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Acts and Compromises to the Civil War
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The Missouri Compromise
-After great debate, Congress finally agreed to allow Missouri to the Union as a slave state. To balance the power between slave and free, they accepted Maine to the Union as a free state. Congress also made an imaginary line across the Louisiana Territory at latitude 36°30’. This prevented slavery above the line except for the exception of Missouri. -
The Missouri Compromise 2 Continued
-This led to the war because the northern congressmen who voted the state to be slave were considered traitors. In the South, they deeply resented the ban on slavery in part of the Louisiana Territory. -
The Compromise of 1850
-The Compromise of 1850 was created by Henry Clay (the creator of the Missouri Compromise). he said that California could be admitted as a free state to the Union. This would please the Northerners. Utah and New Mexico would be admitted as territories open to slavery. This would please the southerners. This compromise included the fugitive slave law which stated that any arrested runaway slave in the North would be sent back to the South. The compromise was finally accepted in September of 1850 -
The Compromise of 1850 2 Continued
-This event leads to the Civil War because of the Fugitive Slave Law. This stated that all arrested slaves in the north would be sent back to their owners in the south. This forced Northerners to participate in keeping slavery instead of abolishing it. Also, southerners didn't trust law and treated it as if it were a lie. They didn't believe that their runaway slaves would actually be returned. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
-Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed a bill that stated a railroad be built to California. He also stated that it would be more likely to happen if the Great Plains changed to the Nebraska Territory. Congress accepted it and also added the Kansas Territory. This bill scrapped the Missouri compromise into leaving it up to the settlers to vote whether it should be free or slave. Douglas called this "popular sovereignty." -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act 2 Continued
-The Northerners were dumbfounded. They didn't want slavery to spread to the west. They complained to Douglas but he replied that the territories were not fit for farming but the northerners knew that was no true. As settlers of both governments raced in, pro-slavery citizens attacked the Northern anti-slavery government. In return, John Brown and seven followers marched into pro-slavery town of Pottawatomie. They dragged five men they suspected of promoting slavery and hacked them to death. -
The Dred Scott Case
-The Dred Scott Case was about a slave named Dred Scott who left Missouri with his master to Wisconsin where slavery was banned and then later traveled back to Missouri. Once Scott was back in Missouri, he went to court to win his freedom and argued that his stay in Wisconsin made him a free man.
-Scott's struggle to freedom hasened the beginning of the Civil War and led to the freedom of all slaves. Also the Dred Scott decision led to slavery in all territories. -
The Election of 1860
-Lincoln was running for president. He was a Republican and was supported by the North. Northern Democrats supported Douglas. Southern Democrats supported John C. Beckinridge of Kentucky. Also a new party called the Constitutional Union Party supported John Bell of Tennesse. This confused some people. At the end, Lincoln won the election with 40% of the votes, all from the North. His name wasn't on the ballot in ten southern states. -
The Election of 1860 2 Continued
-The South started to feel like a minority section and starts talking about how the North will abolish slavery. The talk of secession filled the air in the weeks following the election. Senators were racing to put together a difficult compromise that they would hope prevent a rush toward disaster and disunion for the country. -
The Attack on Fort Sumter
-The attack on Fort Sumter was a bloodless, 33-hour attack in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Hotheads in South Carolina forced the issue of civil war against the newly elected president Lincoln. After the 33 hour period of bombardment, the fort pulled up the flag of surrender.
-The news reached the North rapidly. Northerners were outraged at the South for aiming at the Union flag. Compromises and Acts were not enough. Every issue they had tried so hard to fix was now being decided by war.
