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Creation of Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin. He created it because it helped create more cotton and was faster, but the need for slaves increased. The cotton gin led to the increased the need for slaves. Slave ownership became a huge national issue and that led to the Civil War -
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American Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution was an Intro to technological improvements in America. It was also a change in the way consumer goods are made. The conflict between the northern and southern economies lead to the Civil War because they both had different opinions, some wanted slavery and some didn’t. -
Louisiana Purchase
President Jefferson purchased Louisiana territory from France. It was the purchase of imperial rights to the western half of the Mississippi River basin from France by the United States in 1803. The Louisiana Purchase divided the country into North and South to the extent that it led to the Civil War -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state during the effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. It marked the beginning of the prolonged sectional conflict over the extension of slavery that led to the American Civil War. -
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Second Great Awakening
The second great awakening was a period of renewed social importance of religion. The second great awakening influenced the Civil War by encouraging the beliefs of nationalism and individual rights: -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Nat Turner who was an enslaved man, led a violent slave revolt with other enslaved people, he believed that God had chosen him to lead Blacks to freedom. Nat Turner's revolt was a turning point in the national disscousion over slavery, this led to the Civil War. -
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Nullification Crisis (President Jackson)
The nullification crisis was a conflict between the US and the state of South Carolina. It centered around Southern protests against the series of tariffs that has been throduced to tax all foreign goods. The Nullification Crisis helped lead to the Civil War because it boiled sectional tensions between the North and the South to the surface. -
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Mexican American War
With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded over 525,000 square miles of territory to the United States in exchange for $15 million and the assumption of Mexican debts to American citizens, which reopened the slavery issue. Because of the Mexican American war, the pro-slavery states of the southern U.S. and the anti-slavery states of the north were made worse by the addition of so much new territory, This helped influence the start of the Civil War. -
California Gold Rush
The California gold rush was a rush to newly discovered goldfields in pursuit of riches. The links between the Gold Rush and many of the regional crises in the lead-up to the Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise admitted California to the United States as a no slavery state but allowed some newly acquired territories to decide on slavery for themselves. The compromise of 1850 had a Fugitive Slave Act which allowed officials to arrest any person accused of being a runaway slave, denied fugitives the right to a trial, and required all citizens to help capture runaway slaves, this led to the Civil War. -
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe is the most famous anti-slavery novel ever written. Abraham Lincoln, when he met the author, referred to her as “the little lady who started this big war. Abolitionist sentiment fueled by the release of Uncle Tom's Cabin helped usher Abraham Lincoln into office after the election of 1860 and played a role in starting the Civil War. -
Frederick Douglass gives July 4th Speech
Fredrick Douglass had a 4th of July speech about how he is against slavery and will do anything within his power to get rid of it, he brings religion into it and says whoever is pro slavery is sinning. Fredrick Douglass delivered a speech entitled, “The Slaveholder's Rebellion“, in which he securely established the cause for the Civil War as Slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 made the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, allowing the states to vote on whether slavery was legal or not. It intensified the bitter debate over slavery in the United States, which would later explode into the Civil War. -
“Bleeding Kansas”
In 1854 congress let settlers in Kansas and Nebraska territories decided for themselves if they wanted to permit slavery, Kansas exploded and 5000 pro slavery men invaded the territory. In the next 2 months 200 men died in bleeding Kansas. Kansans engaged in a violent guerrilla war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in an event known as Bleeding Kansas which significantly shaped American politics and contributed to the coming of the Civil War. -
Attack on Charles Sumner
On May 22, 1856, Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts. The beating nearly killed Sumner and contributed significantly to the country's polarization over the issue of slavery. The use of violence eventually led to the Civil War. -
Dred Scott v Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave for Dr. Emerson. They moved to a state that had slavery abolished. After Emerson died Scott decided to sue Harriet (Dr. Emerson’s wife) in a Missouri court. He asked the court to declare him free. The divide between North and South over slavery grew and culminated in the secession of southern states from the Union and the creation of the Confederate states of America. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown led a raid at Haprers Fairy in Virginia because he wanted to abolish slavery. It was an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy the institution of slavery. John Brown's raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and became an important impact on the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
1860 was only the second time the party had a candidate in the presidential race. The Constitutional Union Party was also new; 1860 was the first and only time the party ran a candidate for president. This caused a chain reaction of southern states to secede from the Union since they were afraid of Lincoln's policies. The results of the 1860 election pushed the nation into war. -
Southern Secession
Southerners wanted self government, they took the election as a sign that the union was about to be radicalized and that it was going in directions they didn't want them to go. The Confederacy broke off because of their slavery needs and the Union wanted no slavery and the differences lead to Civil War. -
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Shots fired at Ft. Sumter
This was the official start of fighting in the American Civil War. Union troops (northern troops) stationed at Ft. Sumter in South Carolina was attacked by the South Carolina militia. Union troops 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 troops. Fighting in the Civil War would continue for 4 more years after this event.