PRE-CIVIL WAR NOTES
Missouri Compromise (1820)
• 1. Missouri Compromise (1820)
a. Maine enters as a Free State
b. Missouri enters as a Slave State
c. No Slavery north of Missouri's southern border (36° 30')
Missouri Compromise (1820)
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WARCompromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
• decides whether California enters as a Free state or a Slave state it enters as a Free state which makes the North happy.
• To make the South happy → Utah and New Mexico people of those territories decide if they will be free or slave
(called Popular Sovereignty)
Compromise slide #1 of #2
Compromise of 1850
• Slave trade is outlawed in Washington D.C.• Fugitive Slave Law passed, Federal Marshalls
allowed to search for escaped slaves in North and return them to the South.
• To oppose this, 9 northern states passed Personal Liberty Laws which forbid jailing of runaway slaves and guaranteed a trial by jury
• Compromise slide #2 of #2
Compromise of 1850
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WARUncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)• Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe- portrays
harsh & inhumane treatment of slaves• More than one million copies sold by 1853
turns many northerners toward abolition; book infuriates the South
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WAR Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)• 36°30' line (Missouri Compromise) repealed• Popular Sovereignty would decide slavery in
Kansas & Nebraska• Creates "Bleeding Kansas" –small scale war
between proslavery and anti-slavery forces.
Kansas Nebraska Act
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WAR Dred Scott Decision 1857 (Dred Scott v. Sanford)
Dred Scott Decision 1857 (Dred Scott v. Sanford)
• Dred Scott, a slave, sues for his freedom b/c his master took him to Illinois which was a free state
• Supreme Court ruled 7-2 against Scott• Blacks are not citizens & therefore can not sue in Federal Court• 5th Amendment – property cannot be taken without due
process of the law
Dred Scott Decision 1857 (Dred Scott v. Sanford)
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WARJohn Brown's Raid (1859)
• Radical abolitionist who attempted to raid an arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Va.
• Caught & executed, hero in the North but brings panic to the South
John Brown's Raid (1859)
EVENTS LEADING TO THE CIVIL WAR Election of Lincoln & the Republican Party (1860)
Election of Lincoln & the Republican Party (1860)• Immediate cause of the war• Republican Party was formed to stop the
spread of slavery• Lincoln wins in a 4-way race• Starting with South Carolina, southern states
start to secede from the Union
Election of Lincoln & the Republican Party (1860)