6 Key Causes of the American Civil War | History Lesson

The Causes of the Civil War

What tore the United States apart?

Unit: Manifest Destiny to Today

May 13, 1861 — One month after the Civil War began

6 Key Causes to Discover

Key Vocabulary

Words You Need to Know

🏛️

SECTIONALISM

When people care more about their own region than the whole country

⚔️

CIVIL WAR

A war between people of the same country (1861–1865)

🗺️

CONFEDERACY

The group of Southern states that broke away from the United States

🇺🇸

UNION

The Northern states that stayed loyal to the United States government

✊

ABOLITIONIST

A person who wanted to END slavery

🚂

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

A secret network of safe houses helping enslaved people escape to freedom

🚪

SECEDE

To officially leave or break away from a group or country

💬 Discuss: Which word do you think is MOST important? Why?

🔍 Look Closely!

What do YOU see in this photograph?

Your Turn! 🤔

What are 5 details you notice in this photo?

Where do you think this was taken?

Which side do you think these troops are on?

How do you think the US got to this point?

📅 This photo was taken exactly ONE MONTH after the Civil War began — April 12, 1861

In this lesson, you'll piece together the puzzle of WHY this happened! 🧩

A Divided Nation: North vs. South

🧩 CAUSE #2

The Missouri Compromise, 1820

What Happened? 📜

1. 🌾 Slaveholders were settling NEW western lands

2. ⚖️ Congress drew an invisible LINE — slavery allowed SOUTH of it

3. 🏛️ Missouri entered as a SLAVE state

4. 🌲 Maine entered as a FREE state

The BIG Problem:

This 'compromise' just delayed the argument — it didn't solve it!

💭 THINK:

Was drawing a line a good way to solve the slavery debate? What might go wrong?

CAUSE 2 OF 6

Abolitionists & the Underground Railroad

Harriet Tubman

Escaped slavery & led others to freedom

Frederick Douglass

Gave powerful speeches against slavery

The Underground Railroad

A secret network of safe houses

Abolitionists fought slavery by: writing newspapers (The Liberator), giving speeches, helping people escape

White Southerners were FURIOUS — they saw abolitionists as enemies of their way of life

What were the DIFFERENT ways abolitionists fought slavery? Which do you think was bravest?

The Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay addresses Congress

Who Got What? ⚖️

CAUSE 4 OF 6

BLEEDING KANSAS 🔥

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

Violence erupted between pro- and anti-slavery settlers

💭 THINK: How did Bleeding Kansas warn the country about what was coming next?

🧩 CAUSE #6 — THE FINAL PIECE!

Lincoln's Election & the South Secedes

Abraham Lincoln — Elected President, Nov. 1860

<b style="color: #2C3E50;">Lincoln elected president</b> — opposed the <span style="color:#A22C27;font-weight:900;">SPREAD</span> of slavery

<b style="color: #2C3E50;">Southern states FURIOUS</b> — feared slavery would be abolished

<b style="color:#A22C27;">South Carolina SECEDES</b> — leaves the United States

<b style="color: #2C3E50;">10 more Southern states FOLLOW</b> — they form the <b style="color:#A22C27;">CONFEDERACY</b>

💥 April 12, 1861 — Confederate forces attack <b style="color: #2C3E50;">Fort Sumter</b>

THE CIVIL WAR BEGINS

THINK: Why did Lincoln's election cause the South to secede? Do you think war could have been avoided?

CAUSE 6 of 6 🧩🧩🧩🧩🧩🧩 — PUZZLE COMPLETE!

🌟 Show What You Know!

What factors drove the North and South apart?

The Civil War

1861

North vs. South

Two very different economies & ways of life

Missouri Compromise

A 'line' that divided free & slave states

Abolitionists & Underground Railroad

Growing resistance to slavery

Compromise of 1850

Neither side was truly satisfied

Bleeding Kansas

Violence showed compromise was failing

Lincoln's Election

The final breaking point

Essential Question: What factors helped drive apart the North and the South in the mid-1800s?

Choose 4 of the 6 causes above. Write one sentence for each explaining HOW it pushed the US toward Civil War.