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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was struck down as unconstitutional, and slavery and anti-slavery proponents rushed into the territory to vote in favor or against the practice. -
Nat Turner Slave Rebellion
Nat Turner destroyed the white Southern myth that slaves were actually happy with their lives or too docile to undertake a violent rebellion. -
War with Mexico
The war helped to fulfill America's "manifest destiny" to expand its territory across the entire North American continent. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. -
Compromise of 1850
Five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery and territorial expansion. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
An anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Allows people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, United States, between 1854 and 1859 which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott decision was the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on March 6, 1857, that having lived in a free state and territory did not entitle an slaved person. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown, from October 16 to 18, 1859, to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
The Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged triumphant. Lincoln's election served as the primary catalyst of the American Civil War. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. -
Formation of the Confederate States of America
By February 1861, seven Southern states had seceded. On February 4 of that year, representatives from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana met in Montgomery, Alabama, with representatives from Texas arriving later, to form the Confederate States of America. -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a sea fort in Charleston, South Carolina, notable for two battles, the first of which began the American Civil War. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia, and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army, that started the American Civil War. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War. -
Battle of Vicksburg
A victory at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863 gave the Union control of the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. -
Battle of Appomattox Courthouse
The Battle of Appomattox Court House, fought in Appomattox County, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, was one of the last battles of the American Civil War.
