Content Outline:

Specific Events Leading to the Outbreak of the Civil War (1861-1865)

I. Compromise of 1850
A. Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster
B. Concessions to the North
1. California as free state
2. Territory disputed by Texas and New Mexico rewarded to New
Mexico
3. Abolition of slave trade in District of Colombia
C. Concessions to the South
1. New Mexico and Utah formed and open to popular sovereignty
2. Texas received $10 million as compensation
3. Harsher Fugitive Slave Law
D. Responses
1. Southern opposition
2. Abolitionist anger
3. Eventual agreement
II. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
A. Harriet Beecher Stowe
1. Mother living in North
2. First year: several hundred thousand copies-later into millions
B. Generated resistance to Fugitive Slave Law
C. Influenced foreign aid
III. Tensions of 1854
A. Birth of Republican Party
B. Ostend Manifesto
1. $120 million for Cuba
2. Opposition of Northern Free-Soilers
3. Southern desire for Cuba
4. Mounting internal tension
IV. Kansas (May 1854-1858)
A. Free Staters vs Border Ruffians
B. John Brown: May 1856
1. Attacked proslaveryites
2. 5 man killing spree led to break out of war
C. Further evidence of violence and unrest
V. Brooks/Sumner Affair (May 22, 1856)
A. Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner
1. Leading abolitionist
2. Insulted South Carolina and Senator Butler
B. Congressman Preston Brooks
1. Butler’s nephew
2. Beat Sumner unconscious with cane
C. Flared partisan tension and anger
VI. Dred Scott (March 6, 1857)
A. Black slave sued for freedom
1. Lived in free state territory for five years
2. Denied ability to sue
B. Undermined Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1820
C. Republicans rejected decision; inflamed sectional ties
VII. Financial Crash of 1857
A. Inflated currency due to California gold rush
B. 5,000 businesses closed in a year
C. Urban poverty and unemployment ran rampant
VIII. John Brown’s Raid (July 3, 1859)
A. Harper’s Ferry Armory
B. Causalities
1. Brown’s men killed four people and wounded nine
2. Brown lost 10 men and five fled (including his own death)
C. Responses
1. Many abolitionists saw Brown as a misguided martyr
2. Southerners feared future uprising
a. Organized military systems
b. Saw raid as a result of Republican ideals
3. Further polarized political parties and added to rising tensions
IX. Election of 1860
A. Lincoln-Douglas Debate (1858)
1. Series of Seven Debates
2. Main Issue Discussed: Slavery
3. Wide-spread coverage
a. Led to rising popularity for Lincoln
b. Eventual presidential nomination for Lincoln
B. Abraham Lincoln vs Stephen Douglas
C. Lincoln as sectional president
1. Not even on Southern ballot
2. “Illinois baboon” South threatened secession
3. *Study breakdown on map of sectional voting patterns
X. Secession (December 1860)

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot
endure permanently half slave and half free.” -Abraham Lincoln, 1858

Content Objectives:
• In addition to discussing major themes leading to the Civil War, the
students will be able to pin point specific incidents that exacerbated
sectional tensions, ultimately leading to the war.
 • Students will be able to chronicle the political, social, and economic
incidents leading up to the secession of the Southern states.
• Students will be able to combine themes and incidents from the last two
lessons in order to critique and evaluate events, on both sides, leading up
to the outbreak of the war.

Questions to Consider:

What do you think might have happened without the influence of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin?”

Did the Southern states act rashly in seceding in response, among other incidents, to the
appointment of President Lincoln? Could a Civil War have been avoided?