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Events Leading to the Civil War
These 6 events led to the Civil War. All of these events were caused because of the issue of slavery in the Union. There were many compomises that were tried to work out this issue, but all failed. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise is an agreement to where Missouri was a slave state in the Union and Maine was a fee state in the Union. Congress also made an imaginary line across the Louisiana Purchase. Above this line, slavery wasn't allowed, except in Missouri. Below this line, slavery was allowed. This was the beginning of several peaceful compromises made so our country wouldn't go into war. -
Compromise of 1850
This was a compromise made that let California into the Union as a free state. This compormise also let the New Mexico and Utah territories to chose to allow slavery, to ban slave trade in Washington D.C. but letting slave owners keep their slaves, and to make a stronger fugitive slave law. No one wanted a war over slavery, but this compromise made only Northerners happy, not so much for Southerners. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In this act, or compromise, the Missouri Act was eliminated. This is because the Kansas and Nebraska territories let settlers chose if slavery was allowed in the new territories. Many settlers then came to Kansas to vote for or against slavery. This ended in a bloodshed, which was the first sign of the Civil War. -
Dred Scott decision
This decision was that African Americans could never be citizens of the United States. It also said that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. Lastly, it said that African Americans couldn't be a citizen because he was property of someone and the Fifth Amendment says you can't take property from someone without a court hearing. This made the Northers enraged because it means this made skavery legal everywhere. -
Election of 1860
In the Election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president and was supported by republicans, His competators, Stephen Douglas and John C. Breckinridge, were supported by democrats. After Lincoln won, Southerners were nervous about Congress banning slavery. So a few weeks later on December 20, 1860, South Carolina and six states left the Union. These states who left were called the Confederate States of America. Now there were two sides, slavery and nonslavery. They were bound for war. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
April 12, 1861 marked the start of the Civil War. Confederates attack Fort Sumter, a federal fort in Charelston Harbor. The Confederates opened fire for 33 hours until Fort Sumter surrendered and raised a white flag. This was the beginning of a horribly long, and bloody war.
