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Events that Caused the Civil War
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Texas Declares Independence
The Texas Declaration of Independence was enacted, creating the Republic of Texas, which the U.S. refused to acknowledge due to its refusal to further agitate the sectional strife between them and Mexico. Abolitionists also opposed its joining of the Union due to it being guaranteed to become a slave state. This caused much controversy over the balance of slave and non-slave states. -
Prigg VS Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court upheld the Fugitive Slave Law, which was founded in 1793. Within it, it declares that in no certain or uncertain circumstances, can a state pass legislation that would be attempting to prevent the removal of runaway slaves. This case caused much controversy between those of the pro-slavery group and the abolitionists. -
Free-Soil Movement: Wilmot Proviso
The Free-Soil Party was a minor, influential, political party dedicated to eradicating the slavery system. One of its representatives, David Wilmot, proposed a solution to hinder the expansion of slavery to the southeastern territories, just newly acquired from the mexican government. This amendment was called the Wilmot Proviso. Its purpose was to prohibit slavery within those territories, thus instigating a national debate in an already tense atmosphere of the sectional conflict, this failed. -
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Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War was an armed conflict between the U.S. and Mexico which pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico and the expansionist-minded president, James K. Polk. President Polk had this idea of "manifest destiny" in which the United States was meant to expand across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The border skirmish along the Rio Grande was the kick-off of the war. This war resulted in Mexico losing all of its territory in North America. -
James K. Polk, War Message
During time where tensions with Mexico were high, President James K. Polk was impatiently waiting for news from the border of Mexico and the U.S. On May 9th he finally got word that violence had broken out between the two battalions, so he immediately composed a letter to Congress to convince them to officially declare war on Mexico through this war message. -
John C. Calhoun, "The Clay Compromise Measures"
John C. Calhoun's last speech was on the subject of the controversial Compromise of 1850, sponsored by Henry Clay. The Compromise was a set of resolutions for the argument of slavery and in Calhoun's speech he spoke of how the two parties had progressed into two different nations, which should the differences not be resolved, should agree to peacefully split. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a small civil war in the United States, which was between pro-slavery groups and anti-slavery groups. Advocating for the control of the new territory, Kansas, through popular sovereignty. The idea was that control over Kansas would be decided peacefully, but free-soil forces from the North created armed emigrant associations which populated Kansas and supporters of slavery flooded in from Missouri. Lots of bloodshed happened from this, from towns being burned to massacres. -
Dred Scott VS John F. A. Sanford
The Dred Scott decision was a legal Supreme Court case in which a slave, Dred Scott, who had resided in a free state after his master died, was denied his freedom. The Supreme Court ruling, which was 7-2, declared that African Americans would never be citizens of the U.S. and that the Missouri Compromise (which had declared all territiory west of Missouri, free) was unconstituitional. This ruling widened the ever growing rift between the sectional U.S. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were series of 7 debates in which the Democratic Senator, Stephen A. Douglas and Republican opponent, Abraham Lincoln. These debates, during the Illinois senatorial campaign, was mostly centered around the subject of the expansion of slavery. Douglas was for the idea of popular sovereignty, while Lincoln did not believe in division and said that it threatened the existence of the U.S. These debates in short brought the subject and hostility that comes with slavery. -
John Brown's Rebellion
John Brown was a radical abolitionist who took a strong stance against slavery and believed in the violent overthrow of the slavery system. He and his sons led attacks on pro-slavery residents, this escalated over the years until in 1859, him and 21 of his followers attacked and occupied the military arsenal in Harpers Ferry. The plan was to arm a large group of slaves, creating a slave rebellion. But it failed because Brown was captured during the raid and hung, though became a positive icon.
