CAUSES OF

THE CIVIL WAR

Part 1, 20 April 2017
Objectives: Students
will
Analyze how states rights led to conflict
between the North and South.

Journal:
How did compromises increase tensions
between the North and South before the
Civil War? Cite specific historical examples.
States Rights
States Rights the rights and powers held
by individual US states rather than by the
federal government

States rights debate whether the states

would have more power or the federal
government would have more power

What pushes this debate?

States Rights
States Rights the rights and powers held
by individual US states rather than by the
federal government

States rights debate whether the states

would have more power or the federal
government would have more power

What pushes this debate? Sectionalism

Each state has regional issues that make it
difficult for the federal government to serve
them all effectively and simultaneously
ORIGIN OF STATES
RIGHTS DEBATE -
Strict v. loose construction of the
Constitution
Jefferson v. Hamilton - 1790s
Loose =
Strict =
ORIGIN OF STATES
RIGHTS DEBATE -
Strict v. loose construction of the
Constitution
Jefferson v. Hamilton - 1790s
Loose = any powers not explicitly denied
to the federal government are held by the
federal government
Strict = any powers not specifically listed
in the Constitution cannot be used by the
federal government (AND ARE LEFT IN THE
HANDS OF THE STATE GOVERNMENTS]
ORIGIN OF STATES
RIGHTS DEBATE -
Strict v. loose construction of the Constitution
Jefferson v. Hamilton - 1790s
Loose = any powers not explicitly denied to the
federal government are held by the federal
government
Strict = any powers not specifically listed in the
Constitution cannot be used by the federal
government (AND ARE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF
THE STATE GOVERNMENTS]
Strict interpretations lead some to believe that
the states actually hold more power than the
federal government
fast forward 1832 and
the Nullification Crisis
John C. Calhoun / South Carolina declare that
the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were
unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable
in South Carolina
The tariffs hurt the South Carolina economy,
so Calhoun claimed that the federal
government was unconstitutionally favoring
certain states over others.
Ended when the Compromise Tariff of 1833
was negotiated in Congress
fast forward 1850s and
the expansion of slavery
Northerners believed that Congress could
exclude slavery (a federal power that
threatens slave states)
Examples: Northwest Territory (1789),
Missouri Compromise (1820)
Southerners looked to the SCOTUS to
defend their rights in the famous Dred
Scott case (1857)
 Dred Scott
A slave owner took his slave,
Dred Scott, into a free state
Dred Scott sues his owner for
freedom, claiming that when he
entered a free state (one that
doesnt allow slavery) he became
free
SCOTUS found that Dred Scott
was property in his owners state
of origin and one does not lose
the ownership of his property
when he leaves his state
Additionally, Dred Scott was not a
citizen of the US and, therefore,
did not have the right of a citizen
in the court system
fast forward 1850s and
the expansion of slavery
Northerners believed that Congress could
exclude slavery (a federal power that threatens
slave states)
Examples: Northwest Territory (1789), Missouri
Compromise (1820)
Southerners looked to the SCOTUS to defend
their rights in the famous Dred Scott case
(1857)
The right of individual states laws to be
recognized beyond state borders is reinforced
fast forward 1860 and
Secession
Election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln, who
runs on a platform of stopping the
expansion of slavery with the hope of its
eventual extinction, wins the presidential
election
fast forward 1860 and
Secession
Election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln, who
runs on a platform of stopping the
expansion of slavery with the hope of its
eventual extinction, wins the presidential
election
South Carolina claims that the states
voluntarily joined the United States, so it
was the right of a state to leave the Union
(the United States) as they pleased
fast forward 1860 and
Secession
Election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln, who
runs on a platform of stopping the expansion
of slavery with the hope of its eventual
extinction, wins the presidential election
South Carolina claims that the states
voluntarily joined the United States, so it
was the right of a state to leave the Union
(the United States) as they pleased
Justified leaving on the basis that Lincoln
would systematically try to destroy their
economic livelihood.
 Summarize
Describe each issue and its results.
Event States Rights Result
issue
Constitutional
Interpretation
Nullification
Crisis
Dred Scott

Secession
End of Class

Objectives: Students will

Analyze how states rights led to conflict
between the North and South.

Homework: Finish the summarization

chart.