Causes of the American Civil War

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Differences Between North and South USA

The differences between north and south in the USA created tensions which led to civil war.

The North

The North was made up of industrial areas where there were virtually no slaves.
There was an emerging middle class.
Many states had banned slavery completely. New York had banned slavery in 1799, with the last slaves there freed in 1827.

The South

The South was mostly rural.
Most whites were very conservative, religious, and many lived on plantations.
The South's wealth was based on slave labour.
Almost all of the country's four million slaves lived in the South.
- They worked on cotton and tobacco plantations, as well as other farms.
The southern states thought slavery should spread north because it benefited the overall economy.

Lincoln becomes president

Abraham Lincoln became president in 1860.
He was from the state of Kentucky. Kentucky had banned slavery in 1833.
He did not want slavery to spread northwards but believed that it would die out as a practice.
His opposition made tensions worse between north and south.

The Missouri Compromise

The breakdown of the Missouri Compromise was one of the key steps in the road to war.

The Missouri Compromise

1819: Missouri requested to enter the Union. There was a lot of opposition to another southern slave state.
1820: Congress (parliament) allowed Missouri to join the United States, but also admitted Maine as a new free state (Maine had no slaves). Any state joining the Union north of Missouri would not be allowed to have slaves.
The compromise began to break down when the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854 created two new states (Kansas and Nebraska). On joining the Union, Kansas and Nebraska could decide whether they wanted to have slaves or not. This destroyed the Missouri Compromise because Nebraska was north of Missouri.

The Confederacy

Beginning in December 1860, 11 southern states (which had slaves) broke away from the United States and formed the Confederacy in protest of Lincoln's opposition to slavery. South Carolina was the first state to leave the Union, followed by Mississippi on the 9th of January 1861 and Florida on the 10th.
This meant the practical end of the Missouri Compromise and created a separate nation in America.
Lincoln declared war on the Southern states, now known as the Confederacy.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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