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Jamestown
English settlers in Jamestown bought 20 black indentured servants, not slaves. It dindn't take long until all Aftican American people brought were treated as slaves, sold into a lifetime of misery, which later led into the civil war which was caused because of slavery. -
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney creates the cotton gin which made the production of cotton more profitable, therefore, increasing the need and value of slaves which made this event be one that led to the civil war. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana purchase added alot of territory to the US. This territory became settled and new states were formed. As each state was formed, the question of allowing slavery arose and was important because a "balance" of free and slave states had to be kept. Who would have thought that adding a piece of land would have so many consequences and eventuallly lead to the civil war? -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to be admitted to the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. This act kept a balance between free and slave states. The compromise establishes the 36 degree, 30' as a dividing line between free and slave areas of the territories. Neither North or South were completely happy. This compromise did not resolve the problem of slavery which would later lead to Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850 (admission of California)
Congress agrees to take in California as a free state. This was a problem because it tipped the Senate balance against the South. The territories of New Mexico and Utah were open to slavery based of popular sovereignty, but it was very likely that these states would prefer free soil. The South was angered because of this unfavorable act which would turn into another reason for the Civil War to be fought. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the compromise of 1850. This act forced any official who did not arrest a runaway slave to pay a fine. This was a very controversial part of the Compromise of 1850 and caused many abolitionists to fight more against slavery. This led to the Civil War because it increased tension amongst the people who were willing to abolish slavery against those who were for Slavery. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which touched the hearts of many people and it opened their eyes to how terrible slavery really was. This book, which was a best seller at the time, had a big impact on the way that northerners viewed slavery, and even Abraham Lincoln recognized that this book was one of the events that led to the Civil War. -
Bleeding Kansas
In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed allowing the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves whether they wanted to be free or slave which practically ignored the Missouri Compromise. Kansas soon became full of violence as pro- and anti-slavery forces who fought over the state's future to the point where it was called'Bleeding Kansas'. All this violence was just a hint of what was about to happen in the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
In 1857, Dred Scott was a slave who moved with his master to Illinois and Wisconsin for five years. He then sued the court for freedom based on residence on free soil. The court said that even though he had been taken by his 'owner' into a free state, he was still a slave because slaves were to be considered property. This angered abolitionists and they fought more against slavery, later causing the Civil War. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
With the election of Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina and six other states seceded from the Union. South Carolina had warned it would secede if Lincoln won. Lincoln agreed with the majority of the Republican Party that the South was becoming too powerful and he said that slavery would not be extended to any new territories or states added to the union which really angered the seceded states and in a few months, the Civil War would have started.