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Events leading up to the Civil War
These are the events that led to the attack on Fort Sumter and eventually the Civil War. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state, but also added Maine as a free state. This balanced both of the sides when it came to debating slavery laws in the senate. It kept the Union together, but did not settle the future of slavery in the United States as a whole. It led the nation to war because it unpleased both the north and the south, and also it put the Union at risk. Adams said that if the Union dissolved, slavery is the question on which it ought to break. -
The Compromise of 1850
This compromise had something to please everyone. It began by admitting California to the Union as a free state. Hoping that the compromise would end the crisis between the north and the south, congress finally passed it after 9 months of debate. This led to the war because it provoked the south, and they almost left the Union because of it. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. It also scrapped the Missouri Compromise by leaving it up to the settlers themselves to vote on whether to permit slavery in the two territories. Northerners were haunted by visions of slavery marching across the plains. -
Dred Scott Case
Scott had traveled with his owner to Wisconsin, where slavery was banned because of the Missouri Compromise. Upon his return to Missouri, Scott went to court to win his freedom. He argued that his stay in Wisconsin had made him a free man. Chief Justice Roger Taney hoped to use the Scott case to settle the slavery controversy once and for all. -
Election of 1860
The 1860 presidential race showed just how divided the nation had become. While the Republicans were united behind Lincoln, the Democrats had split between northern and southern factions. Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas. Southern Democrats supported John C Breckinridge of Kentucky. With his opposition divided three ways, Lincoln sailed to victory. This led to war because now the South was a minority section, and no longer had the power to shape national events or policies. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Lincoln being the president, he invited some rebellious states to return to peace. A month later, hotheads in Charleston, South Carolina, forced the issue. They opened fire on Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charleston Harbor. This began the civil war.
