Causes of the Civil War

Causes of the Civil War Aim: Was the Civil War inevitable?

Bleeding Kansas As I become a little more acquainted with this part of the Territory I think quite favorably of it; & I would by no means advise those of my friends who are here to leave in search of a better country. We feel more, & more certain that Kansas will be a Free State. At this moment there is quite an excitement here growing out of a report of the Murder of a young Free Stater man by a Missourian. Large numbers on both sides are said to be in Arms near Lawrence; & some anticipate a Bloody fight. - John Brown, 1855

Bleeding Kansas • After K-N Act, Northerners and Southerners raced to settle Kansas first • Missourians poured over border (“Border Ruffians”) to vote for slavery (60% of votes were illegal) • Passed Kansas Code, which limited freedoms of free-soilers • Violence broke out between pro- and anti-slavery factions • Pottawatomie Massacre - John Brown and sons murder proslavery advocates

Lecompton Constitution • In Kansas, a pro-slavery Constitution was adopted during a referendum that free-staters boycotted – hence, vote didn’t represent the entire population • Pres. Buchanan tried to push Kansas constitution through Congress anyway—which would have made it a slave state—but Congress rejected it • Constitution was returned to Kansas; they re-voted and eventually applied to enter union as free state

Caning Sumner • Sen. Charles Sumner delivered “Crime against Kansas Speech,” insulting S.C. • Rep. Preston Brooks beat Sumner with cane • Northerners outraged; Preston Brooks lionized as hero by South

Panic of 1857 • South remained relatively untouched by this economic recession • They believed they could survive as their own independent country because cotton was “king” internationally

Dred Scott Decision • Dred Scott, a slave, lived w/ owner in a free state (IL) & free territories for years • Returned to MO and sued owner for freedom • In case of Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Taney, ruled: • Scott was still a slave • African Americans were not citizens • Congress had no authority to ban slavery from any territory • MO Compromise unconstitutional

A House Divided A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South. - Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln-Douglas Debates • Series of debates between Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas • Battling for U.S. Senate seat in IL • Each expressed his views on slavery • Freeport Doctrine • Douglas stated that slavery could exist only w/ establishment of slave codes • Thus, if people in a territory refused to pass a slave codes, slavery wouldn’t be established there • Upset Southerners

Address of John Brown to the Virginia Court, 1858 In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, -- the design on my part to free slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri and took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to do the same thing again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection… Now if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments. -- I submit; so let it be done!

John Brown raids Harpers Ferry • Brown, a radical abolitionist, organized a raid on a federal arsenal in Virginia • Brown was caught and executed, becoming a martyr for the antislavery cause • Southerners fear Northern Republican attacks, and began organizing their militias

Election of 1860

Election of 1860 • Purely sectional—Lincoln won with only 40% of popular vote and received NO electoral votes in the South • Crittenden Compromise • Proposed Constitutional amendment extending old 36 30’ parallel to CA and preserving slavery forever – FAILED

Secession • South Carolina seceded first – 12/20/1860 • Deep South followed • Jefferson Davis became president of Confederate States of America • Upper South (“Border States”) remained in Union • Battle of Fort Sumter – immediate cause of war • Lincoln’s Goal: PRESERVE THE UNION

Causes of the Civil War