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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This book basically talked about the life of African American slaves. This is also the book that basically laid the ground for the Civil War. More people in the North wanted to abolish slavery, and more British people stopped supporting the South. -
Republican Party
The republican party was founded in 1854 in Wisconsin, having Abraham Lincoln as one of its founders. This caused a further divide in the nation because it combatted the further expansion of slavery into the United States. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska act was an act meant to repeal the Missouri Compromise, also to create new territories and allow popular sovereignty. This act caused violence in Kansas and it caused a further divide in the nation because of the debate on whether the rest of the states should be free or under slavery. -
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Bloody Kansas
Bloody Kansas was violent actions in Kansas that started because of the debate of if slavery should be allowed or not. The Kansas Nebraska Act was a very contributing factor to Bloody Kansas. This caused a further divide because the North wanted to prevent slavery and the South wanted to allow slavery at all costs. -
Election of 1856
This was the 18th election of the United States between Buchanan, Fremont, and Fillmore. James Buchanan had won this election and this was very important because the political party declined renomination and they still won the election. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
This was considered to be a terrible moment in the entire history of the senate. This was when Brooks attacked Senate Sumner and almost beat him to death because of an anti-slavery speech given. This caused people to become more anti-slavery. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott decision was when the supreme court ruled that Congress has no power to prohibit slavery in new territories and it also ruled that African Americans couldn't be citizens of the United States. This decision increased division in the nation because the South agreed and the North didn't, also because it declared popular sovereignty and the Republican Party unconstitutional. -
House Divided Speech
This speech was given inside of Illinois by Abraham Lincoln as he was running for the U.S senate. The Dred- Scott decision was a major factor in this speech. Abraham thought that the South was trying to force slavery into the North. Abrahams famous quote from this speech is “a house divided against itself cannot stand”. -
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Lincoln Douglas Debates
These debates were a series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in a debate for the senate seat. They mostly talked about the issue of slavery. These debates led to further division because a statement Douglas said when he said “slavery cannot exist unless it is supported by law”. -
LeCompton Constitution
This was proposed as a constitution for Kansas. This was so important because it was Proslavery and it told the people to reject the constitution or approve it with slavery. -
Harper's Ferrry
Harper's Ferry was a raid where John Brown tried to free enslaved people. He tried to seize Harper's Ferry and collect weapons. Even though the raid failed, it sparked up tensions all over the North and South, thus further dividing the nation and this also became a leading factor of the Civil War. -
John Brown Execution
John Brown's execution was because of a charge of treason and murder, he failed his raid on Harpers Ferry leading to his capture and death. The effect of his death was that more people became anti-slavery. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was the 19th election of the United States which the Lincoln Douglas debates had a huge impact on. Lincoln won this election which ended up dividing the nation more because the South wanted to secede from the nation. -
Secession
On this day the first state which was South Carolina seceded from the union. Then it was Mississippi, Alabama, Georgie, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, etc. This was a result of the Abraham Lincoln presidential election. The south didn't like that because it was a risk to slavery. -
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
This address was his first address after his oath into office. He said that he wouldn't interfere with slavery because he wanted to gain peace within the union. This was important because Lincoln said what he said and he ended up giving the South exactly what they wanted, causing more issues.