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The Events that Led to the Civil War
The following events are a list of events that led to the civil war. Many of these events led to the civil war by causing bigger and bigger arguments and causing a deeper and deeper rift between the North and the South until the South could no longer hold back and attacked the Union. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Comprimise was an agreement that was reached by Congress in order to settle the unrest after Missouri's application to become a state. It took over a year to reach this agreemet. The Missouri Comprimise stated that Missouri was admitted as a slave state, and Maine was admitted as a free state. Also slavery was banned north of the Louisianna purchase. This event fueled the seperation of North and South by taking a year to come to an agreement. -
Compomise of 1850
The Comprimise of 1850 was introduced by senator Henry Clay to try to find a way to please both the North and the South. First, California was admitted into the Union as a free state. Second, Utah and New Mexico were allowed to decide about slavery. Last, slave trade was outlawed in D.C. and the Fugitive Slave Act was improved. This led to the civil war because it greatly, greatly angered both sides. The North didn't want to help catch slaves, and the South felt it didn't do enough. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Congress passed the Kansa-Nebraska Act on May 30, 1854. This Act allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nbreaska to decide about slavery. This caused two opposing central governments. One government opposed slavery while the other supported slavery. This caused many violent acts of rioting and destroying property, and caused an even deeper divide between the north and the south. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott went to trial to try to win his freedom in 1847. The case was brought before he U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that all african could never become citizens of the United States and therefore could not go to court to sue. The court also said that the government could not disallow slavery in territories. The north was outraged by this court ruling while the south was encouraged and happy. -
Election of 1860
On Tuesday March 6, 1860 President Abraham Lincoln won the election for president. His opposition was split three ways and he carried 40% of the votes. When the south heard that the president supported the north they immediatley assumed that it was all over for them. In fact a month after Lincoln's innaguration the first southern state seceded. That state was south carolina, this deepened the divide. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861 South Carolina fired the opening shots of the civil war. South Carolina bombarded Union Fort Sumnter for many hours. Fort Sumter eventually was forced to surrender. The South considered this a great victory because they had succesfully captured a Union fort without losing a single man. This led to the civil war because the South fired the first shots of the war.
