Causes of the civil war by Adalyn Moore

Slavery

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:20:57 UTC

Additional land caused bitter debate about slavery. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had divided the Louisiana Purchase into either free or slave regions. It prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30' but let Missouri become a slave

state.

Compromise of 1850

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:21:34 UTC

California was able to enter the Union. Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had helped to settle the Missouri crisis of

1819–20 and the nullification crisis of 1832–33 by proposing compromises. He now had another plan to help the nation maintain peace.

Fugitive Slave Act

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:22:05 UTC

The newly passed Fugitive Slave Act made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas.

Antislavery Literature

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:22:20 UTC

Abolitionists in the North used the stories of fugitive slaves like James Hamlet and Anthony Burns to gain sympathy for their cause. Written works, such as novels, poems, and essays, that opposed slavery and advocated for its abolition

Election of 1852

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:22:36 UTC

Frustrated delegates at the Democratic National Convention turned to Franklin Pierce, a little-known politician from New Hampshire. Pierce promised to honor the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. Therefore, southerners trusted Pierce on the issue of slavery.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:22:53 UTC

A plan that would divide the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase into two territories. The Kansas-Nebraska Act produced a national uproar.

Bleeding Kansas

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:23:11 UTC

In April 1856 a congressional committee arrived in Kansas to decide which government was legitimate. Although committee members declared the election of the pro-slavery legislature to be unfair, the federal government did not agree.

Political Parties Undergo Change

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:23:38 UTC

Democrats were in trouble. Those who supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act were not re-elected. The Whig Party also fell apart when northern and southern Whigs refused to work together.

Dred Scott Decision

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:23:54 UTC

Dred Scott was the slave of Dr. John Emerson, an army surgeon who lived in St. Louis. When they returned to Missouri from a trip, the doctor died, and Scott became the slave of Emerson’s widow. In 1846 Scott sued for his freedom in the Missouri state courts, arguing that he had become free when he lived in free territory.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:24:17 UTC

Illinois Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln for the U.S.

Senate. His opponent was Democrat Stephen Douglas. Lincoln challenged Douglas in what became the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. Lincoln stressed that the central issue of the campaign was the spread of slavery.

Raid on Harpers Ferry

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:25:10 UTC

John Brown tried to start an uprising. He wanted to attack the federal arsenal in Virginia and seize weapons there. Brown expected to kill or take hostage white southerners who stood in his way. He planned to arm local slaves.

Election of 1860

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:25:21 UTC

The northern and southern Democrats could not agree on a candidate. Southern Democrats backed the current vice president, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, who supported slavery in the territories. Northern Democrats chose Senator Stephen Douglas.

The South Secedes

mooreada — 2025-04-15 14:25:41 UTC

Lincoln insisted that he would not change slavery in the South. However, he said that slavery could not expand and thus would eventually die out completely. The secession of he southern states hinted at the violence to come.