-
It was an anti-slavery novel written by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. This book further divided the North and South over the issue of slavery, because of how the South refusing to abolish it. Northerners were moved to officially end the institution of slavery, and Southerners were angry to the point where they banned the book and stated that it was full of lies. This novel also reached British readers, who ridiculed the States because of how divided the people were.
-
It was a period of violence from 1854 to 1861, between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in which 55 people were killed in total. They fought over Kansas becoming a slave territory. Bloody Kansas led to the creation of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which then led to the creation of the Republican Party.
-
Founded by Alvan Bovay, Horace Greeley, and Henry Jarvis Raymond, the Republican Party was formed to combat the Kansas-Nebraska act and to stop the expansion of slavery. Former Whigs abolitionists grouped together to create the new party. Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was elected the 16th President of the United States.
-
Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois presented the bill. It was made to repeal the Missouri Compromise and it created the two new territories of Kansas and Nebraska. This act allowed popular sovereignty to territories in the Louisiana Purchase by allowing them to choose whether they would have slavery within their borders or not.
-
This incident occurred in the U.S. Senate Chamber. Pro-slavery Representative Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican, after Sumner mocked Brooks by claiming that Brooks had a mistress. Sumner was knocked into unconsciousness and Brooks walked out without being detained. This incident showed how bad the tension between the North and the South was.
-
President James Buchanan was elected to office. He was a democrat and defeated both Republican nominee John Fremont and Know Nothing nominee Millard Filmore, who had been the President at that time. Buchanan was the last president before the Civil War, and several of his policies divided the North and South even further.
-
Dred Scott was a slave who moved to Illinois, a free state, and sued for his citizenship and freedom. The court decided that because he was of African descent, he could was not a citizen and therefore could not sue. The court decided that Scott was still someone's property, so him getting his freedom would be the equivalent of taking someone's property without due process of law.
-
It was a document that guaranteed Kansas to be proslavery. The document was later on rejected by Kansas and then it was admitted as a free state. This increased tension because it made the South angry, since they were the ones to originally propose this constitution.
-
Abraham Lincoln spoke of the Dred Scott case and how it opened the doors for the legality of slavery in the North. Lincoln stated that a compromise between the North and the South was not possible because he did not think the government could endure being half free and half slave. He predicted that the house would divide even further. From this speech came one of his most famous quotes, "a house divided against itself cannot stand."
-
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated over the morality of slavery.
-
It was a raid conducted by John Brown in which he armed slaves and attacked Harper's Ferry in a bid to incite a slave revolt in the South. He meant to destroy the institution of slavery. Brown ended up being executed for treason.
-
Brown was an abolitionist from Connecticut. He is best known for trying to start a slave revolt by arming slaves and raiding Harper's Ferry. Brown was violent in his ways to destroy the institution of slavery and he was executed for treason.
-
Abraham Lincoln was elected as president in this election. He won both the popular and electoral vote. Lincoln was an abolitionist from the Republican Party and is known for being the president during the Civil War.
-
A group of South Carolina leaders met and voted for South Carolina to secede from the Union due to the increase of abolitionists. After South Carolina's secession then led several other states to secede, successfully splitting the North and South.
-
In his inaugural address, Lincoln promised to not interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed. He reassured the South that he would help them secure slavery, if it caused their happiness. Lincoln declared that he would make sure that the Union faithfully carried out its laws.