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econimic & social diffs. between north and south
Economic and social differences between the North and the South.eli whitney’s invention of cotton gin in 1793 became very profitable because it separated the seeds from the cotton. The increase in the number of works willing to ditch their crops to cotton meant the greater need for a big amount of slaves. The southern economy became a one crop economy depending on cotton. The northern economy was based more on industry than agriculture. -
states vs. federal rights
two camps came after the revolution. Those who argued for greater states rights and those arguing tht federal government didn't have enough control. the first organized government in the us after the american revolution was under the articles of confederation. The thirteen existing states formed a loose confederation with a very weak federal government. -
the fight between slave and non-slave states
America expanded with the lands from the louisiana purchase and later with the mexican war and the question of whether new states added to the union would be slave free. the missouri comp. passed in 1820 made a rule that stopped slavery in states from the former louisiana purchase the latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes north except in missouri. During the mexican war conflict started about what would happen to the new territories that the us expected to gain with victory. david proposed no slavery. -
growth of the abolition movement
the northerners became more polarized against slavery. Sympathies began to grow for abolitionists and against slavery and slave holders. this occured especially after some major events including the publishing of harriet beecher stowes uncle toms cabin etc. the passage of the fugitive slave act that held individuals responsible for harboring fugitive slaves even if they were located in non-slave states. -
the end of the mexican war
with the end of the mexican war america ceded western territories. This posed a problem because as these new territories would be admitted as states would they have slaves or be slave free. To deal with this problem the congress passed the compromise of 1850 which basically made california free and allowed the people to pick in utah and new mexico. this ability of a state to decide whether it would allow slavery was called popular sovereignty. -
fugitive slave act
the fufitive slave act was passed as a part of the comp. of 1850. This act made any federal official who didn't arrest a fugitive slave to pay a fine. this was the most controversial part of the comp. of 1850 and caused many abolitionists to increase their efforts against slavery. this act increased the underground railroad activity as fleeing slaves made their way to canada. -
uncle tom's cabin was released
the book uncle toom's cabin or life among the lowly was written in 1852 by harriet beecher stowe. stowe was an abolitionist who wrote this book to show the evilness of slavery. this book which was a best-seller at the time had a huge impact on the way that northerners viewed slavery. it helped further the cause of abolition and even abraham lincoln recognized that this book was one of the events that led to the outbreak of the cival war. -
bleeding kansas shocked northerners
in 1854 the kansas-nebraska act was passed allowing the kansas and nebraska territories to decide for themselves using popular sovereigntywhether they wanted to be a free slave state or have slaves. by 1856 kansas had become a hotbed of violence as pro- and anti-slavery forces fought over the state's future. the widely reported violent events were a small taste of violence to come with the cival war. -
dred scott decision
in 1857 dred scott lost his case proving that he should be free because he had been held as a slave while living in a free state. the court ruled that his petition could not be seen because he did no hold any property. but it went further to state that even though he had been taken by his "owner" into a free state but he was still a slave because slaves were considered property. this decision furthered the cause of abolitionists they increased their efforts to fight against slavery. -
the election of abraham lincoln
even though things were already coming to a head when lincoln was elected in 1860 south carolina issued its declaration of the causes of secession. they believed that lincoln was anti-slavery and in favor of northern interests. Before lincoln was even president seven states had seceded from the union. the seven states were south carolina, mississippi, florida, alabama, georgia, louisiana, and texas.