Civil War Dbq Essay

491 Words2 Pages

April 12, 1861. Confederate forces fired shots at the fort Sumpter and Union troops surrendered sparking the Civil War. Though, how did it come to this? As one can see, evidence shows the primary cause of the Civil War was slavery because of the many more slaves than free blacks, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 fought over slave or free states, and Dred Scott fought for his freedom from slavery. The majority of the data given shows that there were more whites and slaves than free blacks. The U.S. population in 1860 was 73% White Native Born, 13% White Foreign Born, 13% Slaves, and 1% Free Blacks, with 73% White Native Born, 13% White Foreign Born, 13% Slaves, and 1% Free Blacks (Doc. D). This led to the Civil War because the number of free blacks is very small due to free slaves being captured by their holders and being informed they are still enslaved. Therefore, slavery and not enough free blacks caused the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 caused the Civil War due to all the fighting over whether a state was a slave state or a free state. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces clashed in irregular fighting following the creation of Kansas in 1854 (Doc. F). This led to the Civil War because fighting broke out daily about anti-slavery and pro-slavery, these fights soon grew bigger and bigger leading …show more content…

The court ruled that all people of African ancestry, both enslaved and free, could not become citizens of the United States and could not sue federal court. It also ruled that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in its territories (Doc. H). This led to the Civil War because one law allowed any person of any color to sue for wrongful enslavement. Another law stated that any person taken to a free territory automatically became free and could not be re-enslaved upon returning to a slave state. Therefore, slavery caused the Civil