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The Missouri Compromise
To maintain balance between the power of slave states and free states in the union, Missouri is admitted as a slave state to the Union while Maine is admitted as a free state. -
After Nat Turner's Rebellion
Southern states attempt to keep abolitonist writings from reaching slaves due to Nat Turner's slave rebellion, Also, Southern states control the movement of slaves by adopting new laws. -
The Gag Rule
Congress was flooded by antislavery petitions. These petitions stated that Congress had no power to interfere with slavery in the states. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot, a representative of Pennsylvania, added an amendment to a bill that stated the following: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of the territory that might be acquired from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War. -
California applies for admission as a free state
In 1849, California applies for admission as a free state to the Union which the Southerners reject due to unequal representation of free and slave states in the Union. This would later be related to the Compromise of 1850. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay, a senator from Kentucky, comes up with a plan to end the deadlock over California by pleasing both the North and the South. However, this idea later fails because it turned out to please no one. -
The Fugitive Slave act (1850?)
Both the North and South were not pleased with the Fugitive slave Act because the North did not want to enforce it and the South thought it did not ensure the return of their escaped property enough. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin. This novel brought the horrors of slavery to the North and caused powerful emotions regarding slavery to arise. Also, this novel was scorned in the South. -
The Ostend Manifesto and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Northerners believed that President Franklin Pierce wanted to buy Cuba from Spain to add a slave state to the Union and if it wasn't sold, he'd take it by force. As for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, it abolished the Missouri Compromise which left it to the settlers to decide whether or not to permit slavery in those areas. -
Bloodshed in Kansas
Proslavery activists invaded the home of the antislavery government and burns a hotel, loots various homes, and tossed the printing presses of abolitonist newspapers into a river. This raid caused a huge wave of outrage throughtout the North. -
The Crime Against Kansas
Senator Charles Sumner voiced his suspicions in a speech called "The Crime Against Kansas". In the speech, he explains that the violent attack on the innocent territory was due to the embrace of slavery. Senator Charles Sumner was later attacked and beaten until unconscious due to this speech. -
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott believed he was a free man due to his stay in Wisconsin. However, when he brought the case to federal court they turned him down because first, he wasn't a citizen, and second, he could never become a citizen. -
Compromise to Crisis
After the republican party was formed, Abraham Lincoln was nominated to run for the senate by Republicans in Illinois. During his accpetance speech, he made clear that attempts to reach compromise on slavery had failed. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown launches a raid while Lincoln fights to stop the spread of slavery through politics. This raid planned to arm slaves with weapons and get the ready for a rebellion. It ended with all of Brown's men either killed or captured. Brown was later sentenced to death. -
The election of 1860
The presidential race depicted how divided the nation had now become. Democrats had split into both Northern and Southern factions whiles Republicans were all behind the soon to be President Lincoln. Lincoln became president fairly easily due to his opposition divided. -
The South Secedes from the Union
The South speaks of secession which panics senators and causes them to rush into finding a a compromise that would keep that nation together, However, President Lincoln later states, "Let there be no compromise". This later leads to Civil War. -
The Civil War Begins
Lincoln becomes President and states that the secession was wrong and unconstitutional to him. He also states that in their hands holds the issue of civil war. -
Civil War Begins Continued
One month after Lincoln's inaugural address, Confederates in Charleston open fire on Fort Sumter. Soon after, the defenders of the fort replaced their flag with a white flag of surrender. This then caused a wave of patriotic fury throughout the North
