Causes of the Civil War

How did the differences between the GEOGRAPHY of the North and the South lead to the Civil War?

• The North had rocky soil and cold weather, so they had less need for slaves to farm the land

• As the nation expanded (Manifest Destiny!), the South wanted slavery to spread and the North didn’t

• The land in the South was good for farming which lead to an increase in the need for slaves

• All of the them were differences that led to the Civil War

What was a POLITICAL cause of the Civil War?

• Abraham Lincoln declared himself king

• Congress allowed states like California and Kansas to choose whether they wanted to be free or slave (popular sovereignty)

• Congress forced Missouri to be a slave state

• The South had more railroads

What was an ECONOMIC cause of the Civil War?

• People fought over whether Utah should be a free or slave state

• Gold was discovered in California

• Growing cotton had become so successful that it caused an increase in slaves to increase profits

• Frederick Douglass was giving anti-slavery speeches across the country

What was a SOCIAL cause of the Civil War?

• Slaves were a key part of Southern Society and they were willing to fight to keep them

• Abolitionists believed that slavery was wrong and they would fight to end it

• The South saw John Brown as a terrorist, the North saw him as a hero.

• All of them were Social causes of the Civil War

An agreement in Congress that said Missouri could come into the United States as a slave state, but Maine would also enter as a free state.

• Missouri Compromise

• Dred Scott’s Case

• Kansas Nebraska Act

• Compromise of 1850

He tried to steal weapons from the United States and arm the slaves to fight for their freedom. He was caught and executed.

• Dred Scott’s Case

• Bleeding Kansas

• John Brown at Harper’s Ferry

• Kansas Nebraska Act

California entered the United States as a free state, so Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act saying that runaway slaves had to be returned to the South.

• Bleeding Kansas

• Missouri Compromise

• Compromise of 1850

• Kansas Nebraska Act