Which action heightened tensions between the North and the South, leading to the Civil War? The Dred Scott decision, the formation of the Whig Party, or the impeachment of President Johnson?
Social Studies · High School · Sun Jan 24 2021
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- The action that heightened tensions between the North and the South, leading to the Civil War, was the Dred Scott decision.
- The Dred Scott decision was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 that declared that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, could not be American citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court. Moreover, the court also ruled that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States.
- This decision implied that the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which prohibited slavery in certain parts of the territories, was unconstitutional. This decision angered many in the North and emboldened pro-slavery forces in the South, contributing to the already escalating sectional conflict that would lead to the Civil War.