What+caused+the+Civil+War?+cs

The point of no return in causing the Civil War came when the southern states, starting with South Carolina, seceded from the Union. So many other causes led up to the secession of the southern states, but this was the pivotal mark in the Civil War. In seceding from the Union, the southern states created a path to war that couldn't be stopped. There were, however, many events that caused these states to secede. The Missouri Compromise in 1820, created the 36`30` line for slave and free states entering the Union. This meant that any states South of this line were slave and any states north of the line were free. This was meant to keep the balance of slave and free states even in the Union, but it didn't work; therefore, creating sectionalism when the balance was altered with California being admitted as a free state in the 1850 Compromise. California is what the North received, and the South got the Fugitive Slave Law. This law required the Northerners to participate in slavery, to an extent. If slaves entered into North states, it was mandatory for the people of the North to turn in the slaves if they saw them. This angered the North and one abolitionist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote __Uncle Tom's Cabin__. This book exposed the evils of slavery to the country. The South viewed this book as a complete lie, which again caused more sectionalism within the Union. In the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854,the South thought that they should receive Kansas as a slave state and Nebraska would go to the North as a free state. Due to the states not allowing Kansas to enter as a slave state if it didn't want to be, popular sovereignty was created. Popular Sovereignty meant that the state would get to vote if it wanted to be free or slave by a simple majority of the people. Two years later, in 1856, the Senate witnessed an event that created more controversy than anything preceding this violent act. Preston Brooks, a Southern Representative went into the Senate and beat Charles Sumner, a Northern Senator, with a cane. The North was outraged that violence took place in the government, because that was inexcusable. The South thought that this event was glorious and Southerners sent Brooks new canes and praised him. The Dred Scott Case of 1857, was the case of a slave who was living in the North with his master and his master had died. Dred Scott filed for freedom because he was living in free territory and the Missouri Supreme Court agreed. The case was taken to the US Supreme Court though and they sided against the Missouri Supreme Court, therefore supporting slavery. Also in this case, the 36`30` line, which had been used for almost thirty years was considered unconstitutional. In the election of 1860, there were four runners, Lincoln from the Republican party, Bell from the Know-Nothing Party, and the Democrats who chose two, Breckenridge for the South Democrats and Douglas for the Northern Democrats. Since the Democrats were split on who they wanted for president, Lincoln won. This causes the South to realize that the government is not for the South at all and they can't stay in the Union. South Carolina also carries out it's threat of seceding if Lincoln had become president, which he had. South Carolina set the other Southern states up for secession also. Seven other states followed after South Carolina and created the Confederate States of America, declaring their own independence from the Union. This was the official split of the Union and was the inevitable start to a war where there was no turning back.