Causes Of The Civil War
The main cause of the Civil War, was the dispute over slavery. The Northern region of America did not see slavery as Constitutional nor did they see it as necessary. On the other hand, the southern region saw slavery as necessary and Constitutional. Since slaves were considered property and not people, the south claimed slavery followed the Constitution. This dispute between the two sides grew and eventually led to the Civil War, although, major disputes developed along the way.
The Economy
The economy of the north and south were very different. The north had very poor soil, so their economy became focused on industry. The south however, had rich soil and large plains, so their economy focused mainly on agriculture and farming. Since controlling a plantation took a lot of work, southerners "hired" slaves to work on their farms. The plantation owners saw slaves as property that was necessary in order to keep their farm running.
The Missouri Compromise
In 1819 there were eleven free states and eleven slave states. Once Missouri applied to become a state, a dispute erupted: should Missouri be a slave state or a free state? Missouri wanted to become a slave state, but that would leave an unbalanced amount of slave a free states represented in the Senate. In order to solve this problem, Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise, he stated that Maine, who had just become a state, would be a free state, and Missouri would be a slave state. He also drew an imaginary line under Missouri, this made it so that every state below the line would be a slave state, and every state above the line would be a free state (with the exception of Missouri.) This plan solved the problem for a little while, but since in only applied to the Louisiana Territory, more disputes started to arise as new land was being added to the United States. Find more about that here: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/failure-compromise/essays/failure-compromise
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
One of the issues that came about after the Missouri Compromise was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Since the Missouri Compromise only applied to the Louisiana Territory, there were many disputes between the north and south. These were mainly about the organization of the new territory and whether a new state would become a free state or a slave state. In order to settle this problem, Stephen A. Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This repealed the Missouri Compromise and let the citizens of a state vote if slavery was illegal or not. This idea was referred to as popular sovereignty. This idea did not please the north. States that had been free before could now become a slave state. On the other side, the south supported Douglas's plan. They were convinced new states such as Kansas would vote to become a slave state, because many of its new citizens were from Missouri. The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed in 1854, and tension continued to grow between the two sides.
A plantation in North Carolina
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The Missouri Compromise
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act
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