Causes of the Civil War timeline

  • Missouri Compromise

    This was an act to authorize the people of the Missouri territory to form a constitution and state government. The act also wished to authorize Missouri to have statehood. It also aimed to ban slavery in certain territories. This also helped avoid a national crisis, but not solve problems it caused in the first place.
  • Nat Turner Revolt

    The Nat Turner revolt, or the Southampton Rebellion, was a slave revolt in Southampton county Virginia. This was the largest ever slave revolt. It was led by Slave Nat Turner, and together the rebels killed anywhere between 55 and 65 slaving whites. This alone made it the deadliest slave revolt in US history.
  • Wilmot Proviso

    This was an unsuccessful proposal in congress to ban slavery. Specifically to ban slavery in Mexican acquired territories. The debate over the Proviso was a key event that led up to the civil war. The north debated that since slavery did not exist in these territories already, it was wrong to institute it there at all.
  • Compromise of 1850

    The compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills passed by congress in 1850 that posed a temporary solution to tensions regarding slavery. This bill called for the admission of CA as a free state and abolishment of slavery in D.C. The compromise also amended the Fugitive Slave Act. This compromise likely only delayed the Civil War from happening.
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    This was a book depicting a slave in a positive light. This novel gave voice to abolitionists everywhere. This was the reason it was subsequently banned in the southern states.
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    This was the act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. This repealed the Missouri compromise and allowed for popular sovereignty in these territories. This act, by repealing the Missouri compromise, reopened the national struggle over slavery. This, in turn, also increased tensions leading to the American Civil War.
  • Scott vs. Sandford

    Scott vs. Sandford was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court. The decision made was that the rights stated in the US constitution were not extended to people of color, and thus they could enjoy said freedoms. This case ultimately failed because the courts held that former slaves could not have a standing in federal court because of their lack of citizenship. This case caused the gap between the north and south to widen even further.
  • John Brown's Raid

    John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort to initiate a slave revolt in the South by taking over the southern arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia. This event has also been referred to as the "dress rehearsal" for the American Civil War. Sixteen people, including ten of John Brown's men, were killed in the raid. The raid was an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and end slavery. The attack on the armory failed due to the regiment surrounding it, which allowed him to be easily discovered.
  • Election of 1860

    This was the 19th quadrennial presidential election. The stakes of this election were nothing less than the fate of the Union. Southerns saw the potential election of Abraham Lincoln as a threat to their way of life and the harbinger of secession. Many americans believed that at this point compromise could no longer solve the issue of slavery. The south was fearful of Lincoln, and began ideas of secession.
  • The Assault on Fort Sumter

    the battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Charleston's Fort Sumter. This marked the official start of the American Civil War. Curiously, the Confederates fired on the Fort entirely unprovoked, setting off the first conflict of the war. This battle, though lasting some 36 hours, had only one casualty, a confederate horse.