1. These events led to the Civil War.
Pre-Civil War Events
These events led to the
Civil War.

2. Invention of the Cotton Gin
Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 during the Industrial Revolution
Designed to remove seeds from the cotton
Caused the cotton industry in the South to triple
Southern farmers needed more slaves to keep up with cotton production
“King Cotton” was the main crop in the southern states.

3. Social and Economic Differences (infrastructure)
South
North
The South was mostly agriculture - cotton
The South needed slaves to work on their cotton plantations
The South held on to the idea that different classes (rich vs. poor) should be separate and unequal
The North was mostly industrial with factories and manufacturing
The North took raw materials like cotton and turned them into finished goods
Different cultures worked together so there was less discrimination between rich and poor

4. Louisiana Purchase
Thomas Jefferson purchased this land from the French in 1803
This land doubled the size of the United States
It caused the territories to ask for admittance to the Union as states
The U.S. government had to decide whether the new states would be free states or slave states
Doubled the size of America during that time. Sold for $15 million, roughly 4 cents an acre.

5. Missouri Compromise 1820
In 1818 Missouri became a state. Missouri wanted to be a slave state, but that would upset the balance of Congress.
In the same year Maine broke from Massachusetts became a state.
Maine was admitted to the Union as a free state
Slavery was banned north of Missouri’s southern border
Amid these tensions of the parallel, the Mason-Dixon (boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania) Eventually the Mason-Dixon line came to represent the division between slave and free states, and eventually the North and South

6. The War With Mexico 1846 – 1848
1846 troops entered Mexico to fight for more land
Fighting took place in Texas, the southwest, and California
Southerners wanted to extend the U.S. territories for slavery
Northerners were afraid of slavery growing
In the end, America won and received land in Texas, California, and the southwest
Would these new territories be slave states or free states?

7. Manifest Destiny
Many Americans thought it was their destiny to expand the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean
This caused land disputes with Mexico
1845 Texas was made a slave state even though Mexico thought they still owned Texas
Mexico thought this was an act of war
The U.S. offered to buy Texas for $30 million, but Mexico refused