1850-1861

By ACraig2745

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    • Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe
    • Exposed the reality of slavery
    • In response to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
    • Widened the divide between North and South
  • Period: to

    Bloody Kansas

    • a violent era
    • between Pro-slavery forces and Anti-slavery forces
    • in Kansas territory
    • fueled by:
      • Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
      • popular sovereignty
    • Caused more issues between the North and South

  • Republican Party Formed

    • founded by anti-slavery activists
    • opposed the Kansas-Nebraska act
    • heavily supported in the North

  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    • two new territories: Kansas and Nebraska
    • repealed the Missouri Compromise
    • Led by Stephan Douglas
    • worsened sectional divisions
    • introduced popular sovereignty

  • Brooks-Sumner Incident

    • also known as the "Caning of Charles Sumner"
    • Pro-slavery Rep. Preston Brooks beat Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with his cane
    • Brooks attacked him in retaliation for Sumner's speech (Sumner insulted a relative of Brooks)
    • worsened tensions between the North and South

  • Election 1856

    • James Buchanan (democrat) V.S. John C. Frémont (republican) V.S. Millard Fillmore (whig)
    • Buchanan Won
    • primary issue was slavery expansion after Kansas-Nebraska Act

  • Dred Scott

    • The Supreme Court said
      • black people = not citizens
      • Congress can't ban slavery in territories
    • South was happy, North was mad
  • Period: to

    LeCompton Constitution

    • pro-slavery constitution in Kansas (forced unfairly)
    • Most settlers were against it
    • Splits Democrats; boosts Republicans

  • House Divided Speech

    • Lincoln said that the nation was too divided
    • motivated North
    • Southerners felt attacked

  • Lincoln-Douglas Debates

    • a series of debates between Lincoln and Douglas about slavery expansion
    • Lincoln loses Senate election (later wins the presidential election, and gains fame)

  • Harper's Ferry

    • John Brown and a group of people attacked a federal arsenal in VA
    • plain failed
    • he ends up captured
    • scared southerners, and pushed them further in their discontentment with northerners

  • John Brown Execution

    • tried for treason and was hanged
    • North: mourned him, saw him as a martyr
    • South: celebrated his death, feared the North more

  • Election 1860

    • Lincoln wins without the vote of any southern states
    • South panics
    • the trust in the union dissapates
  • Period: to

    Secession

    • South Carolina leaves (as do 6 other southern states)
    • union starts falling apart
    • confederacy rises

  • Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address

    • Lincoln decided to leave slavery where it was, but not to allow secession
    • tries to calm the south
    • warns that he will defend the union