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Northwest Ordinance (Summary)
The Northwest Ordinance established a government for the Northwest Territory, outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union, and guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen states. The purpose of this was to create a way to admit new states to the Union. -
Northwest Ordinance (Impact)
This Northwest Ordinance was an event that paved the way for the Civil War because the new states that were admitted would automatically be free states. The South obviously did not like this, so it added more tension onto the topic of slavery between the North and South. -
Missouri Compromise (Summary)
The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 in an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also created a border called the 36' 30' Line. Any state above the line, slavery would be outlawed. However, this solution was only temporary. -
Missouri Compromise (Impact)
The Missouri Compromise was definitely one of the more impactful events. It quite literally caused sectionalism by dividing the nation into two parts. The Missouri Compromise divided the nation into slave states and free states. Any state above the 36' 30' line would be a free state, and anything below would be a slave state. This would only be a temporary solution because the North refused to be in a country with slavery, and the South refused to be in a country where they were seen as evil. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Summary)
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe and it tells the story of Uncle Tom, a slave, depicted as saintly. While being transported to auction in New Orleans, Tom saves the life of Little Eva, a forgiving young girl, whose grateful father then purchases Tom. A major theme in Uncle Tom's Cabin is slavery and the treatment of humans as property. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin (Impact)
Uncle Tom's Cabin caused sectionalism by increasing the tension on the topic of slavery. Obviously, the South didn't like how they were portrayed in the book. The South ended up banning the book, while the North endorsed it. The book is said to have "helped laid the ground work for the Civil War". -
Bleeding Kansas (Summary)
Bleeding Kansas is the period of repeated outbreaks of violent guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas in 1854. In all, some 55 people were killed. This came after the Kansas-Nebraska Act which reopened the possibility of newly admitted states to be slave states. During Bleeding Kansas, voters from the South would go up to Kansas and vote for slavery to ensure that Kansas would become a slave state. -
Bleeding Kansas (Impact)
Bleeding Kansas had a significant impact on the road to the American Civil War. Bleeding Kansas had guerrilla warfare, which ultimately cemented the fact that they would eventually break out into a full on war. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford (Summary)
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court, specifically Chief Justice Roger Taney, ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. The decision nullified the Missouri Compromise, which had provided a slight balance in slave and free states. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford (Impact)
The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision outraged abolitionists, who saw the Supreme Court's ruling as a way to stop debate about slavery in the territories. The divide between North and South over slavery grew and reached a high point in the secession of southern states from the Union and the creation of the Confederate States of America. -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry (Summary)
Abolitionist John Brown led a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy the institution of slavery. John Brown and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out on the route to Harper's Ferry. Arriving at the town in the early hours of October 17th, Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry (Impact)
Although John Brown's raid failed, it increased sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown's raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and which is why it became an important stepping stone leading to the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President (Summary)
Lincoln's election resulted in the first Republican president being elected by winning the popular vote. The United States had become increasingly divided during the 1850's, primarily over extending slavery into the Western territories. Lincoln tried his hardest to keep the country together by trying to figure out a compromise that everybody could agree on. Unfortunately, this proved to be a very difficult task because the South wanted to be their own country in which slavery was illegal. -
Abraham Lincoln is Elected President (Impact)
Lincoln ran on a political platform opposed to the expansion of slavery in the territories. His election served as an immediate movement for the outbreak of the Civil War. After being sworn in as president, Lincoln refused to accept any resolution that would result in Southern secession from the Union. However, he couldn't figure out the compromise in order to keep the Union together. The South refused to end slavery, and the North refused to adopt slavery.