The document discusses several possible causes of the American Civil War, including slavery, states' rights, the Dred Scott decision, and the 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln. Slavery had been a divisive issue between the northern and southern states for decades. The election of Lincoln, who the south feared would abolish slavery, led several southern states to secede from the Union. While the exact cause is still debated, rising tensions around slavery and its legality played a major role in triggering the Civil War between the northern and southern states.

1. By: Addison Adams

2. Over the past decades since the beginning of
the civil war, many people have wondered the
cause of the civil war. Although, many believe
that the cause was Southern Secession.
However, the South would not have seceded
with out slavery and the events that followed in
the footsteps of slavery.

3. The reasons for the Southern secession is still
very unclear however, the most common belief
is the Election of 1860. Many Southerners
believed that Lincoln would end slavery.

5. The Election of 1860 was between Abraham
Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, as the 2 major
candidates. Abraham Lincoln won 57% of the
popular votes and won 180 electoral votes.

7. Slavery was a controversial issue of that time
period. The North and the South have had the
opposing views of slavery for decades, so that
it was almost destined to create conflict. The
North viewed slavery as horrible and should be
outlawed, and the South viewed it as the
State’s right to determine whether of not the
have slavery. Which leads to an issue of states
rights.

9. In the South, many of the states legislatures
and leaders believed in the State’s Rights.
They believed that if a state wants to allow
slavery then they should be allowed to.
However, many believed that controversial
issues should be dealt with by the Federal
government.

10. Another possible cause of the civil was the
Dred Scott versus Sandford. This probably
infuriated the Northern politicians because
Slaves could not be free if they did escape or
not have an owner. This gave the South some
leeway with their slave ownership.

11. At this time the North was cramming laws down
to the South, which prevented the South from
governing themselves. When the South
decided to start to think of independently of
governing themselves, the North wanted to
recover them and get the nation back together.

12. With all of these relating to each other so
much, it will be nearly impossible to ever
determine which one was the cause of the Civil
War.

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