This is a combination of notes and video clips to introduce our Civil War Unit for 8th grade History.

1. Why Fight the Civil War?

2. 1. States Rights


a.) The idea that the
states’ rights were
more important than
the Federal
Government
b.) Relies on the 10th
Amendment for legal
justification

3. c.) Early Examples:

1. Virginia and Kentucky
Resolutions
 Written by Madison and
Jefferson
 Said states could nullify
(refuse to obey)
unconstitutional laws
 Reaction to Alien and
Sedition Acts passed by
John Adams.

4. 2. Hartford Convention



Occurred during War
of 1812
New England states
met in secret to
dispute the war
Considered secession
(leaving the country)
but the war ended

5. 3. The Nullification Crisis



Southern States disputed
Tariff of Abominations
Efforts led by VP John C.
Calhoun
President Andrew
Jackson furious –
threatened to send in
troops to force the South
Carolina to obey.

6. Slavery

a.) Slavery allowed into the United States
from the time of the Constitution.

7. 
b.) Slavery is necessary for Southern economic
prosperity and must be kept.

8. 
Slavery is immoral and should be abolished.

9. • c.) Early slavery dates
1619:
 1st enslaved
Africans arrive in
Jamestown, VA


10. 

1783: MA Supreme Court declares slavery
illegal
1784-1804: NH, CT, RI, NY, NJ abolish
slavery

11. 
1808: Slave importation abolished

12. 
By 1860, 3 Western countries allow slavery:
Brazil, Cuba, and the U.S.A.

13. 3. Missouri Compromise (1820)



Maine = Free State
Missouri = Slave State
36°30’ boundary – no slavery above this line

14. 4. Compromise of 1850



California = Free
State
Utah and New
Mexico Territory =>
up to people who
live there.
Fugitive Slave
Law: Free States
must help catch
and return
escaped slaves.

16. 5. Kansas - Nebraska Act (1854)
Establishes Popular Sovereignty in Kansas & Nebraska Territory.

18. 6. Dred Scott Ruling (1857)



Owner takes Scott to a free
state (Wisconsin)
Scott sues
Supreme Court states that
slaves were personal
property and that Blacks are
“so inferior that they had no
rights which a white man was
bound to respect”

20. 7. Abolitionists

a.) Quakers
Opposed Slavery for
religious reasons.

21. b.) William Lloyd Garrison



White Abolitionist
Published The
Liberator
Called for immediate
freedom.

23. c.) Sojourner Truth




Real name: Isabella
Baumfree
Freed slave
Spoke publicly
against slavery
Also fought for
women’s rights

25. d.) Harriet Tubman






Escaped slave
Worked on Underground
Railroad
Saved over 300 slaves
from slavery
Never lost a passenger
During Civil War acted as
a spy
After war, started
retirement home for
former slaves

27. e.) Frederick Douglass



Escaped slave
Powerful writer and
speaker.
Important narrative.

29. f.) Harriet Beecher Stowe



Daughter of a minister
Wrote Uncle Tom’s
Cabin
Lincoln: “Here’s the
little woman that
wrote the book that
started this great
war.”
Click for video

30. g.) John Brown

Violent Abolitionist

32. 1850s Presidents
13: Millard Fillmore




Becomes President
when Zachary Taylor
dies
Whig
Moderate on slavery
Personally opposed
to slavery, but didn’t
want war

34. 14: Franklin Pierce





Democrat
Pro-slavery
Favored the South
Favored the
Gadsden Purchase –
allowed for a
Southern
Transcontinental
Railroad
Supported the
fugitive slave act

36. 15: James Buchanan




Our only Bachelor
President. Only prospect for
marriage died – perhaps a
suicide
Andrew Jackson made him
ambassador to Russia
“because we don’t have one
to the North Pole”
As the country fell apart in
1860, he did NOTHING
Often named as one of the
worst Presidents in U.S.
history
Buchanan to Lincoln: “If you
are as happy on entering the
White House as I am on
leaving, you are a happy man
indeed.”

38. 9. Uncle Tom ’s Cabin Published




1852
Written by Harriet
Beecher Stowe
Told of evils of
slavery.
Sold 300,000 copies
in 1 year

39. 10. “Bloody Kansas ”







North and South send people
to live there to “win
sovereignty.”
Each side formed its own
government => arguments
May, 1856: Proslavery groups
go to Lawrence, burn
stores/houses.
Several people die in the fires.
John Brown leads group to
proslavery settlement at
Pottawatomie Creek.
Hacks to death 5 men.
Brown escapes and hides (for
a while . . .)

40. 11. Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Abraham Lincoln, member of newly
formed Republican Party.
 Stephen A. Douglas, Democrat,
responsible for Kansas-Nebraska
Act
 Lincoln opposed slavery and
wished to limit its spread.
 Douglas wanted “popular
sovereignty” - Said a territory could excluded
slavery.
 Douglas won the election but lost
popularity with many
Southerners.
 Lincoln became very well-known
and popular nationwide.

42. 12. Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech




Lincoln gives speech to
accept Republican Party’s
nomination for President.
Says country must either:
Become either all slave or
all free, or
Cease to be a Union of
States.

44. 13. John Brown attacks Harpers Ferry




Brown, with 18 followers,
seized federal arsenal in
Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Robert E. Lee and troops
capture Brown and his
followers.
Brown tried, convicted,
and hanged.
Maniac or Martyr?

46. 14. Lincoln elected
President


Lincoln wins Presidency without a majority of popular votes.
Southerners see him as a threat to their lifestyle.

48. 15. Southern States Secede from
Union.

Starting with South
Carolina, states
secede from the
Union.
Form the
Confederacy - a new
government of
Southern States.

49. 

Jefferson Davis
elected President.
Lincoln hopes for
peace, but forced to
arm Federal forts in
the South

51. 16. Fort Sumter Attacked (April 12,
1861)



Fort Sumter Attacked
(April 12, 1861)
Confederate cannon
fire on Fort Sumter,
South Carolina.
Union forces
surrender after 30
hours (and no
deaths!)

52. The Civil War Has Begun!
click for video