Civil War causes worksheet with interactive web links for research.

Here's the completed Causes of the Civil War Webquest Worksheet with accurate answers and explanations:

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Name: ________________________
Date: ________________________

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1. Why was slavery used in the United States?

Answer:
Slavery was used in the United States primarily because it provided a cheap, forced labor force for large-scale agriculture — especially for cash crops like cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar cane. Southern plantations relied heavily on enslaved African Americans to maintain profitability and economic growth. As the demand for cotton increased (especially after the invention of the cotton gin), so did the need for enslaved labor.

> *Source: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery*

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2. As our nation expanded during the 1800s, the issue of expanding or limiting slavery in the United States was a key issue. Explain how each of the Compromises listed dealt with the issue of slavery.

#### A) Missouri Compromise: 1820

Answer:
The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain the balance between free and slave states in Congress. It also drew a line at 36°30’ north latitude across the Louisiana Territory — slavery was prohibited north of this line (except in Missouri), and allowed south of it.

> *Source: https://www.socialeducators.com/wwwa/usa/missouricompromisepdf.htm*

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#### B) Compromise of 1850

Answer:
The Compromise of 1850 addressed several issues related to slavery following the Mexican-American War. Key provisions included:
- California entered the Union as a free state.
- The territories of Utah and New Mexico were allowed to decide the slavery issue for themselves through popular sovereignty.
- The slave trade (but not slavery itself) was abolished in Washington, D.C.
- A stricter Fugitive Slave Law required citizens to assist in capturing runaway slaves and denied fugitives the right to a jury trial.

This compromise temporarily eased tensions but ultimately angered both Northern abolitionists and Southern slaveholders.

> *Source: https://www.american-historama.org/1850-1860-succession-era/compromise-of-1850.htm*

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#### C) The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

Answer:
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether to permit slavery through “popular sovereignty.” This led to violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas — known as “Bleeding Kansas” — and further polarized the nation.

> *Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2957.html*

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3. What effect did the Dred Scott Supreme Court case have on Dred Scott’s freedom and on the Missouri Compromise?

Answer:
In the *Dred Scott v. Sandford* decision (1857), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that:
- Dred Scott, an enslaved man who had lived in free territory, remained enslaved because African Americans — whether free or enslaved — were not citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court.
- The Missouri Compromise was declared unconstitutional because Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.

This ruling outraged Northerners, strengthened the abolitionist movement, and helped pave the way for the rise of the Republican Party and eventually the Civil War.

> *Source: https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/DredScott.html*

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✔ Summary of Key Effects:
- Slavery fueled the Southern economy.
- Compromises tried to balance power between free and slave states but failed to resolve the moral and political conflict.
- The Dred Scott decision invalidated previous compromises and intensified national divisions.

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