The Actions that Led Up to the American Civil War

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The American Civil War The Civil War is dubbed "the war between the states". There were many actions that led up to the civil war, to include the fugitive slave Act, the publishing of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska act, the Dred Scott Decision, and the Secession Crisis. Secondly who were the presidents during the war, and what they bring to the table. What led to the Civil War? There were many events that led to the Civil War, one is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The fugitive Slave Act was a compromise, initially a law established in 1793, encouraging people to hand over runaway slaves, but was amended in part with the Compromise of 1850, which forced citizens to report runaway slaves. Consequently the lack of participation ended in a fine. The law turned out to offend northerner's, but the lack of participation from the north offended the southerner's. The tightening of the strict law also made the northerner's push harder for the end of slavery, and also increased the activity within the underground railroad. Uncle Tom's Cabin was written in 1852, making the public aware of what life was like as a slave making the urge to end slavery even stronger. The publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped lay the groundwork for the civil war. Uncle Tom’s Cabin brings to light the reality of slavery, and proving that Christian love can overcome all evils. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the bestselling book of the 19th century, and comes in second behind the bible. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the novel, and in 1855 Abraham Lincoln met with Stowe, and his comment was “so this is the little lady that started the Great War” Kansas and Nebraska were unoccupied states, people who were not in favor of slavery joined Kansas, while everyone ... ... middle of paper ... ...nfederate general. Robert “Light Horse Harry” Lee was a top student at west point academy. Lee was an exceptional officer and a combat engineer. Serving for 32 years, he made a career of being a military officer. Lee joined the army when Virginia declared secession against the union, so he chose to stay on the same side of his home state, even though he was pro union, and Lincoln had offered Lee a commander position in the army. During the war, Lee originally served as a senior advisor to president Davis, and was known for his aggressive tactics as a battlefield commander, winning numerous battles against the union. Ultimately the Union army was much more stronger, thus leaving Lee to surrender to stop so many soldiers from being killed. Lee supported Andrew Jackson’s program of reconstruction, still opposing the union over the idea of blacks being allowed to vote.

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