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The Five Causes Of The American Civil War

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John Mwangi
Mr. Deady
US History II
7 September 2014
5 Causes for the American Civil War The American Civil War, 4 years of bloodshed shed upon American soil. From the first shots fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox courthouse, it ended up becoming America's most deadliest war. It was a war between a country divided into half, each side fighting for their own cause. To the North, it was a war to free all men while in the South, it was a war to protect their way of life. However, there were many other causes that caused this life changing war to occur. From John Brown's raids, to the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Dredd Scott decision, Abraham Lincoln's election, and finally the failure …show more content…

Dredd Scott was a slave that wanted to become a U.S. citizen through the American legal system. His case ended up reaching the Supreme Court and it was denied. The court ruled that Scott was not a citizen, thus meaning he could not bring a suit to a federal court. In addition, they viewed him as a piece of property and explained how he did not have any rights. It was seen as an abomination before God to the abolitionists in the North because they believed that all men were created equal each with the same rights. In the South the ruling was seen as a great victory which defended their opinions. After the Dredd Scott case, the differing opinions between the North and South kept tensions between the two high and it seemed as if war was the only …show more content…

The politicians dealt with the issue of slavery with compromises such as the Compromise of 1820 and 1850. Then, when America received new land from Mexico, many of the new states wanted to become free states so Congress allowed them to practice popular sovereignty in which the people could decide whether they wanted to be free states or not. However these compromises did not solve the issue, instead they delayed it and this was further worsened by the gag rule in which Congress said they would speak nothing about slavery because they could never seem to agree about it. This led to civil conflict because the one side had more power than the other which started to ruin the relationship between the free and slave states. By avoiding the issue, the politicians unknowingly, delaying an inevitable

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The Dred Scott Decision made the Civil War unavoidable because of the treatment of African Americans regarding their equality and opportunity. Dred Scott was a slave in Virginia who tried to sue for his freedom in court. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court level, where the justices found that, as a slave, Dred Scott was property that had none of the legal rights of that of a white man. The Northerners hated this decision because it meant that slavery could spread into all territories. This inflamed tensions as the Northerners felt that the South was trying to expand slavery into the free states and would be able to do so.

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Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia around 1795, he then lived in the free state of Illinois and in the free territory, where slavery was prohibited under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. However, in 1846, the Scotts sued for their freedom in the Circuit Court of St. Louis, Missouri. They argued that their years of living in free territories had freed them from slavery, they lost that case. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney concluded that making slavery illegal in certain territories, Congress had exceeded its authority under the Constitution, that just because Dred Scott was black he was not considered a citizen and could not sue the federal courts. Moreover, instead of resolving the controversy, the case increased the conflict over slavery in the country (Scott v. Sandford (1857), page 336).

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The Dred Scott case would have a profound impact on the weakening bonds of the country, with present day historians identifying it as one of the major causes of the Civil War. The big issue was that of interpreting the Constitution. The Constitution was an old document, even 150 years ago, and it could be read countless ways, each with a different meaning. With no clearly defined meaning to the Constitution, both sides tried to twist the document to their side, causing conflict and increasing tension. This quality of the document aided in splitting the North and South apart, partially leading to the eventual secession of eleven southern

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The Dred Scott decision sparked the civil war because the North argued that once a free state always a free state, meaning that when Dred Scott went to freeman territory, he should be declared a free man no matter what, but the Supreme Court argued that slaves are nothing but property and only that, they aren’t humans, they have no rights, and their only goal is to obey their masters. Taney, part of the Supreme Court, even said “slaves have no rights which any white man was bound to respect.” Tenny also confirmed that Slaves were property and not human. The Dred Scott decision was a pivotal turning the nation to what would become the American Civil

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The Dred Scott V. Sanford case of 1857 declared that African Americans were not citizens of the United States and did not receive the same support from the Federal Government. During this time the Congress also lacked the power to ban slavery in all territories belonging to the United States. In 1850 Dred Scott and his family were declared free under the state court however, this did not last long. The Supreme Court of Missouri revoked the Scott’s family freedom which led him to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court denied him citizenship of the U.S. even if he was a citizen of a free state.

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