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Invention of the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin was an invention that made slavery blow up in the south. Farmers wanted to grow as much as possible because this invention could clean 50 pounds a day vs. the slaves 1 pound a day. As a result they needed more slaves to plant and take care of the abundant amount of cotton; this made it a big event leading up to the civil war because slavery got more and more popular and less popular in the north. -
Missouri Compromise
When Missouri entered the country this made an imbalance of power with the South having one more slave state than free states in the North. To even this out they took part of Massachusetts to make Maine. This made it a significant event leading to the civil war because this couldn't go on much longer. One slave states enters, another free state, sometime war would have to solve this. -
Compromise of 1850
When the Gold Rush started many Northeners made the journey to California, this made California a free state but this made an imbalance of power; 16 free states, 15 slave. So they then made a stricter law stating people in the south were allowed to go in the north and get there slaves back. This set the stage for the civil war because now the free states had more power and northerners saw how terrible white people in the south treated blacks. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book written by a house wife from Conneticut expressing the evils of slavery. This made people realize how bad slavery was, not only in the northern states, but across the world. 2nd highest selling book during that age behind the bible. This in my opinion was the biggest event, this made people around the world against slavery. As a result this caused many conflicts between south and north. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Dred Scott Supreme Court Case
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
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John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry
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Election of Lincoln
When president lincoln took office this put things over the top. Everyone knew he was against slavery, as a result South Carolina left the union and war took place shortly after. -
Secession of South Carolina
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Attack on Fort Sumter
