Unit 7: Antebellum Period Part III SS8H6a: SS8H6a: Explain the importance of key issues and events that led to the Civil War; include slavery, states’ rights, nullification, Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, the Georgia Platform, Kansas- Nebraska Act, Dred Scott case, Election of 1860, the debate over secession in Georgia, and the role of Alexander Stephens.
Issues Leading to the Civil War TopicDateWhat was the Issue?End Result(s) Missouri Compromise of 1820 (p. 235) Missouri Compromise of 1850 (p. 239) The Georgia Platform (p. 240) Kansas-Nebraska Act (p. 241) Dred Scott Case (p. 241) Name: _______________
Missouri Compromise of USA had 22 states 11 of those states allowed slavery in them= slave states 11 of the remaining states banned slavery= free states Issue = Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state in 1819…This would mess up the balance. Result = in 1820, Congress adopted the Missouri Compromise, which allowed Maine to enter the USA as free state. The Missouri Compromise banned slavery north of 36°20’ latitude.
Compromise of 1850 By 1849, California’s population had drastically increased (Gold Rush of 1848). By 1850, there were 15 slave states and 15 free states in the USA. Issue = California wanted to enter in the USA as a free state.
Compromise of 1850 Benefits for the North (Results)Benefits for the South (Results) California came into the Union as a free state. Slave trading was ended in Washington, D.C. Texas gave up its idea of annexing New Mexico. The territories of New Mexico and Utah would determine whether they wanted to be a slave state or free state. The residents of the Washington, D.C. could keep the slaves they already owned. Congress would pass the Fugitive Slave Act stating that slaves who ran away to free states would be returned to their owners.
The Georgia Platform Issue = Georgians held a convention to discuss the Compromise of Result = the delegates accepted the Compromise of 1850 and decided not to secede (not to leave the USA). Many Georgians did not like the Compromise of 1850; however, Georgia politicians (Howell Cobb, Alexander Stephens, & Robert Toombs) encouraged the people of Georgia to accept it.
Kansas-Nebraska Act Issue = In 1854, Kansas and Nebraska wanted to join the USA. Result = Both of these territories could vote on whether to allow or ban slavery. Northerners did not like the Kansas-Nebraska Act because the Missouri Compromise had already banned slavery north of 36°20’ latitude, in proslaveryfree soilers Arguments and fights broke out over Kansas and Nebraska between the proslavery and free soilers groups.
Political Cartoons
Dred Scott Case In 1834, Dred Scott, a slave was taken by his owner from the slave state of Missouri to the free state of Illinois. Then they went to live in the free state of Wisconsin. Issue = When Dred Scott’s owner and him moved back to Missouri (slave state), Dred filed a lawsuit against his owner. Result = In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott did not have the right to sue his master, because he was a slave.
Election of 1860 Political Cartoon
Causes of the Civil War (Review) Economic DifferencesNorth= Industrial South= Agriculture/Farming States’ RightsNorth= Believed the federal government/Constitution are supreme throughout the nation. South= Believed in states’ rights and believed that the federal government did not have the right to tell them what to do. SectionalismNorth= Wanted tariffs on imported goods South= Did not want tariffs on imported goods, due to their trade relationship with Great Britain SlaveryNorth= Banned slavery South= Relied on slavery for the production of cash crops Election of 1860 & Secession North= Voted in Abraham Lincoln as the 16 th U.S. President South= 11 states seceded from the Union as a result of Lincoln’s win
Reference Blankenship, G. and Wood, V. (2009). Georgia: CRCT Test Prep, 8 th Grade Georgia Studies. Atlanta, GA: Clairmont Press, Inc.