Civil War

The Union break-up between 1860-1861 had many reasons and causes for its happenings. A country cannot run without looking at both sides of a problem and, at certain times, choosing a side. Abraham Lincoln was a president that did not like to stand firmly on an issue that was very sensitive. The U.S. spent a great deal of time on the issue of slavery and how to deal with it. The Dred Scott Decision was a mere sub-issue from the bigger issue. Lincoln freed the slaves, but showed no emotions towards doing it.

Lincoln just wanted to be president. The problem of secession never entered Lincoln's head when he was running for office. He did not know what to do or who to turn to because the problem had never existed before that time. Since he did not want to play favorites, he suggested letting slavery die out and not allow any new slavery to take its place. Neither side was thrilled with this decision, but Lincoln had no choice. The future of slavery was a very sensitive decision.

Slavery had to be dealt with the utmost importance. It was a necessity for the south. The north had factories and plants for people to work in and could pay those people. The mid-west had machines to pick their cash crop wheat and could pay one man for operating a machine that did the work of fifteen men. The south, however, had hundreds of acres of land and no machine to pick their cash crop cotton. Landowners needed slaves to work these fields and in return, they feed and sheltered the slaves. The northerners had no use for slavery. They saw it as unconstitutional and uncivil. The north fought for the abolition of slavery and brought many cases before the court.

One of the most famous cases brought to court was Scott vs. Sandford. The case is better known as the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott was a Missouri slave who sued for his freedom on April 6, 1846 because he had been living in a free state for seven years; therefore, he was a free slave. Scott's case took over a decade to fight and ended in disappointment. The Supreme Court judges at that time were all mainly pro-slavery, ruled that Scott was property, and did not have the right to sue for his freedom. They also declared that the main law guaranteeing that slavery would not enter the new mid-western territories of the United States was unconstitutional; it sent America spiraling into the war.

The U.S. had even more problems, but these were some of the most addressed by the public