-
Compromise of 1850
In order to admit California as a free state, Congress passed Fugitive Slave Act and divided territory. Created the concept of Popular Sovereignity -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
An antislavery novel published by Harriet Beecher Stowe that offended the Southerners and touched the hearts of Northerners with its depiction of the reality of slavery and love. -
Republican Party Formed
Due to the lax approach towards slavery from existing political parties, abolitionists formed their own political party with the goal of limiting slavery to where it already existed. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
Americans from the North and South move into the Kansas Territory, prompting conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces over the question of Kansas being inducted into the Union as a free state or slave state. -
Nativism & Know-Nothing Party
Name given to the anti-immigrant party formed from the wreckage of the Whig Party and some disaffected Northern Democrats, -
Beating of Senator Charles Sumner
Senator Charles Sumner was attacked by Preston Brooks on account of him insulting and accusing South Carolina' Senator, Arthur Brooks, of choosing "the harlot, slavery" in Sumner's "Crime Against Kansas" speech. -
Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
Another notable event of the "Bleeding Kansas" era was the Attack on Pottawatomie Creek by John Brown and his sons. This attack was basically a massacre, in which John Brown and his sons dragged out 5 pro-slavery citizens from their houses and killed them in front of their families. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
An act that would organize Kansas and Nebraska into two territories. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dredd Scott, an african slave, claimed that his extended stay in the free state of Illinois gave him legal standing. His trial was eventually taken to the Supreme Court where it was ruled that as a black man, Scott was not a citizen and had no rights to sue. The decision pleased the proslavery South, but outraged the North. -
Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a economic depression caused by over-expansion of the U.S. economy. Business failed as the panic spread and the decline of the railroad industry led to to hundred of workers being laid off or fired. The financial panic did not end until the Civil War. -
The Lecompton Constitution
A proslavery document drafted by proslavery supporters, the Lecompton Consitution permitted slavery, excluded free blacks from living in Kansas, as well as granting only white male citizens the right to vote. However, the Lecompton Constitution was rejected by Congress. -
Lincoln Delivers His "House Divided" speech.
Abraham Lincoln warns that the nation could not survive half-free and half-slave and could not co-exist. This speech put more tensions on the expansion of slavery issue and enforced people to take a stand whether to support slavery or not. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A series of seven debates between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln concerning slavery, popular sovereignity, and the Dred Scott case. Douglas argued that Lincoln was an abolitionist who wanted to end slavery altogether while Lincoln argued he just wanted to end the expansion of slavery. Although, Douglas won these debates holistically, one can see these debates as a benefit to Lincoln's election in 1860. -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown, a radical abolitionist, seized the US arsenal at Harper's Ferry in order to end slavery by massacring slave owners and freeing slaves. However, he was defeated by Robert E. Lee and executed on December 2, 1859 at Charlestown. His raid brought national attention to the issue of slavery. -
Abraham Lincoln elected President
The main issue concerning the election of 1860 was the pressure to choose a side on slavery for the first time in a political contest. The newfound Republican party had adopted an anti-slavery campaign which led Abraham Lincoln to narrowly win his election. However, this stance on slavery angered many Southern states and increased tension between the North and South. -
South Carolina seceeded from the Union
South Carolina was the first state to declare secession from the Union. This motion was supported by many big political leaders such as John C. Calhoun and Preston Brooks which feared that Lincoln would use his executive power to prevent the expansion of slavery permanently because he stood with the Republican Party. This led Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. -
Confederate States of America
Formed by the Southern states that had seceded from the U.S. government, the Confederate States of America formed their own government and waged war as they felt that their way of life, rooted in black slavery, was threatened with the ascension of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. -
President Lincoln Inaugurated
WIth Lincoln stepping into office as president, the South felt that their very way of life was jeopardized by the election of a Republican into the presidency. Even though Lincoln extended an olive branch to the South in his inauguration speech, he states his intention to maintain federal control in the seceded states. -
Confederate Troops Attack Fort Sumter
The attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate soldiers was a catalyst of the American Civil War. Following the formation of the C.S.A., South Carolina demanded that the federal governement surrender control of Fort Sumter, issuing an ultimatum from President James Buchanan, the elected president of the C.S.A., that all military personnel evacuate the fort or military action against the U.S would commence. -
Union Blockade Declared
A Naval tactic used in the North to prevent the Confederacy from trading. Consisted of the closing of 12 ports. The Union deployed 500 ships that destroyed many Confederate ships, known as "blockade runners" to run with supplies needed.
