Causes of the U.S.

Civil War Research

Causes of the Civil War

• Wilmot Proviso (1846)- a proposed bill that was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired from the Mexican War. This divided Congress along regional lines (North vs. South). Southern politicians prevented it from passing into law, claiming States Rights.

Congressman David Wilmot first

introduced the proviso in the U.S.

House of Representatives on August 8,

1846. It passed the House but failed in

the Senate, where the South had

greater representation.

Causes of the Civil WarCompromise of 1850: California wanted to apply for statehood. Henry Clay came up with compromise to keep a balance between slave & free states. California would enter as a free state & New Mexico (Nevada), Utah, would decide later on slavery. A new law called the Fugitive Slave laws would satisfy Southern slave owners.

On your map

• Color the Free states (Yellow)

• Color Slave states (Green)

• Color Utah & New Mexico territories (Purple)

• Color Kansas & Nebraska territories (Red)

Causes of the Civil War

Fugitive Slave Act (part of

the Compromise of 1850) -Law that allowed for the capture

and return of runaway slaves within the U.S. It also denied

slaves the right to a jury trial and criminalized people that helped

them by increasing the penalty for interfering with the capture of a slave to $1000 and 6 months in

jail. In order to ensure the law was enforced, the 1850 law also placed

control of individual cases in the hands of federal [judges]. These

judges were paid more for returning a suspected slave than for freeing them, leading many to argue the law was biased in favor

of Southern slaveholders.

Causes of the Civil WarUncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)-book written by an abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote a dramatic fiction novel of slave suffering in the South. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. The success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin went far toward creating, a role for women in public affairs.Uncle Tom

Uncle Tom, the title character, was initially seen as a noble, long-suffering Christian

slave. In more recent years, however, his name has become an epithet directed

towards African-Americans who are accused of selling out to whites. Stowe intended

Tom to be a "noble hero“ and praiseworthy person. Throughout the book, far from

allowing himself to be exploited, Tom stands up for his beliefs and is grudgingly

admired even by his enemies.

• #1 novel of the 1800’s (19th Century)

• 2nd best-selling book of the 1800s (19th Century)

• Uncle Tom's Cabin was a runaway best-seller, selling 10,000

copies in the United States in its first week; 300,000 in the first

year; and in Great Britain, 1.5 million copies in one year.

Sample Passage from

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

“You ought to be ashamed, John! Poor, homeless, houseless creatures! It’s a shameful,

wicked, abominable law, and I’ll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance; and I hope

I shall have a chance, I do! Things have got to a pretty pass, if a woman can’t give a

warm supper and a bed to poor, starving creatures, just because they are slaves, and

have been abused and oppressed all their lives, poor things!” “But, Mary, just listen to

me. Your feelings are all quite right, dear . . . but, then, dear, we mustn’t suffer our

feelings to run away with our judgment; you must consider it’s not a matter of private

feeling,—there are great public interests involved,—there is a state of public agitation

rising, that we must put aside our private feelings.” “Now, John, I don’t know anything

about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry,

clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow.”

Meaning: The quote is condemning slavery as contrary to Christianity and portraying a woman as

more morally trustworthy than her male counterpart. More specifically, this passage bears witness

to Stowe’s attack on a common claim of her time—that slavery, and laws such as the Fugitive Slave

Act, should be tolerated in the interest of greater public interest or civic order. Arguing against a law

that basically paraphrases the historical Fugitive Slave Act, Mrs. Bird routs Senator Bird by insisting

that she will follow her conscience and her Bible rather than an immoral law. She thus asserts that

inner conscience should take precedence over law as a guide to virtue.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): passed by the U.S. Congress on

May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and

Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery

within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri

Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude

36°30´.

This will lead to ‘Bleeding Kansas’ where those in favor of slavery

(pro-slavery) will fight abolitionists (anti-slavery).

Causes of the Civil War

‘Bleeding Kansas’• 'Bleeding Kansas' was the name given to a series of violent confrontations in Kansas, and the

neighboring border towns of Missouri, following the passing of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. This involved conflicts between Anti-slavery and Pro-slavery militant activists in the mid 1800s that reached a state of a mini civil war. The border war known as Bleeding Kansas was a crucial point that led to the road to the American Civil war (1861-1865).

"Hear the Nation's call, freemen, one and all,

Hear Poor Kansas' earnest cry:

See her bleeding land lift its beckoning hand;

Sons of freedom, come ye nigh.“

(Abolitionist poem called 'Our Country's Call‘)

John Brown was outraged by both the violence of the pro-slavery forces, and what he saw as a

weak and cowardly response by the anti-slavery individuals and the Free State settlers, whom he

described as "cowards, or worse.” On May 21, 1856, a group of pro-slavery men entered Lawrence,

where they burned the Free State Hotel, destroyed two printing presses, and ransacked homes and

stores. In retaliation, the fiery abolitionist John Brown led a group of men on an attack at

Pottawatomie Creek. The group, which included four of Brown's sons, dragged five proslavery men

from their homes and hacked them up.

Causes of the Civil War

Dred Scott vs. Sandford (1857): Dred Scott was a

slave belonging to John Emerson. Both men lived in the state of Missouri where slavery

was legal. John Emerson moved to the state of Illinois and took Dred Scott with him.

The case is rooted in this move because Illinois was a state where slavery was

outlawed. After spending over a decade in Illinois and other Midwestern states, Dred

Scott refused to move with John Emerson when he wanted to return to Missouri.

Dred Scott claimed that he was no longer a slave because Illinois did not allow

slavery. Dred Scott then sued Emerson’s estate—the estate was represented by the

executor, Mr. John Sandford. Dred Scott claimed that he was freed from being a slave

because of Illinois’s laws.

Causes of the Civil War

The Supreme Court in Dred Scott vs. Sandford ruled in favor of

Sandford. The court ruled that slaves were not considered

citizens of the United States and did not receive the same

rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Dred Scott was forced

to return to slavery.

This is often regarded as the

worst Supreme Court decision in

U.S. history

Causes of the Civil WarJohn Brown’s Raid (1859): Northern

abolitionist tried to lead a slave revolt. He

attacked a Federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in

Virginia. Harpers Ferry was the biggest

collection of weapons in the entire South. The

slaves did not rise to his support. Brown was

captured & along with members of his group,

were tried for treason. He was quickly tried and

sentenced to death by hanging. In the North,

his raid was greeted by many with widespread

admiration. Church bells rang on the day of his

execution and songs and paintings were

created in his honor. Southerners were

shocked and outraged. How could anyone be

sympathetic to a fanatic who destroyed their

property and threatened their very lives? How

could they live under a government whose

citizens regarded John Brown as a hero?

Southern newspapers labeled the entire north

as John Brown sympathizers.

• noun 1. the offense of acting to overthrow one's government or

to harm or kill its sovereign.

• 2. a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's

state.

By Section 110 of Article III. of the Constitution of the United States, it is declared that:

"Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies,

giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to

the same overt act, or on confession in open Court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of

treason."

In 1790, the Congress of the United States enacted that:

"If any person or persons, owing allegiance to the United States of America, shall levy war against them, or shall

adhere to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States, or elsewhere, and shall be thereof

convicted on confession in open Court, or on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act of the treason

whereof he or they shall stand indicted, such person or persons shall be adjudged guilty of treason against the

United States, and SHALL SUFFER DEATH; and that if any person or persons, having knowledge of the

commission of any of the treasons aforesaid, shall conceal, and not, as soon as may be, disclose and make

known the same to the President of the United States, or some one of the Judges thereof, or to the President or

Governor of a particular State, or some one of the Judges or Justices thereof, such person or persons, on

conviction, shall be adjudged guilty of misprision of treason, and shall be imprisoned not exceeding seven years,

and fined not exceeding one thousand dollars."

Why does Texas get involved

in the Civil War?

(1) Texas agreed with states’ rights- the position that the

federal government should not interfere with the states exercising

their Constitutional powers. In this case interfering with slavery.

(2) Texas agreed with slavery & wanted it to continue to be

legal in the state since they felt it was essential to the Texas

economy.

(3) Texas politics promoted sectionalism- & focused on the

interest of Texas rather than benefiting the nation as a whole.

(4) Texas hated that Northern politicians supported tariffs.

Since Texas had few manufacturers that would benefit from tariffs

they believed the tariff would only hurt the South economically.

• List 6 details about this picture

• What does this picture have to do with the Civil War?

Quick Write

• On a separate sheet of notebook paper

• What is the most compelling (not able

to be refuted; inspiring conviction)

cause of the Civil War? Why? What

information supports your

explanation? (at least 5 sentences)