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Dred Scott
Dred Scott was born into slavery and lived four years in Illinois, a free state, and Wisconsin, a free territory. The court ruled him a free man in 1850, but two years later the Missouri Supreme Court reversed this decision and returned Scott to slavery. There were two rulings that were brought up: (1) Scott had no right to sue b/c he was African American, (2) Congress had no right to exclude slavery from the federal territories. Popular sovereignty was ruled unconstitutional. -
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John Brown
John Brown was an abolitionist. He would help slaves escape and take them to Canada where they could be free. He led the raid on Harper's Ferry and fought, on multiple occasions, with the proslavery forces. He died by being hanged in 1859. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
This was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was written to convince the North and South how their differences in slavery was causing endless conflict between them. Southerners didn't like it because they thought it misrepresented slavery and Northerners saw it as a sympathetic readership. It divided the South and North even more because they both had different opinions and the South thought it was too dramatic. -
Republican Party
This was founded by Northern States. It came into power with President Lincoln's victory in the Election of 1860. Lincoln refused to agree with resolutions that would result in Southern secession, which helped with the outbreak of the Civil War. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act was meant to reverse the Missouri Compromise, so slaves could be allowed in the territories from the Louisiana Purchase. Territories like Kansas and Nebraska could decide for themselves whether slavery should be permitted in their states or not. It led to "Bloody Kansas" when people would go over to change the votes. -
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Bloody Kansas
A war broke out between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas. Tensions were also increased when The Fugitive Slave Act was passed and Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. It is believed that this was what initially started the Civil War because forces of anti-slavery and the forces of slavery met there. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
This was when Preston Brooks entered Senator Charles Sumner's office and beat him with his cane, until Sumner had to flee in a bleeding mess. Brooks left the office without being detained by onlookers. It increased tensions between the South and the North, and it showed that the Southerners had no respect and were violent. Violence in the North began increasing as well and violence was beginning to be normalized in America, and caused chaos. -
Election of 1856
In hopes of being re-elected, President Pierce ran for office again, he was seen as too controversial, so the Democrats wanted selected James Buchanan, a 65-year-old Pennsylvania bachelor. -
LeCompton Constitution
This constitution was created when people in Kansas who were pro-slavery, claimed that they were going to write a constitution that would guarantee slavery within the state. However, When the free-staters found out, they weren't too happy and boycotted the constitutional convention. The LeCompton Constitution gave the people a choice on whether to (a) have slavery be allowed in Kansas or (b) slavery that existed in Kansas would remain, but new slaves could not come in. It increased tensions. -
House Divided Speech
In this speech, Lincoln discusses how the issue of slavery must be solved whether the country became a slave country or free country. The feud was dividing the country and it couldn't prosper and it would fall apart if they weren't unified. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debate (Freeport Doctrine)
This debate is what shined Lincoln into the spotlight. Douglas and Lincoln had many disagreements, one of them being slavery. Douglas believed that slavery wasn't immoral and should be determined using popular sovereignty, while Lincoln was an abolitionist and believed it shouldn't be spread.The Free-port Doctrine was developed by Douglas which determined that if voters refused to enact any laws to protect slave property, then it determined slavery in that territory. This cost him the election. -
Harper’s Ferry
John Brown raided Harper's Ferry in hops of seizing guns and starting a slave rebellion. His plan failed and only increased the conflict over slavery between the North and South. John Brown was captured and hanged as punishment. -
Election of 1860
This election was based off of pro-slavery and anti-slavery. The candidates were Abraham Lincoln, John Bell, John Breckinridge, and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln won the election and South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Georgia seceded after he became president. This event led to the Civil War because the South ended up attacking Fort Sumter. -
Lincoln’s 1st Inaugural Address
"Lincoln promised not to interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed, and pledged to suspend the activities of the federal government temporarily in areas of hostility." When he was elected it resulted in the outbreak of the War because he refused to accept any compromises that resulted in the South breaking ties with the Union. -
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Secession
Confederacy was established when Southern states seceded. It led to the Civil War, and the Union armies were able to defeat the Confederate army.