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Underground Railroad
The underground railroad was a network of routes and safe houses that led African slaves to freedom in the North and Canada. The slaves were often moved at night, so they were not easily seen. The conductors of the underground railroad were free black communities (Harriet Tubman), Northern abolitionists, philanthropists and church leaders (Quaker Thomas Garrett). -
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Slavery in the South
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Wilmot Proviso
The 1846 Wilmot Proviso was proposed by Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania. The Wilmot Proviso was designed to ban slavery within the land acquired by the United States as a result of the Mexican War (1846-48). -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 dealt with the disputes about slavery in the newly gained territory from the Mexican-American War. Also, the compromise ended the slave trade in Washington, D.C. and made it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves by creating the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. -
Fugitive Slave Act 1850
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required the return of runway slaves to their owners. This act resulted in slave catchers taking both free and runaway Africans to the South. -
"Uncle Tom's Cabin"
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is an anti-slavery novel written by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her novel gave an insight to people on the horrors of slavery in the South. Harriet's novel became the second best selling book in the North. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
Bleeding Kansas is the term used to describe a period of violence in the Kansas territory. The violent acts were fought between people with different views on slavery. The violence put to an end by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed for popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in the gained territories from the Louisiana Purchase. Pro- and anti-slavery agitators poured into the newly settled territories in an attempt to gain the popular vote. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was an African slave that went to court to be emancipated. The Dred Scott Decision said that Africans were not citizens and had no rights of citizenship. Therefore, slaves that escaped to free states where not free, but they remained the property of their owners. This decision enraged abolitionists and heightened the tensions between the North and South. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown organized a small group of white allies and free blacks to raid a government arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He wanted to seize the weapons and distribute them to the Southern slaves. Brown thought this would lead to multiple slave uprisings. Before Brown was able to distribute the weapons to slaves he was caught. -
Abraham Lincoln Election
Abraham Lincoln was a Republican that supported anti-slavery. Many Southerners feared his anti-slavery views, so they seceded from the Union after his election in 1860. -
Formation of Confederate States
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas were the first 7 of the 11 states to split off from the Union following Abraham Lincoln's election. These states formed the Confederacy to preserve slavery in southern states. The split of the Union resulted in the start of the Civil War.
