Underground Railroad Causes

The American Civil War occurred from April of 1861 to May of 1865. This event didn't just happen overnight, it took multiple events over the course of years to set the war into motion. The two sides of the American Civil War, the South (Confederacy) and the North (Union), disagreed on many topics and were affected by many factors leading up to the Civil War. The South was pro-slavery and believed that following the Constitution was what's best for the United States, while the North believed slavery was cruel and thought that abolishing slavery was the best thing for America. Although slavery played a huge part in starting the Civil War, there were three general causes of this war. Social, economic, and political problems plagued the two sides

The Underground Railroad was one of the main social problems. The Railroad was a path of safehouses that runaway-slaves could use to escape the South. These paths didn't exist in the South and only slaves who reached the North were able to use them. The Railroad created social conflict, once the Underground Railroad was discovered, the Fugitive Slave Act was created. This act divided citizens living in the North and the South. The South loved the act because it allowed runaway-slaves to be recaptured, while the North disliked the act because it was basically created to combat the Underground Railroad. Another social conflict was the Abolition Movement, this movement was created to destroy slavery. The North were involved with the Abolition Movement because they believed slavery was cruel and the South didn't want the movement to be successful because they believed slaves were a Constitutional right. The Abolition Movement caused many outcomes, one outcome is Uncle Tom's Cabin. Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel that depicts the horrors of slavery, the novel was a best-seller that reached hundreds of people. This book furthered the divided between the North and the South. Because it was a best-seller and reached a large audience, more people in the North realized what slavery has done. Slave owners in the South realized this book would influence public opinion and tried whatever they could to combat

From the Kansas-Nebraska Act to Abraham Lincoln's election, many political factors influenced the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the states of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether to prohibit or allow slavery. This act reversed the Missouri Compromise. The South loved the act because it let these two states decide if they wanted slavery, while the North hated the act because they firmly believed that the Missouri Compromise should be kept and that it was unfair that these states could decide for themselves. The Dred Scott case was another controversial factor that led to the Civil War. This case ruled that slaves weren't citizens of the United States because they weren't listed as such in the Constitution. The decision announced that slaves weren't people, they were property. This enraged slaves and citizens in the North because it was a step back for the abolition movement. Fortunately, Abraham Lincoln's election was a huge step forward. During his campaign and his presidency, Lincoln was anti-slavery. The South knew that if he was elected, he would cause problems for slavery. After his election, the South began to talk about seceding from the United States. They felt that their way of life was threatened and the only way to combat that was to move away. These events, paired with other economic and social conflicts, created a war that America would never