The Border States

So, did all states that held slaves leave the Union? No, actually they did not. There were four states that held slaves but did not leave the Union, they were....




Delaware wasn't that big of deal, it had few slaves, so people were pretty sure it wouldn't leave.

Maryland was different, the Union could NOT lose Maryland.


So, why can't the Union lose Maryland? Well, Washington D.C. of course! If Maryland left, D.C. would be completely surrounded by the Confederates.



Lincoln put Maryland under martial law, this means peoples lives were overseen by the military, Big Brother really was watching.


Kentucky was important to keep in the Union because of the love of blue grass music. Nope, that's not the reason.

The reason was the Ohio River, the northern border of Kentucky is the Ohio River. The river was strategic for shipping supplies and it was a very good natural boundary between the two countries. In short, Kentucky was the bomb diggity (I'm so so sorry for typing that).

So if the Ohio River was important to Kentucky then Why do you think Missouri needed to be kept in the Union? If you guessed the picturesque Ozarks you would be wrong. If you guessed the Mississippi River, you would be correct.

The Mississippi River was the ultimate route straight into the belly of the beast. If the Union could control the Mighty Mississippi then they could get to New Orleans and other southern river cities easily and that would be extremely important.

The Dred Scott Case

Things got fired up again because of a situation involving a man named Dred Scott.

Schott was a slave in Missouri, but often went with his master to Illinois where slavery was illegal.



He sued for his freedom. He figured by living in Illinois where slavery was illegal, he had become free.

Chief Justice Roger Taney came to the decision of this matter. Remember the 5th Amendment? You don't? Shame on you.

Well as a refresher, the 5th Amendment among other things, won't let the government take away life, liberty, or property without due process. Taney argued that this amendment protected the slave owners property rights.

Taney also said since Scott was black, he couldn't sue, he was not a citizen. He also said that the Missouri Compromise violated these same property rights and it is unconstitutional. This made things a lot lot worse.