25 CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR
I) Rise of immediate abolition in North, pro-slavery ideology in South after about 1830 (information from previous lecture)
II) Beginnings of Conflict over Westward Expansion: creates slavery related conflicts – slave states v. free states/ slave labor v. free labor
A. SLAVERY
B. Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin 1793
1. Cotton Production and the Uproar of Slavery
C. Underground Railroad Early 1800s
1. Escape route for slaves taking the Train of Freedom
D. King Cotton 1800-1860
1. Southern economy built on "the backs of slaves"
E. Missouri Compromise (1820)
1. Main (free) & Missouri (slave)
2. Latitude 36 30’ slave Free
F. Gag rule of 1836
G. Slave Narratives - 1840s>
1. Gave Northerners first insight into plight of slaves
H. California? (Wilmot Proviso)
1. popular sovereignty – people in territories make own decisions about slavery
2. Free-Soil Party – Northern Democrats (against slavery)
I. Election 1848
1. Whigs – Zack Taylor – war hero ***
2. Free-Soil – Martin Van Buren
3. Democrats – Lewis Cass
III) North/South Conflicts Escalate in the late 1840s
A. Mexican American War 1846-1848 – US gains lots of land
B. Compromise of 1850 (after war with Mexico)
1. Slavery becoming moral issue (right/wrong)
2. Henry Clay – wrote compromises to settle issues
a. SOUTH (Calhoun) threatened to secede)
b. NORTH (Webster) favored compromises – keep UNION together
3. RESULTS
a. California = free state (N)
b. Former Mexican lands = open to slavery (S)
1) Utah Territory
2) New Mexico Territory
c. Slave trade = Washington D.C. (N)
d. Fugitive Slave Act (S)
4. Called “Final Settlement” by Stephen A. Douglas
C. Fugitive Slave Act 1850
1. Law controls runaway slaves throughout America
D. ...