A lot occurred during the 1850s that helped to the crisis in the Union. Find and explain them. How were they connected to the growth of slavery? What ways did the events contribute to the Civil War?

Answer 1

Consider:

1. States' rights - particularly in re: the rights of people within certain states to own slaves
2. The growing cultural, social, and economic divide between North and South (the industrialization/urbanization of the North vs. the stagnant plantation economy of the South, for starters)
3. Differing opinions on how and where the United States should expand

In terms of specific events, take a look at:

1. the Missouri Compromise (1820)
2. Nat Turner's slave rebellion (1831)
3. The Compromise of 1850
4. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) ("Bleeding Kansas")
5. Dred Scott Supreme Court case
6. the election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the U.S.