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American Industrial Revolution
An era in which many great inventions were produced within the USA. These were particularly used for manufacturing and producing goods. The north was forced to become a manufacturing based economy where people worked in factories. The south became more of a farming based economy which led to a rise in slavery. The two sides have opposing views on slavery which caused more arguments. -
Mum Bett Case
Mum Bett, A slave, petitioned in court to gain her own freedom. She won the case and gained freedom. This started the abolitionist movement by acting as a precedent.. It started the idea that slavery was morally and constitutionally wrong. -
3/5 compromise
During the constitutional convention, the House of Representatives and the Senate decided to vote that ⅗ of a states slaves should be counted to the total population. The ⅗ compromise deepened the divide between free states and slave states. The north wanted slavery to be abolished and they had less slaves so they didn’t agree with the ⅗ compromise. The south wanted slavery to continue so the compromise deepened the conflict. -
Northwest Ordinance
This was a law passed during 1787 in which a territory could become a state when it reached 60,000 inhabitants. The northwest territory prohibited slavery. This event directly contributed to the civil war by creating a geographic split between free states and slave states. The increase in free states would have angered southerners. -
Creation of the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney created an invention that would revolutionize the cotton industry by making it easier to mass produce cotton. It started a huge rise in slavery (especially in the south). The cotton industry experienced massive growth which led to a need for more manual labor. -
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Second Great Awakening
A religious revival movement in which people would attempt to convince others to become more religious to save themselves. This led to many southern citizens believing that slavery was something that god wanted them to do. They believed that it was biblically and morally the right thing to do. -
Louisiana Purchase
The USA purchased a large piece of land from France which was called the Louisiana territory. The nation doubled in size. The expansion created more southern states which added more states to have conflict with northern states. These states in the deep south were slave dense. -
Missouri Compromise
The compromise was meant to create a clearly defined split between free and slave states. They made a boundary at the 36 latitude line and declared all states north of it to be free states and any states south of it would be slave states. This set a clear and federal divide between the north and south which made the current conflict deepen. The line was a split in beliefs of all people in the USA. -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Nat Turner was a black man who led a slave rebellion over the span of 2 days. His group ended up killing over 50 white men and they ended up being executed. For abolitionists, this represented the lengths that those who have experienced slavery were willing to go in order to resist it. For any Pro-Slavery group members this would be seen as a testament as to why slaves should be kept tightly on the farms -
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Mexican-American War
Texas left Mexico to join the U.S. This created tensions between Mexico and the USA and led to war. Texas was a primary factor of why the two countries fought. Mexico had already abolished slavery and Texas wants to be in the union in order to keep slavery as a part of their way of life. This disrupted the balance between the senate and house of representatives for the free states and the slave states. -
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California Gold Rush
A time period in which miners were discovering large portions of gold in California. This led to a massive migration to California. The large population led to California being added to the U.S as a state. California would be added as a free state which would further increase tensions between the north states and the south states. -
Compromise of 1850
A compromise that was intended to help ease the tensions between the north and south. The compromise included California becoming a free state, stricter fugitive slave laws and future states having to vote on whether they become a free or slave state. Control over congress slowly slipped away from the south as a result of this compromise. This caused increased tensions as the south felt that the compromise favored the north. -
Frederick Douglass gives July 4th Speech
Frederick Douglass delivered an emotional speech about the hypocrisy of a country that celebrated freedom while still allowing slavery. His speech changed many Americans' opinion about slavery, especially in the north. This deepened the divide between the north and south because they realized how wrong slavery really is. -
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“Bleeding Kansas”
The short time period before the vote is where many violent outbreaks occurred. These violent fights and attacks displayed how far Americans were willing to go in order to protect their beliefs. This showed the federal government what would happen if the slavery problem was not addressed. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This allowed the citizens of each state to decide whether they become a free state or slave state. This caused many people to sneak into the state just to be able to add a vote for whatever side they supported. Many massacres and attacks broke out between abolitionists and pro slavery groups. The vote had a very heavy weight for both the north and the south because it would decide who had control over congress. -
Attack on Charles Sumner
Senator Charles Sumner was violently attacked and beaten by representative Preston Brooks on the senate floor after delivering an anti-slavery speech. An attack in such a formal convention like a congressional meeting showed the lengths that people would go to in order to get what they wanted. It displayed how the conflict between the north and south would only continue to intensify. -
Dred Scott v Sanford
A slave by the name of Dred Scott petition in court for his freedom. He argued that since he used to live in a free state, he should be freed. The supreme court ended up ruling that Scott wasn’t a citizen so he shouldn’t be allowed to petition in courts. This caused conflict between the north and south because they disagreed about if a black man should be allowed to be protected by the court. It deepened the disagreement between the North and South. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown led an attack on a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown hoped to encourage slaves to start an uprising. This led to the civil war because the South believed that the north would want to abolish slavery by force. This event made southerners cautious and scared. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln was elected into office even without being on the ballot of most southern states. This made citizens from the south fear that slavery would be abolished. Lincoln’s victory made southerners feel like they had no say in the government. They felt like they were having their constitutional rights stripped from them. -
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Southern Secession
After Lincoln was elected into office, many southern states decided that they wanted to secede from the union. This was an attempt to protect slavery. The secession directly led to the civil war because the federal government didn’t agree with the secession. The southern states wanted to protect their way of life. -
Shots fired at Ft. Sumter
This was the official start of the fighting in the American Civil War. Union troops (Northern troops) stationed at Fort. Sumter in South Carolina was attacked by the South Carolina militia. Union lost and surrendered the fort to the Confederate militia. Unlike previous acts of violence, this was the first time violence broke out between organized military units. Fighting in the Civil War would continue for 4 more years after this event.