Chapter 12, section 1

Causes of the Civil War

The year is 1860… The lives of people living the North…

were very different than that of people living in the South.

Before we get to the causes….what were some differences between the North and South????

Life in the North• Industrial economy (small farms)• Larger cities• Railroads increased commerce• Yankee clippers increased foreign

trade• New machines helped produce more

goods• Wave of immigrants supplied labor• Larger population (around 21 million)

Railroads and Increased Commerce

Yankee Clippers Increased Foreign Trade

New machines helped produce more goods

Wave of immigrants supplied labor

Life in the South• Agricultural economy/plantation

system• Few large cities• Limited industry & transportation• Slavery legal (practiced & widely

accepted)• Smaller population (around 9 million including 3.5 million slaves)

Agricultural Economy

Limited industry & transportation

Slaves in the South

1845 – about 30,000 slaves in TX

1860 – more than 182,000 slaves in TX

Average price of a slave between 1850 & 1860: $600

Slaves with a skill (blacksmith, etc.) cost > $2,000

*Most TX settlers did not have slaves b/c of cost!

*Those who did had less than 20 (only the wealthiest had more)

Five generations of a family born into slavery on a South Carolina Plantation

Poster advertising the selling of slaves at an auction

-Regarded as property (buy, sell, rent)

-Families split at slave auctions (yes, like livestock)

-Handed slaves down in family when owner died

-Most worked in fields-Lived in log cabins w/dirt floors-Had enough food to survive, not

much more-Encouraged to marry to produce children (born into slavery) -Overworked, beaten, abused, threatened

Cotton Gin

*Removing seeds from cotton was slow and tedious

-Invented in 1793 by Eli Whitney

-Fast and cheap way to remove seeds

from cotton

This diagram shows how the cotton gin worked. Hooks on the cylinder removed the seeds from the cotton. Did the cotton go through the brushes before or after the seeds were removed?

*The cotton gin actually INCREASED cotton production and slavery in the South:

“King Cotton”

1836-1840 $321 million 43% of total U.S. exports

1856-1860 $744.6 million 54% of total U.S. exports

By the 1850’s, slavery wasconsidered vitalto East Texas’ economy

*Slave Rebellions and escapes:-Resistance took many forms: escape (most

fled to Mexico), worked slowly, broke tools, and damaged other property.

*Fight over slavery:-Most Northerners opposed slavery (some

thought it was immoral, others didn’t want to compete for jobs).

-Many feared ending slavery would bankrupt the South. As issue intensified, Southern states threatened to secede, or withdraw, from the Union.

-Few antislavery leaders lived in TX (threatened or killed)

-Abolitionist: person who wanted to end slavery

*The Nation Splits Apart:-The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 pushed the

nation closer to war. -It gave the people of Kansas and Nebraska

the right to decide if their states would allow slavery

-Southerners favored it – Northerners didn’t (could spread slavery)

*State’s rights:-View that favored state power over federal (national)

power!-Most Southerners – including Texans – believed the

federal government did not have the right to make decisions about state issues. They thought the federal government went beyond its power by limiting the spread of slavery.

*Supreme Court Case, Scott v. Sandford (1857) further angered antislavery group.

-Dred Scott sued for his & his family’s freedom when his owner took him to the territories.

-The U.S. Supreme court ruled against Scott claiming he was property and couldn’t claim citizenship.

-B/c of this ruling, the U.S. Congress could not outlaw slavery in the territories.

Dred Scott (above) was granted emancipation three months after the courts ruling. He died of tuberculosis in 1858 a free man.

Texas Secedes-Abraham Lincoln , a

Republican, became the 16th U.S. President in 1860.

-He won the states in the North & got NO VOTES in Texas.

-Southerners worried about what he may do about slavery

-Texans wanted Governor Sam Houston (won election in 1859) to call a convention to remove TX from the U.S.

-Houston refused!

Secession Convention-Houston opposed secession! Wanted the Union to stay

together!-Other TX leaders called a convention to discuss leaving

the Union-Began in January 1861-Delegates voted 166 to 8 in favor of seceding*Feb. 23, 1861, the people of TX voted to secede from the

Union (one of the only Southern states where the people voted on it).

**Not all Texans supported secession! -March 5, 1861, Texas was declared independent of the

United States! State leaders took an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy…..Sam Houston refused!!!!

*Houston was REMOVED from office as governor! BOO!!

A Nation Divided: The Union & Confederacy