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The Missouri Compromise
Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state, preserving the Congressional balance. A line was also drawn through the unincorporated western territories along the 36⁰30 parallel, dividing north and south as free and slave. -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Nat Turner incited an uprising that spread through several plantations in southern Virginia. Turner and approximately seventy cohorts killed around sixty white people. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a piece of legislation by David Wilmot at the close of the Mexican-American War. If passed, the Proviso would have outlawed slavery in territory acquired by the United States as a result of the war. -
The Compromise of 1850
Territory gained after the American-Mexican war, California was admited as a free state, in exchange , the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Slavery was maintained in the nation's capital, but the slave trade was prohibited. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, second best-selling novel besides the bible. Across the north, readers saw the evils of slavery, however southerns only saw the book as lies. This book made diverisions of the north and south farther. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott Decision threatened to entirely recast the political landscape that had thus far managed to prevent civil war. The classification of slaves as mere property made the federal government’s authority to regulate the institution much more ambiguous. -
John Brown’s Raid
John Brown gathered a group of supporters to raid harper farry, in hopes to steal weaponary and gather more free slaves to fight beside them. Although Brown captured the arsenal, he was quickly surrounded and forced to surrender by soldiers under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee. He was tried for treason and, upon his execution, became a martyr for the abolitionist cause. -
Abraham Lincoln’s Election
Abraham Lincoln was elected by a considerable margin in 1860 despite not being included on many Southern ballots. As a Republican, his party’s anti-slavery outlook struck fear into many Southerners. -
Bleeding Kanas
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, overturned parts of the Missouri Compromise by allowing the settlers in the two territories to determine whether or not to permit slavery by a popular vote. -
The Battle of Fort Sumter
With secession, several federal forts, including Fort Sumter in South Carolina, suddenly became outposts in a foreign land. Abraham Lincoln made the decision to send fresh supplies to the beleaguered garrisons.
