I have a few questions:
What started the Civil War?
What was the Dred Scott Decision?
What was the Missuri Compromise?
The South wanted to secede from the Union because it thought the North was too powerful. The North wanted to keep the United States together.
What does your book say about the Dred Scott Decision and the Missouri Compromise?
i don't know, we had to return our books a few days ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Compromise
Sure, I can help you with those questions. Let's start with the first one:
1. What started the Civil War?
The Civil War in the United States was primarily sparked by the issue of slavery. This divisive issue had been a subject of contention between the Northern and Southern states since the country's founding. A series of events eventually led to the outbreak of the war. To understand what started the Civil War, we need to consider the following:
- Differences in economic systems: The Northern states were more industrialized and relied less on slave labor, while the Southern states relied heavily on agriculture, particularly plantation farming which required a large number of enslaved individuals.
- Political disputes: The issue of whether new states being admitted to the Union should allow slavery or be free states caused political tensions. It led to debates over the balance of power between the North and South in Congress.
- States' rights versus federal power: The Southern states, fearing that the federal government would outlaw slavery, argued for states' rights and believed they had the right to secede from the United States.
- The election of Abraham Lincoln: When Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery, won the election of 1860, several Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederacy and challenging the authority of the federal government.
These underlying factors and the secession of Southern states ultimately led to the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
2. What was the Dred Scott Decision?
The Dred Scott Decision was a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1857 that further deepened the divisions between the North and South regarding slavery. Here's some background and an explanation of the decision:
- Dred Scott, an enslaved person, had lived in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin before returning to Missouri, a slave state. Scott sued for his freedom, claiming that his residence in free territories should make him free.
- The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, concluded that Scott did not have the right to sue because, as an enslaved person, he was not considered a US citizen and therefore had no legal standing in court. The Court also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
- The decision articulated two main points: First, enslaved individuals were considered property, not citizens, and therefore had no rights. Second, it ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in any territory, regardless of whether it was a free or slave state.
The Dred Scott Decision outraged many in the North who believed it both perpetuated slavery and denied basic human rights. The decision further heightened sectional tensions and was a significant contributing factor to the eventual outbreak of the Civil War.
3. What was the Missouri Compromise?
The Missouri Compromise, passed in 1820, was an attempt by Congress to address the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories. Here's an explanation of the Compromise:
- At that time, there were tensions between free states and slave states as the United States expanded westward. The question arose on whether the new territories would be admitted as free or slave states, potentially upsetting the balance of power in Congress.
- The Missouri Compromise sought to maintain this balance by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, simultaneously. This maintained the balance of power with an equal number of free and slave states in the Senate.
- The Compromise also established a line, known as the 36°30' parallel, along the southern border of Missouri. It stated that any new state north of this line would be free, while those south of the line could permit slavery.
The Missouri Compromise temporarily alleviated the immediate conflict between free and slave states but was ultimately deemed unconstitutional by the Dred Scott Decision in 1857. It highlighted the contentious nature of slavery and territorial expansion, which ultimately led to the intensification of sectional tensions and the outbreak of the Civil War.