Causation in Period 4 - AP U.S. History

The expansion of slavery into territory gained from Mexico. Proposed banning slavery in all territory acquired from Mexico.

Industrialization in the North versus plantation slavery in the South. Different economic systems created incompatible regional interests.

A border dispute after U.S. annexation of Texas (Rio Grande vs. Nueces). Texas claimed the Rio Grande; Mexico insisted on the Nueces River.

Territorial voters would decide whether to allow slavery. Let local residents vote on slavery rather than Congress deciding.

To reduce sectional conflict by balancing free and slave interests. Sought to prevent disunion through mutual concessions.

Stephen Douglas sought to organize territories using popular sovereignty. Douglas needed Southern support for his transcontinental railroad.

The strengthened Fugitive Slave Act. Required Northerners to help capture runaway slaves.

Greater abolitionist activism and stronger personal liberty laws. Northerners resisted enforcing what they saw as immoral law.

It implied Congress could not ban slavery in the territories. Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

The naval blockade and total war strategy against Southern infrastructure. Cut off trade and destroyed resources to break Southern will.

It made ending slavery an explicit Union war goal. Transformed the war from preserving Union to ending slavery.

A wartime strategy to weaken the Confederacy and deter foreign support. Military necessity and diplomatic strategy drove Lincoln's decision.

Confederate forces fired on the federal fort after Lincoln sent supplies. Lincoln's resupply mission triggered Confederate attack.

Southern secession after Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. South saw Republican victory as threat to slavery's survival.

John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. Brown's attempt to arm slaves confirmed Southern worst fears.

Dred Scott v. Sandford. Ruled that Black people couldn't be citizens and Congress couldn't ban slavery.

The rise of the Republican Party. Northern outrage united antislavery forces into a new party.

Bleeding Kansas (violent clashes between pro- and antislavery settlers). Competing groups rushed in to influence the slavery vote violently.

The Missouri Compromise line of $36^\circ 30'$. Allowed slavery north of the line where it was previously banned.

Factory-based manufacturing and the shift away from artisanal production. Machines replaced skilled craftsmen with unskilled workers.

Backlash against increased Catholic immigration and urban political change. Protestant Americans feared Catholic influence in politics.

Intensified sectional conflict over slavery’s expansion into new territories. New lands reopened explosive debate over slavery's spread.

Annexation of Texas and a dispute over the Texas–Mexico border. Polk provoked war by sending troops to disputed Rio Grande area.

White demand for southeastern land for cotton cultivation and settlement. Cotton boom made Native lands valuable to white settlers.

South Carolina’s rejection of high protective tariffs as unconstitutional. Tariffs hurt Southern exports, sparking states' rights crisis.

Opposition to Andrew Jackson’s expansion of executive power. Jackson's use of veto and spoils system alarmed opponents.

Irish famine and German political unrest drove mass migration. Push factors in Europe created largest immigration wave yet.

Lowered shipping costs and linked the Great Lakes to Atlantic markets. Connected NYC to Midwest, making shipping 90% cheaper.

Need to move goods and people efficiently across a larger national market. Growing markets required faster, cheaper ways to transport goods.