Civil War

  • Missouri Compromise

    Allowed for balance between slave and free states.
  • Compromise of 1850

    Also tried to ease tensions and find a compromise between slave and free states.
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    Repealed the Missouri compromise and allowed for popular sovereignty so basically every state was able to pick whether slavery was allowed or not.
  • Dred Scott Decision

    Supreme Court ruled that slaves weren't citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in U.S. territories so basically undoing the Missouri Compromise.
  • Election of Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln's election leads an already tense country to continue to descend into division.
  • Secession of the Southern States

    The Southern States officially secede from the United States.
  • First Battle of Bull Run

    The first Confederate win that signified that the war would not be over quickly.
  • Fort Sumter

    Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter and it marked the official beginning of the Civil War.
  • Emancipation Proclamation

    Declaration by Abraham Lincoln that all slaves in the Confederate states are free.
  • Vicksburg Battle

    Another important win for the Union that split the Confederacy in half.
  • Battle of Gettysburg

    The turning point of the war that allowed the Union protect itself from further advances north and was the bloodiest battle.
  • Sherman's March to the Sea

    The Union marched straight into the heart of the Confederacy and did a military campaign.
  • Surrender at Appomattox

    General Lee surrendered to Grant and this ended the war with a Union win.
  • 13th Amendment

    Officially abolished slavery and involuntary servitude unless it was a punishment for a crime.
  • 14th Amendment

    Protects the rights of citizens and prohibits states from denying equal protection.
  • 15th Amendment

    Gave African American men the right to vote.