causes of the civil war

Missouri Compromise (1820)

1. What Happened? A compromise to deal with new states from the Louisiana Purchase.
   • Missouri was admitted as a slave state.
   • Maine was admitted as a free state.
   • An imaginary line was drawn at 36°30' N latitude (the Missouri Compromise Line); anything above the line was free, and anything below was slave.
2. Type of Solution: Compromise
3. Term Solution: Short Term
4. Why? It delayed the coming of the Civil War with a very temporary solution. It did not truly answer the fundamental question on whether the United States would be a free or slave nation.

Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act

1. What Happened? A series of legislative measures:
   • California admitted as a free state.
   • Utah and New Mexico territories were allowed to decide about slavery through popular sovereignty.
   • The Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute was resolved, and Texas was paid 10 million by the federal government.
   • The sale of slaves was banned in Washington D.C., but slavery itself continued in the South.
   • The Fugitive Slave Act was enacted, requiring people in Free States to help capture and return escaped slaves or face jail.
2. Type of Solution: Compromise, Legislative Act
3. Term Solution: Short Term
4. Why? While attempting to balance interests, the Fugitive Slave Act especially intensified Northern opposition to slavery, and the compromises only temporarily diffused tensions without addressing the core conflict.

Uncle Tom's Cabin Published (1852)

1. What Happened? Harriet Beecher Stowe published a dramatic novel.
   • The book conveyed the message that slavery was not just a political contest, but a great moral struggle.
   • Key characters include Eliza, who flees across the frozen Ohio River, and Uncle Tom, who is whipped to death.
   • The book was eventually turned into a play and became very popular in the North.
2. Type of Solution: Cultural/Moral Influence
3. Term Solution: Long Term
4. Why? It profoundly influenced Northern public opinion, strengthening abolitionist sentiment and widening the moral divide between North and South.

Kansas-Nebraska Act and Popular Sovereignty (1854)

1. What Happened? Stephen Douglas proposed to organize the Nebraska Territory:
   • The territory was broken into two states: Nebraska in the North and Kansas in the South.
   • The Missouri Compromise (which had closed the northern territory to slavery) was repealed.
   • Residents of each territory would decide on slavery by popular sovereignty (i.e., vote for or against slavery).
2. Type of Solution: Legislative Act, Attempted Compromise
3. Term Solution: Short Term
4. Why? It ignited fierce opposition in the North by overturning the Missouri Compromise and directly led to violent conflicts in Kansas, demonstrating the failure of popular sovereignty to peacefully resolve the issue.

Bleeding Kansas (1856)

1. What Happened? Intense violence erupted in Kansas:
   • Abolitionists from the North streamed into the territory.
   • By 1855, thugs from Missouri voted illegally, setting up a pro-slavery government.
   • Abolitionists formed an anti-slavery government in Topeka, Kansas.
   • Pro-slavery forces sacked and burned the anti-slavery settlement of Lawrence, known as "the sack of Lawrence."
   • John Brown led men into a pro-slavery settlement at Pottawatomie Creek, torturing and murdering five men, which triggered dozens more incidents.
2. Type of Solution: None (escalation of violence)
3. Term Solution: Short Term (immediate, violent clashes)
4. Why? This direct armed conflict showed that compromise and popular sovereignty had failed, highlighting the inability to resolve the slavery issue peacefully and making war seem inevitable.

Dred Scott Decision (1857)

1. What Happened? The Supreme Court heard the case of Dred Scott, a slave who sued for his freedom after living in free states.
   • The Court ruled that slaves were property and could be moved anywhere in the country, effectively nullifying all compromises of the 1850s.
   • It also ruled that African-Americans were not citizens of the United States and therefore did not have any rights.
2. Type of Solution: Judicial Decision
3. Term Solution: Short Term
4. Why? The decision outraged Northerners and strengthened Southern resolve, legally undermining any attempt at compromise and escalating tensions by denying personhood and rights to African Americans.

Illinois Senate Race: Lincoln-Douglass Debates (1858)

1. What Happened? A series of debates between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln during their campaign for an Illinois Senate seat.
   • Stephen Douglas: Believed in popular sovereignty and thought slavery would eventually fade out.
   • Abraham Lincoln: Believed slavery would not disappear without laws to prevent its spread to new territories.
   • Douglas won the senate seat.
2. Type of Solution: Political Debates/Electoral Process
3. Term Solution: Long Term (regarding Lincoln's political career)
4. Why? While Douglas won the seat, Lincoln gained national prominence and became a strong possibility for the Republican presidential nomination, setting the stage for future national leadership.

Harper's Ferry (1859)

1. What Happened? John Brown led 21 men (both black and white) in a raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
   • Brown held 60 men hostage, hoping that slaves in the area would join the uprising.
   • General Robert E. Lee, leading the marines, captured John Brown.
   • Brown was tried for public treason and subsequently hanged.
2. Type of Solution: Failed Direct Action/Insurrection (by abolitionists)
3. Term Solution: Short Term (immediate event, long-term impact on perceptions)
4. Why? John Brown became a martyr for Northern abolitionists and a symbol of abolitionist extremism for the South, further polarizing the nation and increasing Southern fears of violent anti-slavery movements.

1860 Election: Lincoln Elected President and South Carolina Secedes

1. What Happened? Abraham Lincoln, made famous by his debates, was elected as the Republican Candidate for President.
   • Two other men, Stephen Douglas and John C. Breckinridge, also ran.
   • Lincoln's victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, led the South to fear the total loss of slavery.
   • South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860, with other states soon following.
2. Type of Solution: Electoral Result leading to Secession
3. Term Solution: Catastrophic (directly led to the Civil War)
4. Why? Lincoln's election was perceived by the Southern states as an existential threat to their way of life and the institution of slavery, directly triggering secession and the onset of the Civil War.