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Slavery
Slavery is why there was a Civil War. Slavery started in the English colonies in the 17th century and when through the 18th century. An estimated 645,00 Africans were imported during the more than 250 years it was legal. Slavery was once called a “necessary evil” by Thomas Jefferson. Slavery was never a set in stone thing. In the British colony of Georgia they actually banned slavery from 1735 to 1750. But this horrid thing is what caused the Civil War. -
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Events Leading Up To The Civil War
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The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a United States legislation that allowed Maine to join the United States as a free state, and adding Missouri as a slave state in the US. This was a compromise to maintain the balance between the Northern and Southern States. This was to make sure that there were the same amount of slave and free states in the US. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Book)
Uncle Toms Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and was a fictional book written on the horrors of slavery. People in the North felt like their eyes have been opened to the horrors of slavery and how horrendous and inhumane it was. Southerners on the other hand thought that Harriet was overselling it and exaggerating what it actually was. The book brought to life the realties of slavery to those who knew little. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Under the ruling of popular sovereignty where the residents of the territory get to choose if the state is going to become a free state or a slave state settlers from the North and South were flooding into Kansas hoping to enlarge their side of the debate. Passion and belief were both enflamed and violence soon broke out. About 200 people were killed in the during the raids, assaults, and murders that happened in the conflict of “Bleeding Kansas”. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act was originally just an Act to open up new lands to make way for the transcontinental railroad. The Act was mostly known for effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise and leading to a bunch of bloody conflicts called “Bleeding Kansas”. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a Virginia slave who sued for his freedom in court. This case made it all the way up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott was nothing more than a piece of property and had no legal rights that any human being. The Chief Justice Roger Taney thought that black men have no rights that a white man has. He also ruled the black people are not included in the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution and can therefore clamp none of the rights of a citizen of the US. -
John Brown’s Raid
John Brown was an abolitionist and suppored violence in the South to end slavery. He played a major role in starting the Civil War because of his violent raids in the South. In 1859 John led a group of 19 supporters and himself raided the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, to try and confiscate the fire arms located there. At the end of his raid his men were either captured, injured, or killed. Brown was captured and put on trial in Virginia and was hanged for his treason. -
Seven Southern States Seceded From The US
South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas were the seven states to succeed from the US and join together to form the Confederacy. South Carolina was the first to succeed from the US in December of 1860 and six states followed suit by the spring of 1861. These seven states succeeding from the US showed just how much the southern states rely on slavery and were not willing to give it up at any cost. That was the last straw before the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln's Election
Abraham Lincolns election upset many southerners. President Lincoln being agains slavery made many Southern leaders scared of Lincoln. When Lincoln was elected many Southern leaders feared that Lincoln would stop the expansion of slavery and put it on a course towards extinction. By 1861 the slave states were already fewer than the free states and decided it would be best to succeed from the US and that is what they did. They left and formed the Confederacy. -
The Battle of Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is where the first shots of the CIvil War took place. Abraham Lincoln was going to resupply the fort in hopes of gaining more control over South Carolina when a Southern General hear about this he took action. The Southern General Major Robert Anderson bombarded the Fort Sumter kicking off the 34-hour exchange of artillery fire. Anderson and 86 other soldigers surrendered the fort after the battle on April 13.
