[ 5.5 ] Causes of the Civil War

[ 5.5 ] Causes of the Civil War

Learning Objectives

• Explain how slavery was one reason that Texas became involved in the Civil War.• Explain how issues in the 1850s such as states’ rights and sectionalism began to split

the United States apart.• Describe how Texas made the decision to secede from the United States.

[ 5.5 ] Causes of the Civil War

Key Terms

• states’ rights• Resistance• William Goyens• secede• abolitionist• nullification• sectionalism• tariff• John Reagan• vigilantes• Francis Lubbock

Slavery in Texas

There were several causes of the Civil War. Disputes between the North and the South had grown for years. The leaders of the North and South argued over public lands and states’ rights. States’ rights is the idea that states have the right to limit the power of the federal government.

Slavery in Texas

• Slavery in Early Texas• Slave Population Grows• How Growing Cotton Promoted Slavery• How Enslaved Persons Were Treated• Daily Lives of Enslaved Persons• Resistance to Slavery• Free Black Texans• Opposition to Slavery

Slavery in Texas

This painting, based on an image from 1852, shows enslaved African Americans being sold at a slave market. Assess Credibility What techniques did the artist use to temper the drama of this event?

Slavery in Texas

Analyze Graphs What likely caused the enslaved population of Texas to grow so greatly during the 1850s?

Disagreements Divide the Nation

Events in the 1850s pushed the nation closer to civil war. One of these events was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This act gave the people of Kansas and Nebraska the right to decide if their states would allow slavery. An earlier law, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, had stated that this land would be free of slavery.

Disagreements Divide the Nation

• States’ Rights and Sectionalism• Disagreements Over Tariffs• The Dred Scott v. Sandford Decision• The Elections of 1857 and 1859• The “Texas Troubles”

Disagreements Divide the Nation

Analyze Information What did the federal government hope to accomplish by passing a number of these laws?

Disagreements Divide the Nation

Enslaved African American Dred Scott unsuccessfully tried to win his freedom in the courts.

Texas Secedes

Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, won the presidential election of 1860. All the states that he won were in the North. Lincoln received no votes in Texas. Many Southerners and Texans worried what he might do about slavery. Pressure for secession grew. Petitions from around the state called for Governor Sam Houston to call a convention to remove Texas from the United States. Houston refused.

Texas Secedes

• The Secession Convention• Texas Joins the Confederacy

Texas Secedes

Analyze Maps Why did support for secession likely vary from place to place in Texas?

Texas Secedes

Francis Richard Lubbock became governor of Texas in 1861, the year Texas joined the Confederacy. He supported the Confederacy and worked to grow the military power of Texas.

Quiz: Slavery in Texas

Which statement best describes life for enslaved African Americans in Texas?

A. They lived in large homes.B. They worked four days a week.C. They had only enough food to survive.D. They were prevented from getting married.

Quiz: Disagreements Divide the Nation

How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act move the nation closer to war?

A. Most Northerners supported the act.B. Most southerners disagreed with the act.C. The act said Kansas and Nebraska could not have slaves.D. The act violated an earlier compromise regarding the slavery issue.

Quiz: Texas Secedes

What happened when Texas seceded?

A. The state left the Union.B. The state left the Confederacy.C. The state became its own republic.D. The state became a slave-free territory.