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Civil War: Causes and Events
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Missouri Compromise of 1820
The states wanted to keep a balance of power between slave and free states. Missouri became a slave state and Maine became a free state. The south did not like this because it meant that the government could make laws about slaves. -
Compromise of 1850
California wanted to be added as free state. This messes up the balances of free states and slave states. This made the Fugitive Slave Act be fixed and ended the slave trade in Washington DC. This upset the south because more power was now in the free states. -
Fugitive Slave Act in 1850
It was a law that required run away slaves to be returned to the slave owners. Even if they were in a free state, the slave had to go back to the slave state. This put pressure on people to take sides of slavery. This made people very tense. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin of 1852
This is a anti slavery book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was about a slave named Tom. It showed Tom's owner as being brutal and Tom is whipped to death after he doesn't tell where some runaway slaves are. The north read this book and started to want to end slavery. The south didn't like this because they wanted to keep slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
This got rid of the Missouri Compromise. It made two new territories. It allowed the people in those areas to decide if they wanted to be a free state or slave state. This made people mad at each other. The free states and the slave states started fighting with each other about what the new territories would be. -
Bleeding Kansas of 1854 to 1860
This was a very violent time near Kansas. Free states and slave states were fighting each other. These fights were the start of the Civil War. People from both sides wanted it their way and fighting began. -
Eli Whitney and Cotton Gin 1793
Eli Whitney was an inventor. He created a machine for separating cotton from its seeds. He thought it would need less slaves, but it made the slave population increase because demand for cotton increased. In the South, they made money from cotton and the slaves. The South wanted to keep slaves and the slave trade to make money.
