Transcript Causes of the Civil War - McCullough Junior High

Causes of the Civil War
Slavery
 Slavery was the most polarizing issue in this time
period.
 Abolitionists
 Pro-Slavery
 Slavery was not only a morally divisive issue, but also
became an economic issue to the southern states.
 Slaves weren’t paid for their labor
 Without slaves it would become even more expensive
to farm a large plantation.
Why were slaves mostly in the South?
 Slavery ended in the northern states for 2 main reasons:
 The urbanization of the northern states, due to the
industrialization of the North (North becomes city oriented,
because factories were taking over the northern states).
 Settlers from Europe are coming to America to work in the
factories
 The southern states did not experience the change
associated with industry, so they continued to use slaves to
cultivate the crops on the large plantations.
 Cheap labor
 Africans weren’t viewed as fully human (3/5 Compromise in
1865).
The Cotton Gin
 The Cotton Gin was a machine, designed
by Eli Whitney in 1793, that allowed large
amounts of cotton to be processed in a
short period of time (Fibers separated
from seeds).
 Whitney’s invention led to the growth of
slavery because production increased
exponentially with the cotton gin. Slave
owners wanted more slaves to be able to
increase their profits on cotton.
African-American Abolitionists
 Frederick Douglass: An escaped slave who became a brilliant
speaker, writer and social-reformist. He became a living example
to America that slaves were human, with just as much intellectual
ability as Anglo-Americans. Many were surprised that an
escaped slave was so polished orally. Douglass also became a
politician and even ran for vice president.
 Sojourner Truth: Born into slavery, Sojourner Truth escaped with her
daughter. She also made history by becoming the first AfricanAmerican to win a court case against a white man (the case was
for the freedom of her enslaved son). Truth was a very active
abolitionist and woman’s rights activist, who was instrumental in
recruiting slaves to the Union Army.
Questions
 Explain the benefit of having slaves on a large plantation.
 Why do you think the South doesn’t embrace industrialization like
the North?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 This best-selling novel was written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher
Stow, and published in 1852 (a response to the Fugitive Slave
Act).
 The story is about a dutiful, long-suffering slave named Tom, and
his struggles to live through the injustice of slavery in the south.
 The book was the 2nd best selling book of the 19th century (#1 was
the Bible), and portrayed slaves as not only human, but shed light
on the daily injustices of slavery in America.
 Uncle Tom’s Cabin is said to have a profound impact on the
viewpoints of many in the North, and added fuel to the flame of
disagreement between the Northern abolitionist movement, and
the pro-slavery Southern states.
The Underground Railroad
 This was the system by which escaped slaves were
traveling to the north, to freedom, but it was neither
underground, nor a railroad.
 Underground= secret
 Railroad refers to the terms that were used in
communicating how to get safely from one place
to another (conductor, station, etc.)
 Conductors were the people who would lead the
escaped slaves to freedom. Harriet Tubman, a famous
conductor, reportedly made 19 trips back to the South
to help an estimated 300 slaves escape.
 Stations were the places where it was okay for the
slaves to stop and rest, or hide from those trying to
capture them.
Underground Railroad continued…
 The underground railroad
helped unknown numbers of
slaves escape bondage, but
it also, inadvertently, led to
the strengthening of the
Fugitive Slave Laws in 1850.
 Slave owners didn’t like the
idea of people undermining
the previous Fugitive Slave
Laws by aiding the escaped
slaves reach freedom in the
North.
Question
What do you think is the underlying issue that caused two
different mindsets about slavery between the abolitionists
and slavery supporters?
Missouri Compromise (1820)
 Because the US had 22 states (11 free and 11 slave), when Missouri applied for admission
into the union, a compromise had to be made. The compromise terms were…
1.
Missouri would be a slave state.
2.
Maine, which had been part of Massachusetts, would be admitted as a free state (thus
keeping the balance)
3.
Missouri would be the only slave state admitted above the 36o 30’ latitude line.
Nullification Crisis
 In 1828 the US passed a bill that
would drastically increase the tariffs
placed on imported goods.
 Britain could no longer afford to buy
as much cotton.
 South Carolina declared the tariffs
unconstitutional and refused
payment.
 Congress passes the Force Bill, giving
President Andrew Jackson authority
to use any means necessary to
collect the taxes.
Question
Why would high tariffs on imported goods affect
the amount of product Britain was able to buy?
Compromise Tariff of 1833
 To calm the growing tension between the South
and North, the leader of the Whig party, Henry
Clay, proposed the tariff of 1833, which stated…
Most tariffs would be reduced to 20% of the
imported items value
The tariffs that weren’t would be reduced by
10% yearly until all were below 20% by the year
1842.
 All states agreed to the terms of the compromise,
maybe because of the previously passed Force
Bill.
Wilmot Proviso
“Provided, That, as an express and
fundamental condition to the
acquisition of any territory from the
Republic of Mexico by the United
States, by virtue of any treaty which
may be negotiated between them,
and to the use by the Executive of
the moneys herein appropriated,
neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude shall ever exist in any part
of said territory, except for crime,
whereof the party shall first be duly
convicted.”
 This bill was Introduced to congress
by David Wilmot
 The Proviso would have banned
slavery in all of the territories
gained in the Mexican War.
 It passed in the House of
Representatives, but was rejected
by the Senate.
 The debate of this Provision
exposed the overwhelming
differences between the North and
South, and further divided the
country over the issue of slavery.
Compromise of 1850
 Henry Clay comes up with another compromise for the north and
south in 1850, but it isn’t passed the first time it appears before
congress. Clay then splits the bill into 5 separate bills to be voted
on individually and gets them all passed.
1. Fugitive slave law is amended
2. Slave trade in Washington D.C. is abolished, but not slavery.
3. California joins the US as a free state
4. Utah Territory has a government established
5. Texas would lose all land north of the Missouri Compromise line,
and cede some land to New Mexico.
Daniel Webster
 A member of the Whig Party and famous
congressman, Daniel Webster was very
outspoken in support of the Compromise
of 1850.
 He thought that slavery couldn’t be
stopped in the states that it already
existed, but that it shouldn’t be allowed
to spread.
 His views were well received by
moderates, but he lost support from
abolitionist.
Fugitive Slave Law
 Fugitive slaves laws were passed in
1793, and again in 1850.
 In 1793, Congress passed the first
which gave a slave-owner the right
to recover an escaped slave.
 In the Compromise of 1850, this law
was strengthened, and required that
law enforcement of the free states to
capture and return slaves to their
masters.
Question
Why would slave owners feel it was necessary to
require Free States to apprehend and return
escaped slaves?
Dred Scott Case (1857)
 Dredd Scott brought a suit before the United States
Supreme Court for him and his families freedom
 Scott was married to and lived with free black
woman, had lived with his master in Illinois and
Minnesota (Free states).
 The Supreme Court decided 7-2 against Scott, stating
that no one of African descent could claim citizenship in
the United States of America, and therefor could not
bring a lawsuit before a Federal Court.
 This decision ignited already strong sectional tension
between the North and the South.
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
 This act, created by
Stephen Douglas,
formed the Kansas and
Nebraska Territories
 Allowed for all new
territories to decide on
the issue of slavery by
Popular Sovereignty,
thus repealing the
Missouri Compromise.
Bleeding Kansas
 The Kansas-Nebraska act lead to Bleeding
Kansas, when pro/anti slavery groups
poured into Kansas to push/fight for the
people to vote for or against slavery.
 Northern View: Wealthy slave-owners
would buy all of the best land to be
worked by their slaves, leaving little
farming land for those who weren’t
wealthy.
 Southern View: Because of Popular
Sovereignty, slave-owners could bring all
of their property, including slaves.
Bleeding Kansas Continued…
 Abolitionists fought against
Missourians (Border Ruffians) to
establish control of the
government in Kansas.
 Abolitionist leader John Brown
becomes famous when he
leads his sons and other
abolitionists to capture 5 proslavery men from their homes
and kill them, and for his raid at
Harper’s Ferry.
Harper’s Ferry
 Next, Brown tried to organize a slave revolt in the
town Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859.
 The goal of the raid was to gain control of the
armory there, and cause an uprising among the
slaves to scare the slave-owners in Virginia.
 The slave revolt was unsuccessful because word never
got out to the slaves that there would be a revolt.
Brown didn’t gather the manpower he would need to
resist the Militia and Marines coming to regain order in
Harper’s Ferry
 General Robert E. Lee was called from leave to lead
Marines in ending the rebellion in Harper’s Ferry
 Two of Brown’s three sons were killed in the raid, while
John was captured and hanged for treason.
 Although many thought the attack was crazy, Brown
became a martyr in the North.
Preston Brooks
 Firm believer in States’ Rights and
Slavery
 Preston Brooks was a Democratic
representative from South Carolina
who was famous for beating
abolitionist Charles Sumner with a
cane on the Senate floor, during a
debate about states rights to
choose slavery.
Question
Why would popular sovereignty create a rush of
people coming into the new territories?
How would that influx of people affect the voting
process?
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
 Lincoln was a lawyer before becoming a
leader for the newly formed Republican
Party. He had previously worked as a
member of the Illinois House of
Representatives .
 He spoke out against the expansion of
slavery during his campaign for the senate in
1858, but his democratic rival Stephen A
Douglas won the election.
 In 1860, Lincoln secured the Republican
presidential nomination, and won the
presidency by sweeping the North, and
without much support from Southern states.
Southern States Secede
 Before Lincoln can be sworn into office, 7
Southern states secede from the union.
 Because there is no agreement reached about
slavery, or the secession, they form the
Confederate States of America (CSA). They
unite under the leadership of President Jefferson
Davis (1861-1865), with General Robert E. Lee
advising him on military strategy.
 On April 12 1861, the CSA attack Fort Sumner,
and this prompts 4 more states to secede and
join the CSA.
Order of Secession
1.
South Carolina
2.
Mississippi
3.
Florida
4.
Alabama
5.
Georgia
6.
Louisiana
7.
TEXAS- February 1, 1861
8.
Virginia
9.
Arkansas
10. North Carolina
11. Tennessee
Discussion
Why would Abraham Lincoln’s election make the
Slave States want to secede from the U.S.?
What is your opinion on states being able to
secede today?
 http://mrkash.com/activities/images/MissouriCompromisemap.jpg
 http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2013/12/underground-railroad-hero-H.jpeg
 http://www.freemaninstitute.com/HarrietTubmanHead.jpg
 https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/images/utc/13.jpg
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/HWFireHouseBrown.jpg
 http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01811/lincolnSUM_1811021c.jpg
 http://thehermitage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JacksonbyEarlc1834high-600x600.jpg
 http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/2010/59/22633861_126751003919.jpg
 http://mrkash.com/activities/images/CompromiseOf1850.jpg
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Slave_kidnap_post_1851_boston.jpg
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Dred_Scott_photograph_(circa_1857).jpg
 http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/1483/1518969/DIVI269.jpg
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Southern_Chivalry.jpg
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmot_Proviso