Causes of the American Civil War

Early Disputes and Expansion

Delicate Balance (1819): 11 free and 11 slave states.
Manifest Destiny: Expansion westward was prioritized over maintaining the balance in Congress.
Missouri Compromise (1820): Missouri added as a slave state, Maine as a free state, maintaining balance. Territories north of the 36°30' latitude line could only enter as free states.
Tensions over New States: Texas requested annexation as a slave state, leading to conflict with Mexico, which culminated in the Mexican-American War.

Industrialization vs. Agrarian Economy: The North was industrialized and leaned towards abolitionism, while the South's economy was dependent on slavery.
Federal versus State Rights: This played a secondary role to slavery in causing tensions.
Fugitive Slave Act: Part of the Compromise of 1850, this act angered Northerners by requiring them to return escaped slaves.
Birth of the Republican Party: Formed in opposition to the pro-slavery Democrats.

Bleeding Kansas: Violent confrontations in Kansas over its status as a free or slave state.
Dred Scott Decision: Supreme Court ruling that African-Americans could not be U.S. citizens.
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry: Failed attempt to initiate a slave rebellion heightened tensions.
Election of Abraham Lincoln (1860): His election triggered the secession of Southern states.

Formation of the Confederacy: 11 Southern states seceded, forming the Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis.
Lincoln's Response: Refused to acknowledge the Confederacy as legitimate.
Fort Sumter (April 1861): Confederate forces fired on the Union's Fort Sumter, marking the start of the Civil War.

First Battle of Bull Run (1861): Confederate victory, shattered Northern hopes of a short war.
Union War Strategy: Anaconda Plan aimed to blockade the South and divide it via the Mississippi River.

Peninsula Campaign: Union's failed attempt to capture Richmond, Virginia.
Battle of Antietam (1862): Bloodiest single day in American military history, led to the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Declared freedom for slaves in Confederate states, altering the war's moral and political stakes.

Gettysburg and Vicksburg (1863): Major Union victories that turned the tide of the war.
Sherman's March (1864): Devastating Union campaign through Georgia, aimed at crippling the South's war effort.

Siege of Petersburg (1864-1865): Union forces besieged Confederate troops, leading to the fall of Richmond.
Appomattox Court House (April 1865): General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the war.

Rebuilding the Nation: Addressing the devastation of the war and integrating the Southern states back into the Union.
Economic and Social Impact: Huge financial costs and loss of life; social changes set the stage for future civil rights movements.

Moral and Political Dimensions: Seen as a war over slavery and state rights, with long-lasting implications for American society.
Modern Perspectives: Viewed as a necessary though devastating conflict that defined the United States' future.