US History CR4 - Causes of the Civil War Essays -

US History CR4 - Causes of the Civil War Directions: Your answer must be a minimum of 5 complete sentences. Prompt: Identify each term below (states' rights, compromise of 1850, Dred Scott case, and Election of 1860) and explain why it was a cause of the Civil War (1861-1865). Response: "States' Rights": The concept of states' rights was an argument in whom should possess the supreme power of government- The states or the federal government. This argument had occurred in previous years with the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, but occurred again under the Jacksonian Democracy. This caused arguments and tensions to rise between people in power and citizens. Any change in the distribution of power and creation and destruction of rights would change the nation. This caused tensions to rise. Compromise of 1850: The Compromise of 1850 allowed California to the Union as a Free State, without forbidding slavery in the other territories acquired from Mexico. This law prohibited the sale of slaves in Washington D.C., but in a contradiction, included a law requiring the return of runaway slaves to slaveholders. Abolitionists supported the freedom of California and the freedom in all territories acquired from Mexico. However, the law requiring the return of slaves to slave holders angered Abolitionists. In A Free State, every citizen is free except for slaves, a great contradiction. The rights of slaves began to be questioned even further. This Compromise was used in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case seven years after it was created. Dred Scott case: In the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens, only property. Slaves were not granted human and constitutional rights as they were property of their owners. Thus ruling, slaves are a possession that can be brought into any territory and still be enslaved. Decided by the members of the court, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 is declared and ruled unconstitutional. This ruling deeply disturbed the rights of humans, and the morale of slavery, leading for a strengthened out cry of freedom from abolitionists, and ignorant and defensive responses from slave owners. The issue of Abolitionists v Pro-Slavery intensed severely. Election of 1860: The election of Abraham Lincoln, a member of the Republican Party, terrified the southern states. The southern states feared that Abraham Lincoln would take away the power to protect and preserve slavery, and stop the expansion of slavery into the Free States. One month after Abraham Lincoln was elected, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, voted to secede from the Union. A few months later, the seven states seceded and created a new nation called the Confederate States of America. Under the Confederate States of America, a new constitution was created, one with the legalization of slavery, Jefferson Davis was elected as the president and Alexander Stephens was elected as the vice president. Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia soon joined the new nation. The separation from the United States of America with the formation of a new nation, displayed how serious the tensions were.