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Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was written to organize the land north-west of the Ohio River. It led to westward expansion, which caused problems with slave states due to it’s statement that the states, made in the territory, cannot have slavery. The south felt as though the situation was unfair because, inevitably, the number of free states would outnumber the slave states. This event began the tensions that is prominant between the north and the south for the next eighty years. -
Missouri Compromise
Missouri was added into the continental U.S as an official slave state, while Maine was admitted as a free state. The compromise was to ensure congressional balance between the free and slave states. The state of Missouri continued the 36/30 parallel, supporting the division between the North and the South by forbidding slavery north of the line. The compromise ultimately supported the division between the two sides in the civil war, and it is thought of merely an event that delayed the war. -
Abolitionist Movement
The Abolitionist Movement was a movement in the 1800s which fought for the freedom of African-Americans and the end of slavery. The movement contained great advocates such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Fredrick Douglass. Although there were some followers in the south, the north held most of the abolitionists. The movement promoted secitionalisim between the two sides, and therefore caused tensions between them in the future. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Turner’s Slave Rebellion was when he gathered up a large number of slaves, went to the houses of slaveowners to murder them, and then set their slaves free. After the rebellion, many blacks were murdered out of fear by militia and white mobs. The event caused paranoia among slaveowners and led to certain laws not allowing slaves to have education and restricting their rights of assembly. The event led to greater agitation between the different races, and therefore between the north and south. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a series of secret routes and safe houses that aided blacks in escaping to safety. The routes generally led to safety in the north and Canada, which aided to the tensions between the north and the south because the Underground Railroad was breaking the Fugitive Slave Clause and keeping the slaves free and safe in the north. The southerners were angered by the railroad due to it’s freeing of their slaves and this pinned the north and south against each other even more -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and it gave more insight towards the life of slavery to those who had never witnessed the act. The novel made the north actively opposed to slavery, by showing northerners the substantial realities that are present with slavery. This led to the succession and later, war, because of it’s realities of slavery which exposed the south, and therefore turned the north against them, adding to the sectionalism that was already present. -
Lincoln's Election
The election of Abraham Lincoln was the final event that kickstarted the civil war. Lincoln was a republican, and the majority of southern states were democratic, so when he won the election, they obviously were not happy. The odd thing about this election is that many of the southerners were hoping for the election of Lincoln, so that their succesion would be more understood and peaceful, they did not expect a war to break out.
