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Events leading to The Civil War
There were many brutal, controversial events that lead to the Civil War. For example slavery was a big issue between the north and south. The north did not want slavery, the south did. This lead to one of the biggest issues in history. -
The Missouri Comprimise
One event that lead to a big compromise, called the Missouri Compromise. This was keeping the union together. Keeping a fair balance between the free states and slave states was a issue. So a line was drown on the Missouri, Arkansas line dividing the fee states from the slave states. This made the separation between the north ans south more obvious and it pleased very little people. -
The Comprimise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850, composed by senator of Kentucky Henry Clay admitted California as a free state. It allowed New Mexico and Utah territories to decide whether they were going to be a slave state or not. In addition Clay's plan ended the slave trade in Washington D.C. After Clay's plan was adopted many Americans where left happy. -
The Compromise of 1850 Fails
Henry Clay and Daniel Webster hoped the compromise would quiet slavery for futrue years. Although it satisfied no one. A new act called The Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Under this act, an aressted runaway slave had almost no legal rights. This act also stated any person who helped a slave escape could be jailed. The amount of escape slave in the north was tens of thousands and only 299 were captured. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an act passed in 1854 that created the Kansas and Nebraska territories and abolished the Missouri Compromise. The northerners did not like this act, because this act allowed settlers to chose whether slavery would be allowed in new territories. -
The Dred Scott Decision
The Supreme Court was to decide a case concerning a Missouri slave named Dred scott. Scott traveled to Wisconsin with his owner, were slavery was banned by the Missouri Compromise. When he returned to Missouri, Scott went to court to win his freedom. He said that his stay in Wisconsin had made him a free man. The court decided he could not sue because he was not a citizen. Finally the court had rejected Scotts argument that his stay in Wisconsin had made him a free man. -
The Election of 1860 and Sucession
The 1860 Pres. race showed how divided our country had become. Republicans were with Lincoln and democrats were split between north and south factions. The northern Democrats were lead by Stephen Douglas and Southern Democrats were lead by John C. Breckinridge. A separate party was created, lead by a man named John Bell. Lincoln won with just 40% of the votes, all from the north. After this the south was a minority, they no longer had the power to shape national events or policies. -
Fort Sumter
The first shots of the Civil War were fired upon Fort Sumter. A month after the election the south fired upon Fort Sumter. This bombardment was the start of the bloodest war in American history, the Civil War.
