The Causes of the Civil War: Slavery
One of the main causes of the Civil War was the issue of slavery. The north states, or the Union were anti slavery. They strongly resisted it because they believe it was morally wrong. The south, or the confederacy, were for slavery. The main reason was because they had plantations and needed help taking care of it because things like the cotton gin hadn't been invented yet. They needed lots of people to grow and pick the cotton. The South were so used to having slaves for farming they didn't know any other way and found it up surd that they would have to live any other way. According to the constitution slavery was allowed. Things like the 3/5's compromise and the law stating that in 20 years the slave trade would be outlawed were the only times slavery was mentioned so the south thought that it was okay. The demand for cotton was international and the south could only produce it with slaves because their plantations were so large. But after the cotton gin was invented the slaves were needed even more. Mass production of clean, seedless cotton upped the slave trade. The slave trade was the most important thing going on during the south. Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware,Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina are the slave states that were in the confederacy. Other parts of the slave states, like Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland wanted nothing to do with the war and didn't join the confederacy.
The union consisted of lots of abolitionists, who wanted to abolish the slave trade completely and to free all of the slaves. The north thought it was morally wrong to keep humans as slaves, it was outlawed in most states already being outlawed as early as 1774 in Rhode Island. The states in the union were Connecticut, Illinios, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin. The northerners came to really oppose slavery. They didn't need slavery because they were more industrial. They advanced in industrial, and wanted to continue it throughout the whole united states and indefinitely. Antislavery was more active in New England than anywhere else, but only a small amount were ever active abolitionists.
The union consisted of lots of abolitionists, who wanted to abolish the slave trade completely and to free all of the slaves. The north thought it was morally wrong to keep humans as slaves, it was outlawed in most states already being outlawed as early as 1774 in Rhode Island. The states in the union were Connecticut, Illinios, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin. The northerners came to really oppose slavery. They didn't need slavery because they were more industrial. They advanced in industrial, and wanted to continue it throughout the whole united states and indefinitely. Antislavery was more active in New England than anywhere else, but only a small amount were ever active abolitionists.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an active abolitionist, writer, orator, and one of the most important black leaders of the nineteenth century. He was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818 and escaped when he was twenty. After dressing as a sailor and boarding a train to escape slavery he became the leader of the abolitionist movement, and wrote strong, moving antislavery articles. In 1838 he married Anne Murray. He proved to slaveholders that African Americans had the ability to learn and write. In 1838 he married Anne Murray. He was not only for black rights he was also very active in female rights. Douglass was a firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, or female. After telling his story at an Anti Slavery meeting he was invited to become an antislavery speaker. On of his most famous quotes was "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." He will always be remembered as one of the most successful abolitionists.
Presidential Campain: The Country Divided
In 1860 President Abraham Lincoln was elected. I think this was one of the biggest events in salvery because it divided the country. Lincoln expressed how opposed he was to slavery in both public speeches and in private, he expected that slavery would be complete abolished throughout the whole United States. He was for the Republic Party throughout his whole term. This is one of his quotes on opposing slavery that he said before he was elected; "I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many respects---certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellectual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man" (From 1st Lincoln/Douglas Debate, 1858). All of this angered the south and caused them to completely pull away from the Union and create The Confederate States of America. If it wasn't for the north overpopulating the south I think that Abraham Lincoln wouldn't have been elected.
Causes of the Civil War: States Rights
Click to set custom HTML
Summary
The south states, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware,Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina, Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland wanted the states to have the most power because they were afraid that if the government had to much power then the democracy would slowly turn into a dictatorship, they also thought the states would do fine on their own. The north on the other hand wanted a strong government. But the south was who had the biggest issue with states rights. The north were fast growing as a whole and the south feared that they would take over the government because they're population was so much larger than the south's.
The Missouri Compromise
In 1820 the Missouri Compromise was developed. It settled the two (becoming more evident) sides of the United States at peace for at least some time. It stated that all of the states west of the Mississippi river were slaves states and all of the states north were free of all slaves, all but Missouri. It only settled the issue for a small time though, soon the nation divided further because the abolitionists thought all men should be free and the south was angry because they felt the north was attacking them. So, n conclusion, The Missouri Compromise didn't really help anything and sort of just made everyone more angry.
Primary Source Document
Missouri Compromise document
Click picture to go to a link of slavery
vs states rights video on YouTube
Click picture to go to a link of slavery
vs states rights video on YouTube