Decade of Crisis

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    Dred Scott

    Dred Scott is publicly known for the Supreme Court case Scott v. Sanford where he sued for his and his families freedom but he was unsuccessful. Due to the court case, it led to limited popular sovereignty due to the Missouri Compromise being established as unconstitutional. It led to African Americans not having rights up until the 13th and 14th Amendments were established.
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    John Brown

    John Brown was a white abolitionist who saw violence as necessary if slavery was not to be abolished. He thought of speeches, sermons, and petitions as worthless and took matters into his own hands and led the unsuccessful Harpers Ferry raid. From there, the Harpers Ferry led to more tensions between the North and the South.
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe which tells the story of Uncle Tom, a dignified slave, who is later brutally killed. This story was open in 77 languages which allowed for people to talk and come together even if it was for a short time. It extended the chasm between the North and the South which soon contributed to the Civil War. It strengthened the Northern abolitionism and also weakened the British sympathy for the Southern cause.
  • Republican Party

    The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by the northern states, antislavery activists, and became the Democratic Party's primary opponent. However, this party first came to power with the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. With the election of Abraham Lincoln, outbreak of the civil war came about and Lincoln denied resolutions that would led to Southern secession after becoming president.
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress and allowed for popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska, which let people choose whether or not they wanted slavery within their borders. This act also repealed the Compromise of 1820, which rejected slavery in the North. This act was a huge factor in the Civil War because the balance of power shifted in the government and across the country when the Missouri Compromise was reversed.
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    Bloody Kansas

    Bloody Kansas, also known as Bleeding Kansas, was known to be a series of violent confrontation between proslavery and antislavery forces in Kansas. It emerged over political debates on the legality of slavery and its proposed state in Kansas. In the end, Kansas was admitted as a free state into the Union. This event formed American politics and led to the spark of the Civil War.
  • Brooks-Sumner Incident

    The Brooks-Sumner incident occurred on May 22,1856 when representative Preston Brooks, a proslavery Democrat from South Carolina, attacked Senator Charles Sumner, a Republican abolitionist from Massachusetts with a walking cane in the U.S. Senate. This attack furthered tensions between the North and South.
  • Election of 1856

    The Election of 1856 was a 3-way election between Democratic James Buchanan, Republican John Fremont, and Know Nothing Millard Fillmore. Democratic James Buchanan won because of popular sovereignty that was enacted through the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed for the people to choose whether they become a free or slave state. The Democrats warned that if the Republicans won, them civil war would come about since they opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise though the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
  • LeCompton Constitution

    The LeCompton Constitution was drafted by proslavery advocates and was the second of four proposed constitutions for Kansas. It consisted of provisions to keep slaveholding and take away African American rights from the Bill of Rights. It never went into effect and created frictions that led towards the civil war.
  • House Divided Speech

    The House Divided Speech was presented by Abraham Lincoln on June 16, 1858 where he noted the growing tensions between the North and South over the issue of slavery was intensifying. This speech was made to the Illinois Republican convention.
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    Lincoln-Douglas Debates

    The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a list of seven discussions between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. These debates concerned the issues of slavery spreading throughout territories. It was significant because it led Lincoln to be a national public figure which soon led him to become elected as the 16th president.
  • Harpers Ferry

    Harpers Ferry was led by John Brown where he gathered a few men to steal firearms and spark a slave insurrection in Virginia that would hopefully lead to the end of slavery. Although the raid failed, it helped slavery become illegal 6 years later once Brown's dream was recognized.
  • Secession

    Secession was the departure between the Northern and Southern states and it led to the establishment of the confederacy and the civil war. It was the withdrawal of the eleven slave states from the Union between years 1860-61 preceding Abraham Lincoln as president in the election. The secession ultimately caused the civil war.
  • Election of 1860

    This was a four-way contest. In April 1860, the Democratic Party formed together in SC to choose a presidential nominee, and rejected the proposal to guarantee slaveholders rights, which made Deep South democrats walk out and elect John Breckinridge as nominee while the other democrats choose Stephen Douglas. In May, the Constitutional Union Party choose John Bell while the Republican Party choose Abraham Lincoln on the 3rd ballot. This furthered the North and South due to deep views on slavery.
  • Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address

    In Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address, he stated to keep his support within the North without isolating the South by calling for a compromise. He also said he would not force the Union to stay together or intervene in the slavery that had already existed before. Due to his first inaugural address, southern secession was influenced due to Lincoln's views.