What Events Led to the Civil War?
By Alli Feille
The Compromise of 1850
However, slavery was not the only argument. The state of California was to be made a free state, but if the balance between slave and free states would become unbalanced because of this, California would not be allowed to be free.
The state of Texas wanted to own the territory that was New Mexico. The compromise gave Texas $10,000,000 to cause them to stop claiming it.
This is one of the reasons that the Civil War started because it caused arguments and problems that couldn't be solved.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
The South liked this law very much, but the North did not agree, so the disagreement led to the Civil War.
The Dred Scott Decision of 1857
Dred Scott filed a lawsuit against his owner for his freedom in 1846. Scott and his family lost their first trial because people started rumors about them. After this event, the Scotts got a new lawyer that was very against slavery.
The Supreme heard this court, but did not decide the case that year. Then, in 1857, the court decided that Dred Scott was still a slave. The North was very angry about this because they thought he, and all slaves, should have rights.
The North were on Scott's side and they did not agree with this decision. This disagreement was only part of the reason that the Civil War started.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
The north also wanted more free states then slave states, but the south wanted the opposite. The north and south continued to argue every time a new state joined.
Since this argument couldn't be stopped, the Civil War started. The North and South could not agree on which side every new state would be on.