Chapter 1: The origins of the Civil War, 1820-61

This success owed something to the split in the 1.4 Why did the Civil War begin in
Democratic vote between Douglas and Breckenridge.
Breckinridge too won purely in the section that had
April 1861?
nominated him, and he would go on to serve as a Two schools of historical thought about the causes of the
Confederate general. John Bell of the Constitutional American Civil War emerged in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Party, who won only the support of his home-state of One school of thought argues that it came about from
Tennessee in the election, would vote for its secession in economic and social reasons, most easily summarised as:
a close-run referendum in June 1861.
slave labour versus free labour
Unlike the other candidates, Douglas won votes in both
industry versus agriculture
slave and free states, but his support was spread too
urban versus rural
thinly and despite coming second in the popular vote,
, North versus South.
his result in the electoral college was poor. Generous
in defeat, he encouraged the South to accept the A modern, industry-focused society was fast developing
political fact of Lincoln's election and once again alongside a more traditional agricultural society. Between
characteristically looked for a compromise. When the two, differences of interests were bound to occur -
fighting broke out at Fort Sumter (see 'Fort Sumter and and widen. This argument also stresses the class nature
its impacts', below) in what are often called the first of North-South conflict: Northern middle class versus
shots of the American Civil War, Douglas supported Southern plantation owners. As the 1850s progressed -
Lincoln's response. Within months, Douglas died. and despite the financial panic of 1857 - the two sections
were both confident of their growing wealth but were also
increasingly fearful that the rival section threatened their
ACTIVITY 1.17 future. For the North, the Dred Scott judgement was a
Use the evidence and information in this section to severe blow. For the South, John Brown's raid on Harpers
create a mind map of the reasons why Lincoln won the Ferry was probably more alarming.
1860 election. Remember to include reasons why he The great difference between the two sides was that the
was a deserving candidate, as well as reasons why his North, with its increasing population, wanted to prevent
opponents were not. the nationwide expansion of slavery. Meanwhile, the
South, a shrinking proportion of the national population,
needed to expand to the west and south-west- or indeed
into the Caribbean and Central America - to maintain
ACTIVITY 1.18
its position in the USA. This school of thought puts the
Read the aims set out in the opening statement of economic interests of white men, North and South, before
the Republican Party's 1856 platform, in 'Changes in any moral concerns for the wellbeing of Southern slaves. It
the party-political system' in 1.2. Write one sentence also sees civil war as an eventually inevitable outcome of
commenting on each statement in turn. How far had the this clash of economic and social blocs.
Republican Party's aims been met by 1861?
A different school of historians focuses on political
processes and leaders, whom they blame for bringing
about an avoidable war. The language of politics in the
1850s was more divisive than consensual. Whether over
Reflection: What other types of historical evidence
'Bleeding Kansas', the Fugitive Slave Act, the caning of
would you look for to help you answer the above
Senator Sumner or the raid on Harpers Ferry, language
question? Would certain types of evidence help you to
was emotional and extreme. Lincoln's 'A house divided'
support your answer more than others?
speech was not the language of compromise. Previous
generations of politicians had been sufficiently pragmatic
to compromise, albeit after a fierce debate. In 1861, a
last compromise, proposed by Senator John Crittenden
(see 'The Crittenden Compromise', below), was quickly
dismissed. The political processes which had kept the USA
together had finally and catastrophically failed.
 d the states should agree an amendrne 1
• congress an . . n the
Constitu tion which would clarify the property rights of
slavehold ers throughout the USA
political processes: the formulation and administration of ased neither South nor North.
public policy usually by interaction between social groups and The speech Ple
political institutions. The South believed that, once Lincoln took office, slavery
would be banned in the Southern states, despite the
absence of any such proposals on the Republican Party
ACTIVITY 1 . 19
platform. During the five months between the Republican
Prepare a debate in a group of four. One pair should victory on 6 November and the new president's
argue that the political processes which had kept the inauguration on 4 March, the sout~ern states debated
USA together had failed because the forces ranged whether to secede, to leave the Union. South Carolina led
against them were too great. The other should argue that the way. Four days after Lincoln was declared winner of the
the processes failed because they were too weak. election, a specially elected convention of South Carolina
was convened to decide whether to leave the USA.

Reactions to the 1860 presidential election

results
President-elect: In the period b~tween·t~eirefection and
Reaction to Lincoln's victory was swift and varied. their jnaug~ratiiim, the inco[Tling president has no formal
Secession required immediate responses from the power. When thjs_period correspon·ds to a major national
sitting president, James Buchanan, Congress, and from emergeAcy, as it ~.ia in 1860-61, they are forceo to use any
President-elect Lincoln. The president mentioned informa! powers of-persuasion to achieve the agenda.
by the New York Herald, however, was Buchanan. In his
long annual address to Congress just a week later, on
4 December, he made many points about the slavery/
ACTIVITY 1.20
states' rights/ secession issue, including:

The slavery question was the fault of the North's 'incessant Look at the bullet points summarising Buchanan's
and violent agitation' for 'the last quarter of a century'. attempt to calm the mood of the nation on 4 December
l860. Write a response outlining your objections to his
• The question had passed its peak of controversy.
claims. Try to arrange groups so that some students
The election of a president (Lincoln) by proper
work from a Northern point of view, and others from a
constitutional means did not justify secession even
Southern point of view. .
before he took office.
The USA was a permanent union. Although as the
president, he lacked the means to prevent secession by
a state.

I
 Chapter 1: The origins of the Civil War, 1820-61

ACTIVITY 1.21

UNORGANIZED
TERRITORY

NEBRASKA
TERRITORY

Electoral Popular Percentage of

Candidate Party Vote Vote Popular Vote

--
Lincoln Republican 180 1,865,593 39.8
D Douglas Northern Democrat 12 1,382,713 29.5
Breckinridge Southern Democrat 72 848,356 18.1
Bell Constitutional Union 39 592,906 12.6

*New Jersey cast four electoral votes for Lincoln and three for Douglas.

Figure 1.12: A map showing the states' votes in the 1860 presidential election

Consider the map in Figure 1.12. Which parts of the USA were represented by each of the candidates? Identify the five slave
states immediately adjoining free states to the North. These were known as the border states. What do you notice about
how they voted in 1860?
 ·gu re • 13 shows th at• the further south the state [Link]
F
1
1 •

sooner it seceded, w hile the further north 1t was ' th e Iess e

Secession of the seven Deep South states
A declaration issued by South Carolina, made in December likely it was to secede at all.
1860, shows how quickly th e most militant of Southern states, Ta ble l .5 shows th at the
. higher
. percentage of slavesin. the
decid ed its respon se: 'A geographical line has been drawn opulation, t he more likely 1t. was to secede,
. while a 1ower
Percentage of slaves meant 1t was 1ess likely to seced e.
across the union and all th e states north of th at line have
P
united in the election of a man to th e high office of President From December 1861, federal politicians in Washington
of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile DC fa ced a region al rebellion . Southern representatives
to slavery.' (The full declaration, can be seen on Yale Law supported this rebellion and withdrew from Congress.
School's Avalon Project site, [Link] This handed control of the federal legislature to the
There was only the briefest of attempts to negotiate Republican Party. The most practical problem for
with the new president; no willingness to wait and see. Washington was what would happen to federal property,
Southern firebrands had no faith in a Northern president personnel and funds in these states, which now no longer
who said that 'a house divided against itself cannot stand'. saw themselves as bound by the US Constitution, and
They saw Lincoln as an abolitionist. South Carolina was which quickly devised their own. The issue focused on
joined by six other slave states in early 1861, as shown in control of the federal forts built to protect the USA agai nst
Figure 1.13 and Table 1.5. This group then quickly formed attack from the sea. Two of these were now in rebel
themselves into the Confederate States of America (CSA). states. One was Fort Pickens in Florida . The USA kept
They chose as their leader Jefferson Davis. control of this fort, in part because it was out of range
There were 15 slave states. On becoming president, of rebel guns. The more important, more symbolic, was
Lincoln was faced with a rebellion by seven of them, with Fort Sumter located in the harbour of Charleston , South
eight still to make up their minds. Carolina, the most rebellious of the seven states and the

•
first to secede. The fate of this fort would prove a decisive

MO

INDIAN
TERRITORY

TEX,
Feb. 1, 1861
7

C:::J Border slave states that d"d

, not secede
- Seceded after Fort Sumter
c=J Seceded before Fort Sumter

Figure 1.l3: A map showing the order of secession of slave states

 Chapter 1: The origins of the Civil War, 1820-61

Seceding slave states

l South Carolina December 1860 57

2 Mississippi January 1861 55
3 Florida January 1861
Lower South:
44
4 Alabama Average slave population
January 1861 45
percentage:
5 Georgia January 1861 44
47
6 Louisiana January 1861 47
7 Texas February 1861 44
8 Virginia April 1861 31 Upper South
9 Arkansas May 1861 26 Average slave population
10 North Carolina May 1861 33 percentage:

11 Tennessee June 1861 25 32

Non-seceding slave states

Delaware 2 Border States
Maryland 13 Average slave population
Kentucky 20 percentage:

Missouri 10 14

Table 1.5: The secession of slave states, and their slave populations as reported in the 1860 census
From Marc Egnal, Clash of Extremes, The Economic Origins of the Civil War (New York, Hill & Wang, 2009), p.272

flash point (see 'Fort Sumter and its impacts', below). The Southern Democratic presidential candidate, Kentuckian
crisis of secession became ever more severe and so many John Breckinridge. As the Senate's presiding officer, he
politicians became more desperate in their attempts to supported the Compromise in committee and in the
contain the firebrands' efforts to end the Union. Senate itself. If the Compromise was approved, the state
would be much less likely to secede.
The Crittenden Compromise, 1860-61 However, the Republi cans in Congress ensured its
In Washington, Republicans were involved in frantic rejection. A letter from Lincoln explains why. From his
attempts to defuse the secession time-bomb. The best home in Illinois a month after being elected president,
known attempt was the Crittenden Compromise. Senator Lincoln wrote to a colleague: 'Let there be no compromise
Crittenden, an old-school Whig and by 1861 a member on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our
of the minority Constitutional Union Party, proposed six labour is lost, and, ere long, must be done again .'
amendments to the Constitution. The most im portant
would restore the Missouri Compromise dividing line The Com promise was judged as giving too much to
between free and slave states, extending it westwards the South, enabling the expansion of slavery into the
to the Pacific Ocean (see Figure 1.14). Another would territories of the West Its failure showed that politicians
protect slavery in existing slave states. The Compromise could not agree on a compromise of sectional interests,
attracted considerable popular support, both North and as their predecessors had done in 1820 and 1850. By
South . It attracted much attention from the eight non- 1860, mutual fears and suspicions were too great. As
seced ing Southern states. It was endorsed by former Congressional politicians had failed to resolve the crisis,
 Freestate

- Terriroty closed to slavery

D Slave state

I
- Terriroty open to slavery

Figure 1.14: Map outlining proposed demarcations under the Crittenden Compromise, 1860-61

attention turned to the present-elect, who, in February meetings being held in Southern states to decide
1861, made his way to Washington. their future, and an effort to keep them in the Union.
The confederacy of seven states were already holding
The Corwin Amendment and the Peace meetings to form a CSA government.
Conference, 1861 These efforts did not end the process of secession. On
The Crittenden Compromise was not the only attempt March 4, Lincoln made an inauguration speech which
to square the constitutional circle and dissuade the attempted to conciliate the South while not upsetting
slave states from seceding. The Corwin Amendment his Nor th ern supporters. He was keen to avoid any more
was proposed to ensure that institutions established in st ates breaking away. His words seemed to work in the
individual states (such as slavery) were protected from
Sou_th ' at least for the time being. However he still had to
abolition by Congress. Congress passed the Corwin
decide what to do about Fort Sumter. His ;ctio ns were to
Amendment, which was put forward by Seward in
have a greater effect than his words.
the Senate and Ohio's Thomas Corwin, a Whig turned
Republican in the House of Representatives, a month after
the CSA was formed. However the amendment was not ACTIVITY 1,22

ratified by the individual states, so never came into law Which had th e greatest chance of success: the critte
. nden
and thus had no effect on the situation.
Com prom is e ort he Corwin Amendment or the peace
A 'Peace Conference' was held in February 1861, attended ~honfedren:e? What do you think was the key reason whY
by leading politicians. It was a kind of reply to the several ey idn t work?
 Fort Sumter and its impacts Virgini a on side or at least neutral. Lincoln, however,
In his inaugural speech, Lincoln spoke with care about went against advi ce and decided to keep it supplied.
the federal forts in rebel territory but under federal His CSA counterpart, Jefferson Davi s, decided to
control: 'The power confided in me will be used to hold, seize the initiative and ordered Fort Sumter to be
occupy and possess the property and places belonging bombarded if it refused to surrender. No surrender
to the government.' The most important of these places was given and the South opened fire. After 36 hours
was Fort Sumter. of bombardment, the surrender came. The Civil War
had begun.
Around Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, a
struggle for control had grown up between the state As the first clash of military forces in a long-lasting and
governor, and , later, the Confederacy, on one side and the bloody civil war, the attack on Fort Sumter has been the
US president and the commander of the fort on the other. subject of much debate and disagreement ever since,
Sumter was part of a series of fortifications designed over who was responsible. CSA troops fired the first
to protect the port of Charleston from attack from the shots, but those who see the North as responsible argue
sea. It was the newest and strongest of the fortifications, that Lincoln provoked the South into aggression, forcing
although not quite complete. them to decide that they had to prevent the North from
Once South Carolina had decided to secede, the keeping control of Fort Sumter. Such critics of Lincoln also
question of who controlled its forts became an issue of believe that he double-crossed the South, saying initially
that he would withdraw Northern troops from the fort,
great importance to both sides. Thus both presidents,
only to change his mind. Whoever was responsible, the
Buchanan and Lincoln, were involved in a complex series
consequences of the attack on Fort Sumter were great as
of talks and actions concerning the forts in the first four
it tipped the balance of states more towards the South.
months of 1861. By the start of the year, the federal forces
- fewer than 100 men - had withdrawn to Fort Sumter, the For several months, Virginia remained divided about
only fort in the middle of Charlestown harbour and thus whether to support the South's rebellion. Even in early
much less vulnerable to overland attack. However, South April, a month after Lincoln was installed as president,
Carolina quickly built up its forces around the shores of a state assembly decided it should remain part of the
the harbour. The Union soldiers had to rely on their own Union. Meanwhile, Lincoln raised a force of 75 000 men in
resources and on being supplied from the sea as they an attempt to defeat the rebellion of the seven seceding
were surrounded by hostile forces. As supplies on Fort states. In doing so, the federal government was taking
Sumter ran low, relief supplies became essential. on unprecedented power. The decision confirmed many
Southerners' worst fears about the Republicans and
The leaders of both sides faced some tough choices.
the new president in Washington. Governor Lecher of
Some were tactical: should the union reinforce Fort
Virginia was asked to provide 2340 volunteers from the
Sumter with men, weapons and supplies, or just supplies?
state militia to serve for three months as part of this
Some were strategic: what would the effect be for each
force. Virginians decided that raising a federal army
side of being first to fire? What effect would it have on
against the CSA was undesirable and unconstitutional.
the eight slave states yet to secede? Both sides looked
On 16 April 1861, Lecher told Lincoln's secretary of war:
carefully at which side Virginia would join. Of the eight
'Your object is to subjugate the Southern States and a
slave states that had not seceded, Virginia was the most
requisition on me for such an object - an object, in my
important. It contained key military assets: the federal
judgement, not within the scope of the Constitution
armoury at Harpers Ferry and the federal naval base at
or the [Militia] Act of 1795 - will not be complied with.'
Norfolk. Its capital, Richmond, was also the only industrial
A state assembly quickly voted to leave the Union and
centre in the South.
Virginia became the eighth member of the CSA. Much of
At on e stage, the Union government in Washington the Civil War on the eastern seaboard was fought over
DC see med close to surrendering Fort Sumter for control of Virginia.
grea ter strategic benefits in return - perhaps to keep
 1820 1941
Cambridge International AS Level History- The history of the USA, -

:~r.t_•~t~~;fr~~~0
- ....:-.

:it-.
~;
... ;fi:
··~~~:t··
-= t-:.
'--'-- -. ~ ±---~ .
- ."~:,'; .

. .

I
Figure 1.15: A 19th century illustration of the attack on Fort Sumter, April 12 and 13, 1861, the first battle in the US Civil War.
How useful is this engraving in explaining the importance of the battle?

In the event, part of Virginia remained loyal to the Union. The Aims of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson
It formed itself into the state of West Virginia, which would Davis
join the USA in 1862 as the 35th state of the Union. To do On the outbreak of civil war in the spring of 1861, the main
so, it had to agree to the gradual abolition of slavery. aim of the two leaders were quite simple, if completely
Three other states of the Upper South contained enough opposite:
leaders who were equally appalled by being asked to Lincoln wanted to defeat what he labelled a rebellion, to
provide troops to act against fellow slave states. Arkansas, win a 'Civil War'.
North Carolina and Tennessee all broke away from the USA
Jefferson Davis wanted to turn a rebellion into a 'War of
in April and May. Seven states became eleven. Lincoln's
Southern Independence'.
request for 75000 soldiers had backfired. His first two
decisions concerning the secession of the South meant that In his inaugural add ress tot h e American• ·
people, unco 1n
both Fort Sumter, most of Virginia and three other finely was careful to define the central issue of the conflict
balanced states had been pushed into the arms of the CSA. as secession rath er than slavery. He even said he wa s
agree~b_le to the constitutional amendment to protect
st a·tes rights, i ncluding, 'that of persons held to service···
being made express and irrevocable'.
Upper south: the most northerly Southern states, adjacent
to the Mason- Dixon li ne, as opposed to t he Lower or Deep A year later
. ' in August 1862, Lincoln
. . letter to
wrote a public
an
m old friend
d from wh·ig ays, former politician, newspa per
d
South
G an an . co-found er Of t he Republican Party Horace
ree 1ey, in which he exp Iained
• that his main aim was to
 Chapter 1: The origins of the Civil War, 1820-61

save the Union; and if it meant not freeing any slaves, he ACTIVITY 1. 23
was prepared to do this.
Here are the opening lines of the Declaration of
By the time of his second inaugural address, in March Independence, published in 1776 by the 13 British
1865, Lincoln was prepared to say to the American people colonies in North America rebelling against British rule:
that although extending and continuing slavery was the
cause of the war which broke the Union, the government We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
had only wanted to restrict extending slavery to new men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
states and claimed no right to abolish slavery.
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, in his Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments
own inaugural speech, supported his rival's analysis that are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
the war was about the Union rather than slavery. Davis from the consent of the governed.
did not mention slavery once by name. His speech also
focused on the decision to secede, its justification and its Relate these sentences to the situation of the United
consequences. States between 1846 and 1861. You should pay particular
attention to the words 'liberty', 'we', 'men' and 'the
By contrast, however, his vice president, Alexander
governed'.
Stephens, made the issue of slavery central in a speech
which became known as the Cornerstone Speech.
Speaking to an enthusiastic audience in Savannah,
Georgia on 21 March 1861, he explained that the new Reflection: How did you relate this source to the situation
Confederate constitution was based on the idea that black in the United States between 1846-1861? Join a study
people were inferior to white people, meaning that slavery partner and discuss whether you reached different
was justifiable. conclusions; did you use different information from
Americans were faced with a crisis of disunity and division the source, or did you interpret the same information
of their country. At the time, many thought that the crisis differently?
would be resolved only by the permanent division of
the USA. As W.H. Russell, war correspondent of British
newspaper the Times, found a few weeks after arriving in
the USA in March 1861, most people in New York believed
that the South would never rejoin the Union.

KEV CONCEPT

Causation
At what point did the Civil War become inevitable?
As you review your learning in reading this chapter, make a
list of all the causes of the Civil War which you th ink are at all
significant.
Arrange the causes in chronological order. At wh ich point, if
any, could war no longer be avoided?
You might, as some historians do, believe that nothing is
ever inevitable until it happens. If not, how does your view of
when the US Civil War became inevitable com pare with your
classmates' views?
Cambridge International AS Level History- The history of the USA, 1820- 1941

Exam-style questions
Source analysis questions
Read all four sources and then answer both parts of
question 1.

--~- IHH#i
A conversation between a fictional senator and Th at the Consti tution, and all Laws of
his wife the United States which are not locally
'Well,' said his wife ... 'What have they been inapplicable, shall have the same force
doing in the Senate?' and effect within the said Territory of
Nebraska as elsewhere within the United
Now, it was a very unusual thing for Mrs. States, except the eighth section of the act
Bird ever to trouble her head with what was preparatory to the admission of Missouri
going on, very wisely considering that she into the Union approved March 1820, which,
had enough to do to mind her own. Mr. Bird, being inconsistent with the principle of
therefore, opened his eyes in surprise, and non-intervention by Congress with slaves
said, 'Not very much of importance.' in the States and Territories, as recognized
'Well; but is it true that they have been by the legislation of 1850, commonly called
passing a law forbidding people to give meat the Compromise Measures, is hereby
and drink to those poor colored folks that declared inoperative and void; it being the
come along? I heard they were talking of true intent and meaning of this act not to
some such law, but I didn't think any Christian legislate slavery into any Territory or State,
legislature would pass it ... I think this is nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the
something downright cruel and unchristian. I people thereof perfectly free to form and
hope no such law has been passed.' regulate their domestic institutions in their
'There has been a law passed forbidding own way, subject only to the Constitution
people to help the slaves that come over of th e United States: Provided, That nothing
from Kentucky, my dear; so much has been herein contained shall be construed to
done by these reckless Abolitionists, that revive or put in force any law or regulation
our brethren in Kentucky are very strongly which may have existed prior to the act of
excited, and it seems necessary, and no more s1_xth March, eighteen hundred and twenty,
than Christian and kind, that something ei th er protecting, establishing prohibiting or
should be done by our state to quiet the abolishing slavery. ' '
excitement.'
From '1n Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska
'And what is the law7 It don't forbid us to and Kansas; 1854
shelter those poor creatures a night, does it,
and to give 'em something comfortable to
eat, and a few old clothes, and send them
quietly about their business?'
'Why, yes, my dear; that would be a crime.'
Adopted from Harriet Beecher Stowe,
Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852
IH'Hili 11-hiii'I
After John Brown's arres t following the raid on
4. A free negro of the African race, whose Harpers Ferry, Lydia Maria Child wrote to the
ancestors were brought to this country and governor of Virginia requesting to visit him in
I·
le
sold as slaves, is not a 'citizen' within the prison. Margaretta Mason of Virginia wrote critically
meaning of the Constitution of the United to her and a correspondence followed.
States.
You would sooth with sisterly and motherly
5. When the Constitution was adopted, care the hoary-headed murderer of Harpers
they were not regarded in any of the Ferry! A man whose aim and intention
States as members of the community was to incite the horrors of a civil war -to
which constituted the State, and were not condemn women of your own race to see
numbered among its 'people or citizens.' their husbands and fathers murdered and
Consequently, the special rights and their children butchered. The antecedents
immunities guaranteed to citizens do not of Brown's band prove them to have been
apply to them. the offspring of the earth; and what would
6. The only two clauses in the Constitution have been our fate had they found as many
which point to this race, treat them as sympathizers in Virginia as they seem to have
persons whom it was morally lawful to deal in in Massachusetts ...
as articles of property and to hold as slaves. From the reply from Lydia Maria Child

•
7. Since the adoption of the Constitution The universal rule of the slave states is that
of the United States, no state can by any 'the child follows the condition of its mother.'
subsequent law make a foreigner or any Marriages between white and colored people
other description of persons citizens of the are forbidden by law; yet a very large number
United States, nor entitle them to the rights of the slaves are brown or yellow ...
and privileges secured to citizens by that
Throughout the slave states, the testimony
instrument.
of no colored person, slave or free, can be
8. A State, by its laws passed since the used against a white man. You have some
adoption of the Constitution, may put a laws which , on the face of them, would seem
foreigner or any other description of persons to restrain inhuman men from murdering
upon a footing with its own citizens, as to all or mutilating slaves; but they are rendered
the rights and privileges enjoyed by them nearly null by the law I have cited . Any
within its dominion, and by its laws. But that drunken master, overseer, or patrol, may go
will not make him a citizen of the United into the negro cabin and commit whatever
States, nor entitle him to sue in its courts, nor outrage he pleases with perfect impunity, if
to any of the privileges and immunities of a no white person is present who chooses to
citizen in another State. be a witness against him . . .
From the ruling of the US Supreme Court in the
From a letter from Margaretta Mason to Lydia
case of Scott v. Sandford, 1857
Maria Child, 1860
 1 a Bleeding Kansas happened at the sa me time as the Fugitiv
Compare and contrast Sources A and D as
evid ence of th e public debate regardin g slavery. Slave Act. It was about Manifest Destiny. There were a lot ofe
immigrants coming into the United States from Ireland and
b 'Th e div ision between No rth and South ove r
Germany and other places and they wanted to be given farms
slavery grew wider between 1840 and 1860.' How
That's why the United States expanded west wards. Before a ·
far do Sources A to D support thi s view?
lot of th is land had belonged to Mexico or Native Americans.
Essay based questions Then the USA fought a wa r with Mexico and at the end of the
Answer both parts of the question below. war was given a big area of land called the Mexican Cession.
Also Texas joined the United States. This land was disorganisec
2 a Explain why political violence broke out in
which meant it did not have a governor. To give ita governor
Kansas, 1854-58.
it was turned into a territory. But it might be a territory with
b To what extent was the Republican party's victory slaves or a territory without slaves. If it had slaves the South
in the 1860 presidential election the cause of the would be stronger. If it didn't the North would be stronger.
outbreak of the American Civil War?

3 a Explain why the Dred Scott decision was so

The third paragraph does not seem to be linked to the
important.
question at all. There is a lot of background material there,
but does not refer to the causes of the violence.
b To what extent were divisions within the Democratic
party responsible for the election of Lincoln in 1860?
At first Congress couldn't pass the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Sample answer Then it did. This was because Stephen Douglas persuaded

•
Congress. He did this with the principle of popular
Explain why politico/ violence broke out in Kansas, 1854-58.
sovereignty, but also by separating Kansas from Nebraska
The political violence that broke out in Kansas 1854-58 and by telling them it would help build a railway to the
was called Bleeding Kansas. This was because a lot Pacific. But although Congress passed the act a lot of
of people travelled to Kansas to vote there. They did people were very angry and that is why political violence
this because of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas- broke out in Kansas 1854-58.
Nebraska Act meant that there were two new US
territories of Nebraska and Kansas . People w ho supported
slavery wanted Kansas to vote for slavery. People who The relevance of the fourth paragraph is not clear at all. It
were against slavery wanted Kansas to vote against is only the last sentence that directly answers the question,
but it does not seem to be linked in any way to the previous
slavery. They were allowed to vote becau se Senator
statements. There is really only very limited explanation in

-
Stephens had passed an act allow ing popular sovereignty. this response.
That is why a lot of people rushed to be there to vote.

r 'I
This is not a high-quality answer so far. The first paragraph
does explain why many people went to Kansas and
introduces the divisions there over slavery, but it does not
explain why violence broke out. After working through this chapter, make sure you
understand the following key points:
th e extent to which the Civil War was caused by arguments
The border ruffian s were armed and came to attack slaves
about slavery specifically, or how it was caused far more
and their owners. They broke up printing presses and killed
generally by sectional tension between North and south
people. The fighting lasted in Kansas for two years. A lot of
th e attempts at compromi se throughout the period
people were killed. That is why it is called Bleeding Kansas.
leading up to the Civil War, why they worked initially and
why they ultimately failed
The second paragraph mentions the border ruffians, but
th e s_i~nificance of the ch anging ideas of Northern
does not explain clearly whatthey were_trying to achieve
and what their role was in caus,ing th': v1?lence. It focuses abolit1onists in causing the Civil War
too much on why it was called Bleeding Kansas. th
e reasons for and consequences of the election of
Abraham Lincoln as US president.
Revision handout: The History of the USA,
1820–1941

Chapter 1: The origins of the Civil War 1820–61

1 The issue of slavery 1820–50

a Political system and the balance of sectional interests in 1820

1 Federal Government, based in Washington, DC
a President – power to approve or veto new laws
b Congress
i House of Representatives – represented people
ii Senate – represented states
c Supreme Court – nine judges appointed by President and approved by Senate
2 Slavery
a by 1800, six of the original thirteen states had banned slavery
b 1808 – overseas slave trade banned
c by 1820, all northern states had banned slavery
d slavery increased in new states – e.g. in the Lower South
e Mason-Dixon Line
f disagreements between North and South over the issue of slavery
g supporters of slavery wanted new states designated as slave states

b Impact of territorial expansion

1 Acquisition of Texas 1845
2 Implications of war with Mexico – ‘Polk’s War’
a land taken from Mexico might become slave states
b Wilmot Proviso 1846
i aimed to prevent new states becoming slave states
ii rejected by Congress, which was split on sectional grounds
3 Further territorial expansion of the USA

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c Impact of population growth and movement
1 Population growth, especially in the north (aided by immigration)
2 Growing economic wealth of USA – partly dependent on cotton

d Attempts at compromise
1 Missouri Compromise 1820
a dispute over whether slavery should be allowed in Missouri
b Terms of the Compromise:
i aimed to maintain balance between slave and free states
ii Missouri could have slavery
iii Maine to become a state, but not allowed to have slavery
iv no slavery allowed in US lands gained by Louisiana Purchase above 36˚ 30′ latitude
v slaves escaping above this latitude could be returned to their owners
2 The Party system
a differences between Whigs and Democrats
b other parties in 1840s and 1850s
i Liberal Party
ii Native American Party
iii Free Soil Party
3 The Compromise of 1850
a role of Senator Stephen Douglas
b compromise over slave status of four new states – California, New Mexico, Utah, Texas
c Fugitive Slave Bill – escaped slaves could be returned to their owners
d maintained balance between slave and free states

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2 Widening sectional divisions 1850–56

a The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act

1 Compromise of 1850
a aimed to resolve sectional tensions
b compromised over California, New Mexico, Utah and Texas
c abolition of slave trade in the District of Columbia
2 Fugitive Slave Act 1850
a unlike Act of 1793, compelled states to enforce the law
b denied fugitive slaves right of trial by jury
c resented in North – mass demonstrations in support of fugitive slaves
d attacked in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852
e ‘Underground Railroad’ method of escape for slaves
f examples of Northern opposition to the Act
i William Parker case, Pennsylvania 1851
ii Jerry Rescue, New York 1851
iii Anthony Burns, Boston (Massachusetts) 1854
iv William Lloyd Garrison – Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Rally, 1854

b The issue of Kansas

1 Kansas–Nebraska Act 1854
a followed proposals by Stephen Douglas
b created Nebraska and Kansas, allowing them to decide whether to be slave states
c opposition in the North, arguing the act broke the Missouri Compromise
2 Bleeding Kansas
a pro- and anti-slavery groups encouraged people to move to Kansas
b examples of conflicts –
i Sacking of Lawrence, May 1856
ii Massacre of Pottawatomie, May 1856
iii Battle of Osawatomie, August 1856
3 The Caning of Senator Sumner, 1856

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c Changes in the party-political system
1 Slavery issue led to decline of Whig Party
2 Rise of the Republican Party
a gained support from abolitionists
b 1856 presidential election
i Republican Fremont came second to Democrat Buchanan
ii showed that voters were split on sectional issues

d Significance of states’ rights

1 Vagueness of Constitution on the issue of state and federal rights
2 Debate over how far states were compelled to follow federal law

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3 The presidential election, 1860

a Emerging notion of ‘slave power’

1 Supreme Court ruling on Dred Scott case 1857
2 States could now decide on slavery without federal intervention
3 Reaction of politicians to the Supreme Court ruling over Dred Scott:
a President Buchanan supported pro-slavery constitution in Kansas
b Stephen Douglas opposed the ruling – split with Buchanan
c Abraham Lincoln opposed the ruling – campaigned to become a senator
4 Power of pro-slavery groups seemed to be growing

b Lincoln–Douglas debates 1858

1 Lincoln (Republican) and Douglas (Democrat) – rival presidential candidates
2 Debates in Illinois, August–October 1858
3 Impact of Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott case:
a Republicans united in opposition to it
b Democrats split

c The growing strength of abolitionism

1 John Brown and the raid on Harpers Ferry (Virginia)
a aimed to seize weapons and start a revolt of slaves
b Brown arrested and sentenced to death
c Brown seen as a martyr by many abolitionists in the North
d pro-slavery groups accused Republican William Seward of involvement in Harpers Ferry raid
2 Increasing tension between pro- and anti-slavery groups, increasingly seen as a NORTH-SOUTH issue

d Increasing confrontation within and between the North and the South
1 Opinions in South:
a ‘Fire-eaters’ proposed breaking away from USA
b others argued for reopening of international slave trade
c campaigns to protect slave-owners’ rights
2 Opinions in North:
a most wanted constitutional solution to the slavery issue
b support for gradualism – ending slavery over time

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e Election campaign of 1860
1 1860 Democratic National Convention
a candidates – Stephen Douglas and John Breckinridge
b both agreed that states should determine their slave status
c disagreed over other aspects – e.g. Breckinridge favoured a federal slave code to reinforce the power of
slave owners
d Democratic Party split along sectional lines –
i Northern Democrats chose Douglas
ii Southern Democrats chose Breckinridge
2 Constitutional Union Party chose John Bell as candidate
a wanted constitutional solution to slavery issue
b argued that slavery should not expand beyond existing slave states
3 1860 Republican National Convention
a Seward expected to win, but was associated with violent opposition to slavery
b Lincoln gained nomination
c no proposal to end slavery, merely to prevent its expansion
4 The presidential campaign
a pro-slavery groups tried to prevent Lincoln victory – e.g. fusion ticket in New Jersey, New York and
Pennsylvania
b impact of Wide-Awake Movement
5 Lincoln won, but
a gained only 40% of vote
b no slave state voted for him
c Democratic Party vote was split between Douglas and Breckinridge

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4 Reasons for the outbreak of Civil War in April 1861

a Reactions to the 1860 presidential election

1 Debate over whether Civil War was caused by either
a socio-economic factors
b political failings
2 Southern states assumed that Lincoln planned to ban slavery

b Secession of the seven Deep South states

1 South Carolina contemplated secession from the Union
2 Six other slave states joined South Carolina in seceding
a Mississippi
b Florida
c Alabama
d Georgia
e Louisiana
f Texas
3 Formation of Confederate States of America (CSA), led by Jefferson Davis
4 Crittenden Compromise 1860–61 – rejected by Republicans
5 Corwin Amendment 1861 – not ratified by states
6 ‘Peace Conference’ 1861 – Lincoln’s failed attempt to conciliate North and South

c Fort Sumter and its impacts

1 Dispute between state and federal governments over fort in South Carolina
2 South attacked the fort when Lincoln refused to remove federal forces
3 Lincoln developed an army to fight against seceding states – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina
refused to provide men and seceded

d Aims of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis

1 Lincoln
a wanted to defeat what he saw as a rebellion
b focused on secession rather than slavery
2 Davis – saw it as a war of Southern independence

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