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Uncle Tom's Cabin
In this book, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about the daily life of a slave in the South, in an attempt to inform people and show off what slaves go through. Southerners had thought the novel was over-exaggerated. This book is often thought to have “helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War.” -
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Bleeding Kansas
Between the years of 1854 to 1861, there was a heavy conflict on if Kansas should become a free or slave state. Kansas would earn the infamous nickname of Bloody or Bleeding Kansas due to all the bloody violence that occurred there. -
Republican Party
Abolitionist Whigs and Free-soilers began to meet up in the upper Mid-West states for the discussion of creating a new political party. -
Kansas-Nebraska
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the US Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed for people in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to revoke the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of the latitude 36°30´. -
Brook-Sumner Incident
During a meeting with the US Senate, South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat, used a cane to attack Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner who was an abolitionist Republican. The attack was in response for the abuse-ridden speech by Sumner a few days prior, it criticized slave-holders fiercely. This beating nearly killed Sumner, requiring him to take 3 years to recover but he was never the same. It also shows just how the country was so split at the time. -
Election of 1856
1856 election was an election between Democrat James Buchanan, Republican nominee John C. Frémont, and Know Nothing nominee Millard Fillmore. The main issue of this election was the expansion of slavery due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave of John Emerson who had lived in a free state with his wife and their slaves. After the doctor had passed, Scott claimed that he was a free man due to his time spent in the free state. This case eventually settled in front of the Supreme Court who declared that no, Scott wasn’t a free man and to declare him so would “deprive a good citizen of his right to his property.” -
LeCompton Constitution
The LeCompton Constitution was the second Constitution for the Kansas territory, written by pro-slavery reporters. It allowed slavery, excluded free Blacks from living within the territory and only men could vote. It was rejected in the territory election but a compromise was offered but was yet again shot down. Kansas was then allowed into the Union as a free state. -
Lincoln-Douglas debate
These debates were seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and the current Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. The main issue in these debates were slavery and its impact on American politics and society. -
House Divided Speech
This was an address given by Abraham Lincoln before his presidency in Springfield, Illinois after accepting the Republican nomination to become Illinois’ Senator. -
Harper's Ferry Raid
This was an attempted raid by abolitionist John Brown to cause a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. This raid has often been called a dress rehearsal or a tragic prelude to the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
In the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. The dissent between the North and South electoral votes was proof of the polarization of the USA at the time. -
Southern Secession
In 1860 when Lincoln won the election and his winning of the election led to tensions arising. Southerners feared that with the President being an abolitionist, the whole practice of slavery would be soon be outlawed. And with the succession of the South, the Confederacy emerged. South Carolina was the first to succeed. -
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Though Lincoln wished for a more peaceful resolution to the conflict between the North and South, he did make it clear that the Union would not back down if they were provoked and wouldn’t tolerate succession.