1. THE ROAD TO SECESSION
CAUSES OF
THE CIVIL WAR

2. The Missouri Compromise
In 1819, 11 states permitted slavery and 11 did not, but when slaveholding Missouri asked to join the Union this balance became unstable again.
Speaker of the House Henry Clay thought he had a solution and he proposed the Missouri Compromise which would allow Missouri’s admittance as a slave state while simultaneously admitting Maine as a free state.
The Compromise also prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36-30N latitude.

3. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE

4. The Compromise of 1850
In 1850, Henry Clay presented a 5 part plan to settle all the issues dividing Congress.
California would be admitted as a free state
New Mexico territory would have no restriction on slavery.
The New Mexico-Texas border dispute would be settle in favor of New Mexico.
The slave trade, but not slavery itself, would be abolished in the District of Columbia (Washington D.C).
A stronger fugitive (runaway) slave law.

5. THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

6. The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave who had followed his master throughout his travels from slave to Free State until his master had died. After his master died, Scott sued in court for his freedom because he felt he should be free since he had once lived on free soil.
The Court’s decided that Dred Scott was still a slave and also that Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in any territory. Knowing this they found the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional and so too popular sovereignty: where each new state could vote if it wanted slavery or not. All in all this decision meant that the Constitution protected slavery.

7. THE DRED SCOTT DECISION

8. The Nation Splits Apart
The election of 1860 proved to be one that could divide the nation in two. Abraham Lincoln won in a close race, yet his victory would be short lived, soon after the union he became president of quickly disintegrated.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina held a special convention and voted to secede and by February 1861, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia joined in secession as well.
Calling themselves the Confederate States of America the delegates from these states met in Montgomery, AL to form a new nation and government, they chose Jefferson Davis as their president. Southerners justified secession with the theory of states’ rights - the states had voluntarily joined the Union so they could voluntarily leave.

9. THE SOUTH SECEEDS

10. THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS…