The%20Real%20Cause%20of%20the%20Civil%20War

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The Real Cause of the Civil War

• AP US History Project
• 2001-2002

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What was the Real Cause of the Civil War?

• Some people argue over the cause of the Civil
  War.
• As a whole, most people think it was fought over
  the issue of slavery alone.
• There were many issues that led up to the war,
  however.
• This presentation will attempt to address each of
  those issues and draw a conclusion as to what the
  major reason was.

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Compact Theory and the Emergence of States Rights

• The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions written by
  James Madison and Thomas Jefferson introduced the
  idea of states rights.
• It stated that states could nullify law passed by
  Congress that the states thought was
  unconstitutional based on the Compact Theory.

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Sectionalism

• Some people view sectionalism as a major issue.
• Sectionalism is the rivalry between the North and
  South over several issues
• slavery
• tariffs
• states rights
• transportation

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Westward Expansion the Growth of Sectionalism

• The history of the United States is a history of
  movement from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
  Ocean.

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Early attempts at Westward Expansion

• Articles of Confederation
• which included the
• Land Ordinance of 1785 which was early expansion
  into the Old Northwest
• Northwest Ordinance which prohibited slavery

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COMPROMISES
Because of the expansion into westward territory,
compromises had to be reached regarding slavery.
Missouri Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Dred Scott Decision
Click on the words above to review the provisions
of each compromise.
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Missouri Compromise

• Missouri admitted as a slave state
• Maine admitted as a free state
• Line drawn at 36 degrees 30 minutes North
  latitude
• Everything north of the line would be free
• Everything south of the line could be slave

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Compromise of 1850

• California admitted as a free state
• The rest of the Mexican Cession to be formed into
  New Mexico Utah territories
• Texas to give disputed territory to New Mexico
• No slave trade in Washington, DC
• Stronger fugitive slave law
• Government to pay debts of Texas

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Kansas-Nebraska Act

• Popular sovereignty
• the people decide if the area will be a free
  state or a slave state by voting
• led to a civil war in Kansas
• Kansas became known as Bleeding Kansas
• Kansas admitted as a free state

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Dred Scott Decision

• Supreme Court ruled that Scott and his family
  were not free
• Slaves were property
• Federal government could not take a citizens
  property from them
• Made all other compromises null and void

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Economic Issues

• Each section of the country had its own economic
  interests.

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In the North, the economic issues centered around
the growth of industry and trade.
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In the South, the economy was based on
agriculture.
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Early arguments centered on tariffs. The North
wanted high tariffs and the South wanted low
tariffs.

• High tariffs helped the industry in the North
  because they made American made goods cheaper
  than European goods. Result -The northern
  economy would be stimulated.

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High tariffs helped the North. By adding tariffs
onto certain products, consumers would buy
American made products.
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High tariffs hurt the South because much of their
trade was with Europe. If they did not buy from
European merchants then those merchants would not
buy cotton and other agricultural products from
the South.
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Southerners feared the election of Lincoln and
the growth of the Republican Party.They thought
Lincoln wanted to free the slaves. In reality,
he just wanted to stop the spread of slavery into
new territories.
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So, what was the real cause of the war?

• There is no one answer.
• Each issue from the beginning of our nation to
  the outbreak of the war contributed to the cause.
  
• The compromises only delayed the onset.
• The war was inevitable.

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Internet resources
Below is a link to a time line of sectionalism
and secession
http//library.thinkquest.org/12587/contents/timel
ine/1850/time1850.html
Below is a link to many different internet
locations dealing with westward expansion
http//www.snowcrest.net/jmike/westexp.html
The link below is a good source of information on
the causes of the civil war
http//library.thinkquest.org/25909/html/content/c
ivilwar_causes.html
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Works Cited
http//www.pdmusic.org/civilwar.html