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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri compromise was an agreement between the North and South that said states above an imaginary line in the center of the Louisiana terriotory were free states, and the states below that could be slave states. At the time of its creation, the Missouri Compromise was very helpful for both parties. As years went by though, the South realized that Mexico owned most of the land under that line, so they had a disadvantage. The South now believed that the rest of America was against them. -
Abolitionist Movement
The Abolitionist Movement was one of the greatest causes of the civil war. The movement meant to abolish slavery entirely. The increase of anti-slavery organizations and awareness brought about a great change in the North on the thinking of slavery. This in turn caused the South to feel threatened that the rest of the country was against them. -
Frederick Douglass' Narrative
Frederick Douglass wrote a narrative that showed his life as a slave and the irrationality of slaveholding in general. His narrative was a very big success, and it was a driving for the abolitionist movement in the North. Frederick Douglass traveled the country giving speeches on anti-slavery topics, something that a former slave had never done before. The narrative helped push forward the Abolitionist movement, leading to more hatred from the North towards the South, eventually ending in war. -
Fugitive Slave Act/Underground Railroad
Part of the Compromise of 1850, the government passed a law requiring Northerns to catch runaway slaves and return them to their masters in the South. This terrified the North, because the North was seen as a safe place for runaway slaves, but now the government was trying to force them to go against their principles. This also hurt the underground railroad because now the North was legally against them, so it hurt relationships between abolitionist members and runaways which raised tensions. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
It was a book that exposed the reality of slavery to all of America. It told the story of Tom, a fictitious slave who goes through extreme hardships that were based on real events. At the time, religion was a large aspect of Southern culture and it was used as the reason that slavery was able to exist. The book showed that Christianity shouldn’t be used for pro-slavery purposes, which fired up Northern abolitionists. The novel also angered the South for it's depiction of slavery, causing tension -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was the name coined for the period of time where the Kansas and Nebraska territories were opened up. The US had now gotten rid of the Missouri Compromise, but now set in place the idea of popular sovereignty, where the majority of people’s opinion about slavery would determine the state’s stance. The South and North both flooded into these areas, and fighting occurred between the two parties to determine the state's view on slavery; a direct precursor to the ciivil war fighting. -
Dred Scott Decision
The decision was a court case that went to the Supreme Court in 1857. The Supreme Court declared that no African-American had the right to sue in court because he/she is not a citizen. They also declared the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Very important to causing the civil war because now the North had no way of regulating slavery because the Missouri Compromise was no longer a thing. It caused tensions because now slavery could move into the Northern territories freely. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was an election greatly fueled by slavery debates. It had divided the country up even farther on the topic, and when Abraham Lincoln won with a landslide victory in the North, he had no support from the South. The Civil War started right after the election, with seven states seceding before Lincoln’s inauguration. This was a very big event leading to the civil war. The country became so divided on the election that afterwards, the Civil War began outright. -
Southern Secession
States began to secede from the Union right after Lincoln was elected president. Seven states seceded after the election of 1860, and more followed early the following year. The secession was mainly due to slavery disputes, because the South wanted to preserve slavery while the North wanted to abolish it. Secession was the final straw for the South. It was more like the beginning of the Civil War than a cause, because now the South had no ties to the Union and could fight for their beliefs.
