Causes of civil war project

By jski
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
    1848 BCE

    Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    This was the treaty that officially ended the Mexican-American war. This led to massive territory that fueled the debate over slavery's expansion.
  • 3/5th compromise

    3/5th compromise

    This agreement states that 3 out of 5 enslaved people are counted as citizens in the house of representatives and taxation. This is a cause, because it gave the south more power in government which could cause slavery to continue.
  • Northwest Ordinance

    Northwest Ordinance

    This created a new way to admit new states from the northwest territories. This Ordinance helped create a long term struggle for slavey by banning it in the northwest territories.
  • Fugitive slave act

    Fugitive slave act

    This law made it illegal for anyone to help any person thought to be an escaped slave punished with heavy fine or jail time. This act forced people to be police officers for a law they didn't agree with which did not help the souths image.
  • Invention of the cotton gin

    Invention of the cotton gin

    This machine made producing cotton over twice as fast as is previously did which made cotton profitable again. Since cotton was profitable again it made the slave trade explode and free people in the north who couldn't prove they were free, were taken to the deep south for labor
  • Ban on slave importation

    This law made the international slave trade illegal in the US. This created tension about slavery and also grew the domestic slave trade .
  • Missouri Compromise

    Missouri Compromise

    This federal law added Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state as well as outlawing slave states above the 36'30' parallel. This outraged the south as the federal government is trying to limit slavery and divided the country into free states and slave states.
  • Nat tuner's rebellion

    Nat tuner's rebellion

    This was a slave revolt in Virginia and was the deadliest slave rebellion in US history. This revolt increased tension and escalated fears in the south of slave uprisings and became a powerful sentiment of abolitionists in the north.
  • South Carolina nullification crisis

    South Carolina nullification crisis

    This crisis was a dispute between SC and the federal government over tariffs were SC threatened to secede but president Andrew Jackson threatened to send the army to which SC stepped down. This was the first major clash between states and federal government and set a precedent for the states to challenge the federal government.
  • Organization of Underground Railroad

    Organization of Underground Railroad

    This was a loosely organized group of abolitionists to help escaped slaves. This only led to more tension around slavery as northerners were illegally helping slaves escape.
  • Wilmot Proviso

    Wilmot Proviso

    This was a failed proposal to ban slavery in the territory acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American war. This created tension as there was a proposal to ban slavery in territories gained from the Mexican-American war.
  • Compromise of 1850

    This was a series of laws made in order to defuse the argument over slavery. This created a short truce between north and south but it only made the issue worst, because it didn't solve it, it delayed the issue until the civil war.
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin published

    This is a book by Harriet Beecher Stowe which outlined the horrors of slavery. This book fueled the abolitionists flame and pushed them to understand how bad slavery actually was.
  • Kansas-Nebraska act

    This act repealed the Missouri Compromise, organized new territories, and enacted the idea of popular sovereignty. By repealing the Missouri compromise it flamed the national debate over slavery.
  • Bleeding Kansas

    This was a period of time with extreme violence in the Kansas territory with raids and massacres of pro and anti-slavery towns. This fueled the fire between North and South as it increased violence on both sides with abolitionist John Brown committing some of the crime himself.
  • Charles Sumner attacked

    Charles Sumner was a Northern member of senate and as he was speaking harshly on slavery a pro-slavery senate member Preston Brooks attacked Sumner with his cane breaking it. This was a waking moment for the North as a member of senate was attacked on the senate floor for speaking on a major issue in the union.
  • Dred Scott decision

    This was a supreme court decision that ruled in favor of Dred Scott's owner after his owner took him(Dred Scott) who is a slave took him into a free state. This was the worst supreme court ruling ever and made Northerners and slaves angry this decision reinforced the idea that slaves are property so they have no rights and cant sue for freedom.
  • John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry

    John Brown raided Harpers Ferry as an attempt to force a slave uprising and rebellion in hopes to eliminate slavery for good however the plan failed and John Brown was killed. John Brown was then on seen as a martyr in the North and feared in the south that he would inspire more people to revolt.
  • The election of Lincoln as president

    Lincoln was elected as president of the united states in November 1860. This outraged the south, because Lincoln was not even on most of the southern ballets and still won in a landslide victory and this later helped lead to civil war.
  • Sc secedes from the union

    This secession was mostly a result from the election of Lincoln and was decided in a convention. Because of Lincoln harsh views on slavery SC seceded which led to the other south states seceding and Lincoln did not believe states could leave the union which partly leaded to war.