“I am passionately interested in understanding how my country works and if you want to know about this thing called the United States of America, you have to know about the Civil War.” ( BrainyQuote ). The Civil War was a time in the United States when the Northern and Southern states fought over slavery and states rights. Before the Civil War, there were a lot of important events that lead to it, such as the Missouri Compromise, Abraham Lincoln becoming president, and the debate over slavery and states rights.

One event that lead to the Civil War was the Missouri Compromise. “The Missouri Compromise was a federal statute in the United States that regulated slavery in the country’s western territories.” ( Wikipedia ) In other words, the Missouri Compromise was the line that separated the North from the South. this impacted the Civil War by showing what states belonged to the North and what states belonged to the South. It also separated slavery. If you were on the North side of the Missouri Compromise you were free and if you were on the South side you could be a slave. The line went between the bottom of Kansas and the top of Arkansas. The Missouri Compromise was one of the first things that lead to the Civil War.

Another event that lead to the Civil War was when Abraham Lincoln became president. “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.” (Wikipedia) When Abraham Lincoln became president, he had a lot of rules so that meant that the states didn’t have as much freedom as they used to. Some states didn’t want to be tied down to these rules so they started seceding. Both the North and the South got mad about that and that’s another way that it impacted the Civil War.

Lastly, the states debated over whether slavery was right or wrong. The Northern states believed in freedom and was anti-slavery, while the Southern states believed in slavery and states rights. This impacted the Civil War because Northern states thought it was so wrong for the slaves to be treated how they were. Slaves got seperated from their families, they got whipped, slapped, hung, and burnt. One of the most famous slaves was Frederick Douglass. “I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” -Frederick Douglass ( BrainyQuote ).

The Civil War was a very interesting time and is very important to the history of the United States. What is also important is what events lead to war, which was the Missouri Compromise, Abraham Lincoln becoming president, and the debate over States Rights and no slavery.