Warmap

1850-1861

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Uncle Tom's Cabin

    • Novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
    • An abolitionist novel written to show the brutality of slavery
    • Faced many criticisms, increased the anti-slavery movement in the North
  • Republican Party

    Republican Party

    • Established by many groups of people forming together due to the shared belief in anti-slavery
    • Motivated by the Kansas-Nebraska Act
  • Kansas Nebraska Act

    Kansas Nebraska Act

    • Passed by Stephan Douglas
    • Repealed the Missouri Compromise
    • Organized Kansas and Nebraska as territories
    • Allowed citizens to vote on whether or not slavery should be banned or not
    • Allowed popular sovereignty
    • Motivated Bleeding Kansas
  • Bloody Kansas

    Bloody Kansas

    • Violent acts between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery sides
    • Happened within the Kansas territory
    • Eventually led to Kansas's admission as a free state
    • Motivated the formation of the Republican Party and divided the nation even more
  • Brooks-Sumner Incident

    Brooks-Sumner Incident

    • Charles Sumner was giving a two-day speech about the events of Bloody Kansas
    • After the speech, while Sumner was working, Preston Brooks entered the Senate chamber and confronted Sumner about his statements, and then proceeded to hit him in the head with a metal cane
    • This split the nation; the North was on Sumner's side, whereas the South was on Brooks's side
  • Election of 1856

    Election of 1856

    • Election between James Buchanan and John C. Fremont
    • Democratic win for James Buchanan
    • Main conflicts that were addressed within the election were slavery and Westward expansion
    • The collapse of the Whig party happened during this election due to the second party system being ended
    • Though Buchanan addressed slavery, he was not able to solve it
  • LeCompton Constitution

    LeCompton Constitution

    • A constitution that was pro-slavery, written for Kansas
    • Was rejected by the citizens of Kansas due to their strong views on anti-slavery
    • Passed in the Senate but denied in the House
  • Dred Scott

    Dred Scott

    • Dred Scott was an African American man who was enslaved
    • Due to living in Illinois, which is one of the states where the Missouri Compromise banned slavery, he went to the Supreme Court to seek freedom from his enslavement
    • The Supreme Court did not rule in Scott's favor, since it was believed that slaves were property, and the court did not want to remove citizens' rights to their property
    • Deemed the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional
  • House Divided Speech

    House Divided Speech

    • An address given by Abraham Lincoln while he was running for a seat in the Senate
    • Argued against the Dred Scott decision, believed that if the United States was trying to be a free country that it would be too late due to decisions like that
    • Believed the United States was a divided house due to slavery
    • Wanted the United States to decide on either being fully free from slavery or not, they could not have both
  • Lincoln-Douglas Debates

    Lincoln-Douglas Debates

    • A series of political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephan A. Douglas
    • Competing for the Senate seat in Illinois
    • Debates were held in many towns across Illinois, totaling seven debates between the two
  • Harper's Ferry

    Harper's Ferry

    • The Harper's Ferry Raid was led by John Brown
    • Started as a slave rebellion, Brown led his followers to attack a federal armory
    • Brown and his group would hold people hostage and would cut off the telegraph lines, so help could not be contacted
    • Eventually ended on October 18th, and many U.S. Marines entered the armory and captured Brown
  • John Brown

    John Brown

    • Was an American abolitionist
    • Led the attack on Harper's Ferry
    • Led many violent acts against slavery
  • John Brown

    John Brown

    • After the raid on Harper's Ferry, Brown was captured by the U.S. Marines
  • John Brown

    John Brown

    • As a result of his violent action, Brown was publicly hung for treason against Virginia
  • Election of 1860

    Election of 1860

    • Election between Abraham Lincoln, Stephan Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell
    • Ended in Lincoln winning
    • Showed a clear division between the North and South due to slavery
  • Secession

    Secession

    • After Lincoln's win in the election, secession had started within the United States
    • South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union
    • Southern states feared Lincoln's presidency since his views did not align with theirs
  • Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address

    Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address

    • Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union
    • Declared the secession illegal
    • Reassured the Southern states that he would not interfere with slavery