up half of Oregon but fight for Texas Oregon was free and Texas was slave David Wilmot of PA proposed all land won from Mexico be “free soil” No slave labor Passed the House but failed in the Senate Showed the need for a balance

III. Compromise of 1850 California became part of the US after the Mexican-American War. When gold was discovered in 1848, people flocked Gold miners didn’t want to compete with slaves so they wanted CA to be “free soil.” This would upset the balance of free and slave states.

III. Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 said: CA would be a free state. Slave trade was outlawed in Washington DC. New Fugitive Slave Law allowed catching slaves in free states. The rest of the Mexican Cession got to vote whether or not to have slavery. This is known as popular sovereignty.

IV. Kansas-Nebraska Act Congress wanted to build a transcontinental railroad South wanted a route through New Orleans North wanted a route through Chicago Kansas was in the northern part of the Louisiana Territory Couldn’t be a slave state.

IV. Kansas-Nebraska Act To persuade Southerners to vote for northern route, KS and NE were granted popular sovereignty Slave owners and abolitionists moved to Kansas to sway the vote. Fighting between the groups led to “Bleeding Kansas.”

V. Dred Scott v Sandford Dred Scott was a slave who sued his master after being taken to a free state. He claimed “once free, always free.” He won the 1st time but lost on appeal The Supreme Court decided that blacks were not citizens so they had no rights in the US.

V. Dred Scott v Sandford Court said that Scott was property and 4th Amendment said gov’t couldn’t take away property. Any law that made you give up your slaves was unconstitutional Missouri Compromise KS-NE Act State laws freeing slaves North was angry and South was happy Ruling was not enforced in the North

VI. Abolitionists Want to outlaw slavery Help with the Underground Railroad Stowe writes Uncle Tom’s Cabin Never went to the South to see it first hand Northerners are upset by the violence b/c they think it’s like that everywhere Southerners are mad b/c it makes them all look bad

VI. Abolitionists Abolitionist John Brown attacked the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA to arm a slave revolt. Marines capture him and his followers His trial and execution made sectionalism worse by: Scaring slave owners Giving the North a martyr

VII. Election of 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln campaigned on a platform of “free soil.” Free soil said that slavery should not EXPAND into the territories. Lincoln won election with the electoral votes from the North. The South and border states split their votes.

VII. Election of 1860

VII. Election of 1860 After Lincoln’s election, SC called a special convention to secede. They unanimously voted for the Ordinance of Secession on December 20, 1860 It said that the rights of SC had not been and would not be protected by the federal gov’t. Six other states quickly followed creating the Confederate States of America Eventually 11 states secede