1. VUS.7a
Causes of the
Civil War
Mounting sectional tensions and a failure of political will led to the Civil War.

2. Sectional Debates:
Tariffs – Many Southerners opposed tariffs, claiming it as a form of economic imperialism passed by the North.
Extension of Slavery – Many Southerners supported extension of slavery as a means of protecting economic interests.
States’ Rights – Many Southerners believed the central government was exercising too much power, and the states had the right to nullify a law if it harmed a state.

3. Northern Abolitionists vs. Southern Defenders of Slavery
Many Southerners relied on slavery as the basis of the large-scale agricultural economy.
Viewing it as a “necessary evil” – and pointing to the hypocrisy of the poor labor class in the North.
Many Northerners opposed slavery on moral reasons.
The slave-based agricultural system of the South did not seem “modern”.

4. The Dred Scott Decision: 1857
The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court overturned efforts to limit the spread of slavery.
The court ruled that no black man was a citizen, and that slaves could be taken to free territories because they were property
This literally nullified the Missouri Compromise Line.
Northerners were outraged!

5. “The Little Lady who Started the war.” Abraham Lincoln
Harriet Beecher Stowe, wife of a New England clergyman, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a best-selling novel that inflamed Northern abolitionist sentiment.
Southerners were frightened by the growing strength of Northern abolitionism.
The book itself was based on stereotypes and imagination, as Stowe had never been to a plantation.

6. The “Failed” Compromises:
Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act

7. President Lincoln: Elected to presidency in 1860
South Carolina and the “deep South” seceded, forming the Confederate States of America.
Lincoln called to raise troops in 1861

8. the major events and the roles of key leaders
VUS.7b
The Civil War
the major events and the roles of key leaders

9. Keep these questions in mind as you view this presentation:
What were the major military and political events of the Civil War?
Who were the key leaders of the Civil War?
Why did Southern states secede?
Did any state have a right to leave the Union?
Was Lincoln right to use military force to keep the Union intact?

10. The Civil War
The secession of southern states triggered a long and costly war that concluded with Northern victory, a restoration of the Union, and emancipation of the slaves.

11. The Civil War
The Civil War put constitutional government to its most important test as the debate over the power of the federal government versus states’ rights reached a climax. The survival of the United States as one nation was at risk, and the nation's ability to bring to reality the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice depended on the outcome of the war.

12. Major Events

13. Election of Lincoln (1860),
Triggered the secession of South Carolina, followed by other Southern States (deep South)
The South feared abolition of slavery

14. Ft. Sumter: Opening confrontation of the Civil War
April 12, 1861
South attempted to take the fort
Sparked secession of VA and upper South

15. Antietam McClellan attacked Lee, September 1862
Bloodiest day of battle in American History
Prompted Lincoln to consider the Emancipation Proclamation

16. Gettysburg: Turning point of the Civil War
July of 1863
Lee attacked North to relieve pressure on Richmond
Several fatal mistakes were made by South
Ended any hope of Southern advance
This is turning point of the war

17. Appomattox: Site of Lee’s surrender to Grant on April 9, 1865
This formally ends the war
Generous terms were offered by Lincoln and Grant
“With malice toward none…”

18. Key leaders and their roles

19. Abraham Lincoln President of the United States during the Civil War,
Insisted that the Union be held together, by force if necessary. 
Issued the Emancipation Proclamation
The U.S. was not a collection of states but an indivisible nation!

20. Jefferson Davis U.S. Senator before the war
Selected to be the President of the Confederacy in 1860

21. Ulysses S. Grant: Union commander who took over late in war
Won victories over the South after several Union commanders had failed
Gained early success in West
Eventually defeated Robert E. Lee

22. Robert E. Lee: Confederate General of the Army of Northern VA
Opposed secession as well as force to keep Union together
Sided with South after Ft. Sumter
Urged reunification after the war

23. Frederick Douglass Former slave who became prominent abolitionist
Urged Lincoln to recruit former slaves to fight in Union Army