Major Events leading to the Civil War Since the time of America’s first president in 1789, America’s greatest leaders supported slavery. The prolific cause of the civil war was due to opposing views on whether or not slavery should be permitted in the United states. Southern plantation owners believed their sacred rights as Americans were to own slaves. However, the northerners would argue this point and say human beings are not property, so therefore, this was wrong. The Civil War was a culmination of numerous confrontations concerning the institution of slavery. The most important events leading to the civil war were the Nat Turners Rebellion in 1831, the compromise of 1850, Dred Scott V. Sanford decision, and in 1860 Abraham Lincoln’s election. As Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United …show more content…
This event led to sixty dead white citizens, and after the bloody battle, for the first time, slave owners became wary and begin to fear their slaves. Nat Turner's rebellion was one of the bloodiest and most effective in American history. It ignited a culture of fear in Virginia that eventually spread to the rest of the South, and is said to have expedited the coming of the Civil War (Larson). The push for the rebellion came from a series of Nat Turner’s visions, he spoke to god in his dreams, and the visions gave him a plethora of confidence to relinquish his enemies, Consequently, for the act, he was captured with fifty other slaves and was executed. In addition, Virginia’s lawmakers after minimized blacks from learning to read and write, thus placing a hold on their education. Following the rebellion, whites throughout the South were determined to prevent any further slave insurrections, and they tightened the already harsh slave codes to keep African Americans, slave and free, in a subservient position (Wood &
While Abraham Lincoln was serving as the president of the United States of Amerca, slavery was a large issue in the country. It was so impactful that it became known as a partial cause of the Civil War. Lincoln, having been elected as president as a Republican, he was part of a party that was against the extension of slavery.
Abraham Lincoln started all that before he was in office, so imagine what he did when he became president of the United States. When Lincoln was elected there was a long series of policy clashes between the South and the North. The clash wasn’t just about slavery. It was a clash of elites. The Northern elite wanted economic expansion. Such as, free land; free labor, free market, and much more. Lincoln had all of this in mind, even the slaves. The slaves saw Lincoln as their ticket to freedom. The South was for slavery, so when they notice Lincoln was trying to abolish slavery they started to secede from the union. Lincoln tried to get some of the states back and more seceded. The confederacy was formed; the civil war was on.
Most of them are still debating the entire cause of the Civil War. Some of the causes were not compromising difference between the free slave’s states over the power of the national government abolished slavery in the borders of the to become the states. At that time, Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1860 as the first Republican president on the platform promising to slavery out of the territories (McPherson, 2009).
Slave Revolts, particularly in the South, may be deemed unsuccessful by whites. Although, in the African American community, if one event attempted to plan a revolt it was for our freedom and the freedom of others for generations to come. Despite the fact that Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner died while plotting or carrying out a revolt, their death was not in vain. Their deaths sparked a wave of revolts throughout the South. The stories of Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner display how religion influenced their acts of rebellion.
As a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery. He believed it was unnecessary to everyone-including Negros and Whites. However, with his stand on slavery, he held back by declaring that he had no reason to disrupt slavery where it existed. The constitution had protected states where citizens wanted slavery to exist. Lincoln knew he would not get enough support and that the four slave-holding states in the North would turn against him. As a result, the Civil War began in 1861 with more of a political purpose in keeping the union together rather than a battle for human freedom. Slaveholders could not turn to the Union’s side because slaves were valuable and played a vital role to
In August of 1831 Nat Turner, a slave, began on uprising of slaves and citizens that spread through several towns in the southern part of Virginia. Nat Turner rounded up approximately seventy men that killed around sixty white people. Two days later, the militia, infantry and artillery of the United States deployed suppressing the Rebellion. Fifty-five slaves along with Turner included were tried in court and executed for the Rebellion. Although small-scale uprisings by the slaves were common in the southern part of America, Nat Turner's Rebellion was by far the bloodiest. The lawmakers and Congressmen of Virginia rolled back the few civil rights the slaves and free black possessed at that time. Ultimately, education was prohibited and the right to assemble was limited severely due to the rebellion, which wasn't fair to all blacks. Nat Turner’s Rebellion stirred up the US and was one of the last events that triggered the Civil
Nat’s rebellion was one of the goriest and effective in American history. It had ignited a fear all around Virginia that soon spread to the south, and is said to be one of the reasons for the Civil War. In the aftermath of the rebellion many Southern states like North Carolina tightened restrictions for free African Americans. Over the course of two days more than 2 dozen whites were killed during the rebellion which
Another huge reason the Civil War started was due to Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was known to be opposed to slavery. This belief seemed very threatening to the slave states. Although Lincoln stated that he wouldn’t interfere with the states that currently had slavery, the South still looked at him poorly. South Carolina seceded from the United States in 1860, just over a month after Lincoln was elected. After that Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida followed South Carolina in secession. This shows how
The United States of America has fought in many wars throughout the nation's history. One impactful war that has helped shape modern America was the Civil war. The election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in 1860, caused Southern states to secede from the Union to join the Confederate States of America. Although the election of Abraham Lincoln was one trigger to the start of the Civil War, it was not the cause of the Civil War. During the brink of the Civil War there were many attempts at compromise, one being the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was the last attempt to provide popular sovereignty to states in the Union on the decision of slavery, but eventually
The start of the Civil War was due to a combination of events involving slavery, one being John Brown’s raid. Violence shook the nation as proslavery and antislavery groups argued about the expansion of slavery into the western territories. During this time in history, Abraham Lincoln was elected President in November of 1860 and played an influential role throughout his life. Lincoln claimed he was not an abolitionist, however, he “believed slavery was morally wrong” (Brinkley, 309). Lincoln became well liked as his reputation grew with eloquence. His firm stance of slavery captured the hearts of many. Lincoln managed to bring the Union to victory during the last bloody year of the Civil war in 1865. As a result of the win, millions of slaves
The Southampton Insurrection, also known as Nat Turner’s Rebellion, was one of the largest slave revolts in the United States. The leader of this revolt was a slave named Nat Turner and his slave owner was Joseph Travis. Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800 and raised in Southampton County, Virginia which was an area with predominantly more whites than blacks.
Many slaveholding societies lived in fear of those whom they kept in bondage. Populations of slaves generally outnumbered the masters. Anger from the slaves provoked by a life of being held hostage in chains would often spill over into violent uprisings and revolts. These fears became much worse after the rebellion of one certain slave and his comrades. One of the largest slave rebellions to ever take place in the U.S. was the rebellion of Nat Turner. This rebellion is said to be one of the most important ones of its time, but why? This rebellion played an important role in the development of slave societies before the Civil War.
In November of 1860, the presidential election was one of the most momentous in the history of the United States. The land was split between North and the South and was smoldering for almost a decade. The candidates for the presidential election of 1860 were Abraham Lincoln, Republican, John Breckinridge, Southern Democrat, John Bell, Constitutional Union, and Stephen Douglas, Northern Democratic. Abraham Lincoln was against the increase of slavery into the new territories. Lincoln did not receive one vote from the south, but he did win over 50% of the Electoral College votes so Lincoln won the presidency to become the 16th President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was known as one of America’s greatest heroes because of his inconceivable impact on our nation and his unique appeal. Lincoln was a captain in the military and a lawyer all before becoming the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln was one of two U.S. presidents who was assassinated while in office. Lincoln was also the president during the roughest part of American history, the Civil War. Lincoln was heavily in favor of abolishing slavery and so most of the citizens in the northern states of the U.S... On the other hand, the south had large plantations and favored slavery because the slaves worked for free and made plantation owners and other farmers a staggering amount of profit. The slaves were not treated as human beings; therefore, the slaves were mistreated. Slave owners often beat their slaves
Abraham Lincoln once stated “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Abraham Lincoln is a hero for the citizens of America because his determination and courage to ending slavery even if it meant war caused peace in this nation. Slavery was the vital cause of the American Civil War. The north and the south both had their differences on how to run the country. People in the North believed in unity and that slavery should not exist because “all men are created equally.” On the other hand, the South believed in continuing slavery. People tried to talk it out and come to a middle ground after both sides compromising, however that didn’t work and caused war. Ideological differences were a vital role to making the American Civil War an inevitable event.
Slavery, as Abraham Lincoln often noted, was the root cause of the Civil War. Tensions over slavery dated back to the contradictory nature of the American Revolution of 1776 that resulted in a republic simultaneously committed to freedom for whites and bondage for blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Within years North and South reached the point at which compromise was not possible. At that time Civil War had been started.