Causes of the War
You may think you know what the Civil War was all about, but do you really even know why it began? What did our nation become divided over? There are two main reasons the Civil War started; slavery and states' rights. Between the two sides (northern v.s. southern states), both had completely opposite views on both issues; economically, morally, and politically. For specific details on views of both the northern states and the southern states on both issues, click on the Slavery and States' Rights pages.
Below is a table with some additional events that led up to the war and what the north and south got out of it.
Event North got... South got...
* Missouri Becoming a State (1820)
a.k.a. Missouri Compromise * Compromise of 1850 * Kansas - Nebraska Act (1856) * Bleeding Kansas (1856-1860) |
* Maine became a free state; future states north of 36 degrees 30 minutes were also free
* California became a free state * Both Minnesota and Oregon became free states Because of popular sovereignty, people that were both pro and anti - slavery flooded Kansas. John Brown kills five slavery supporters. This showed the nation that it had to make a change. Kansas became a free state.
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* Missouri became a slave state; future states south of 36 degrees 30 minutes were also slave
* The Fugitive Slave law was passed * The Missouri Compromise was nullified and popular sovereignty for future states was passed Because of popular sovereignty, people that were both pro and anti - slavery flooded Kansas. John Brown kills five slavery supporters. This showed the nation that it had to make a change.
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