USCW-Succsession

Question 1

What were the main long-term causes of the American Civil War?

Answer 1

• Conflict over slavery
• Growing sectional differences between North and South
• Debate over states’ rights vs federal authority
• Political breakdown and increasing polarisation

These tensions developed over decades and made conflict likely.

Question 2

Why was slavery the most important long-term cause?

Answer 2

• Central to Southern economy (plantation system)
• Opposed by many in the North (moral + economic reasons)
• Expansion of slavery into new territories caused repeated crises

Slavery underpinned all other tensions.

Question 3

What were the key sectional differences between North and South?

Answer 3

North:
* Industrial economy
* Urban, wage labour
* Anti-slavery sentiment

South:
* Agricultural economy (cotton)
* Dependent on enslaved labour
* Strong support for states’ rights

Led to fundamentally different interests.

Question 4

Why was the Missouri Compromise (1820) significant?

Answer 4

• Maintained balance between free and slave states
• Showed how fragile the Union was
• Set precedent of temporary compromise rather than resolution

It highlighted the ongoing tensions over slavery.

Question 5

Why did the Compromise of 1850 increase tensions?

Answer 5

• Introduced stricter Fugitive Slave Law
• Angered the North (forced return of escaped enslaved people)
• Deepened sectional hostility

This compromise failed to resolve underlying issues.

Question 6

What was the impact of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)?

Answer 6

• Introduced popular sovereignty (states decide on slavery)
• Led to violent conflict (“Bleeding Kansas”)
• Demonstrated failure of compromise

It escalated tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions.

Question 7

Why was the Dred Scott Case (1857) important?

Answer 7

• Supreme Court ruled enslaved people were not citizens
• Said Congress could not ban slavery in territories
• Outraged the North and strengthened pro-slavery position

This case intensified the national debate over slavery.

Question 8

What role did political breakdown play in causing the war?

Answer 8

• Collapse of national parties (e.g. Whigs)
• Rise of sectional parties like Republicans
• Increasing inability to compromise

This fragmentation made it difficult to address national issues.

Question 9

Why was the election of Abraham Lincoln (1860) a short-term cause?

Answer 9

• Lincoln opposed expansion of slavery
• Southern states feared loss of influence
• Triggered secession despite Lincoln not planning to abolish slavery immediately

His election was seen as a threat to the Southern way of life.

Question 10

How did Southern secession lead to war?

Answer 10

• Southern states left the Union after 1860
• Formed the Confederate States of America
• Made conflict increasingly unavoidable

This act of secession was a direct challenge to federal authority.