
A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery.
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1619
The first African slaves arrive in Virginia. -
1806 Prussians defeated by Napoleon at Jena
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Finally on 25 March 1807 the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act received its royal assent, abolishing the slave trade in the British colonies and making it illegal to carry enslaved people in British ships.
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1807 Napoleon controls most of Europe
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1808
Congress bans the importation of slaves from Africa. -
1814 Dutch cede Cape Colony to British on the map shown here
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1819 Spain cedes Florida territory to America
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1820
The Missouri Compromise bans slavery north of the southern boundary of Missouri -
1831
Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of followers launch a short, bloody, rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws. -
1834 Carlist Wars in Spain
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In 1854, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
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The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, as President in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, was a clear signal to the Southern states that they had lost all influence.
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december 20 1860 california votes to withdrawl or suceed from the union