Causes of Civil War Slides_ Slavery - Nullifcation

Causes of the Civil War

  • Key Issues and Events:

    • Slavery: Central issue dividing North and South.

    • States' Rights: Southern belief in state authority over federal laws.

    • Nullification: States' ability to invalidate federal laws.

    • Compromise of 1850: Attempted to balance free and slave states; included Fugitive Slave Act.

    • Georgia Platform: Supported Fugitive Slave Act; aimed to keep peace.

    • Dred Scott Case: Supreme Court decision that ruled slaves were not citizens.

    • Abraham Lincoln's Election (1860): Spurred southern fears of slavery abolition.

    • Secession Debate in Georgia: Divided opinions on whether to leave the Union.

Economies: North vs South

  • North:

    • Industrial economy based on factories, mass production, and urban living.

  • South:

    • Agrarian economy focused on cash crops like cotton, reliant on plantation system.

Slavery: North vs South

  • North:

    • Industrial, began to abolish slavery in early 1800s.

    • Abolitionists sought to end slavery altogether.

  • South:

    • Dependent on slavery for economy, particularly cotton production.

    • Perceived slavery as a "necessary evil."

Abolishing Slavery Worldwide

  • Timeline:

    • 1811: Spain

    • 1813: Sweden

    • 1833: Britain

    • 1848: France

    • Shift in modern societies against slavery.

U.S. Abolition Movement

  • Leading Figures:

    • Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison.

  • Prominent Activities:

    • Speeches and literature advocating for abolition.

Nullification Crisis

  • Definition: Ability of states to ignore federal laws.

  • Background:

    • Tariff of 1828 benefitted North, harmed South.

    • South Carolina nullified the tariff; threatened to secede.

    • President Andrew Jackson's response included military threat.