What Caused Succession?
What Caused Secession? Before the Civil War began in 1861, there were major factors that led to the secession of the southern states. These factors affected the people of America tremendously due to slavery and racial segregation. Three significant factors that led the eleven southern states to secede from the Union were abolitionists (Doc. 5), Kansa-Nebraska Act, and the election of 1860 (Doc. 1). During the period of slave existence, abolitionists began to rebel against the situation (Doc. 5). Abolitionists were people who were against slavery and would take action by doing something in their own way. One of the most known abolitionists was Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1852, she wrote a book called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” that spoke about blacks living on plantation. Another famous abolitionist was Harriet Tubman. She was called the “Moses of her people” and led runaway slaves towards the Underground Railroad. In the Compromise of 1850, a Fugitive Slave Law was put into effect. This law made Americans help find runaway slaves. This law eventually had people search for Harriet Tubman because of her significant help with the escaping of slaves. This law was resented by the Northerners and caused conflict between the North and South. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was an act that repealed the Missouri Compromise (Doc. 5). The Missouri Compromise was an agreement that allowed the state of Missouri to enter as a slave state; all territory north of 36-30 latitude was considered a free state. In the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Senator Douglas (Doc. 3) demanded to divide the land west of Missouri into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. There was a request popular sovereignty; this allowed the people to vote and decide if they wanted a free or slave state. Later on, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters traveled to Kansas to determine the results f the first election after it was put into affect. When another election was held, the two groups argued and it led to