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Founding of Pennsylvania Abolition Society
There are signs of Abolition in and near Pennsylvania since as early as 1688. The first official meeting was in April 1775. Anthony Benezet, an activist, called the first meeting. The group was focused on stopping the illegal enslavement of African Americans, and Indigenous people. The group continued to grow and even gained some very prominent figures in their group. -
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet was an author, she wrote a fictional serial about how horrible slavery was, the story began to gain traction, and Harriet decided to turn it into a book called 'Uncle Tom's Cabin: Or, Life Among the Lowly' the book had 300,000 sales in a year. The book caused a huge uproar and Southerners and Northeners. -
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Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was an enslaved woman who escaped slavery in 1849 and lead hundreds of enslaved people to freedom in Canada between 1849-1860. She also worked as a spy for the Union and is now one of the most known abolitionists from before the Civil War. -
American Anti-Slavery Society
After PAS (Pennsylvania Abolition Society) began losing support in the 1830s, the American Anti-Slavery Society began to gain lots of attention. The group's main goal was to completely abolish slavery. The group published anti-slavery books, newspapers, etc along with supporting big anti-slavery speakers and leaders. By the late 18030s, AASS had 250,000 members and hundreds of chapters. -
The Westward Expansion of Slavery
The Westward expansion of slavery brought slavery further west into states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and by the 1840s it had spread into Texas. The expansion of slavery across the states caused a huge political issue for America. It affected everyone's life and was very controversial leading to lots of tension -
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The Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott decision was a court decision made against an enslaved man, about his right to US citizenship. Dreds second enslaver had died and Dred and his wife sued his second enslaver's widow for freedom. After years in the federal system, the decision was made, and it caused huge frustration around African Americans' freedom. Which in turn caused huge frustration between the North and the South -
California wanted to join the union
In 1849, California wanted to join the union and become a free state, which would upset the balance between the free states and the slave states. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a new set of laws around slavery, that for one let a group of states (including California) decide whether or not they would be slave states, but this 'compromise' also came with a whole lot of new rules around enslaved people, the rules where meant to encourage people to help captured escaped enslaved people. -
The Formation of the Republican Party
The formation of the Republican party was a growing party of people who did not want slavery to spread into the western territories. The party worked to ban the spread of slavery into the western territories. -
Anthony Burns arrest
Anthony Burns was an African American man who was arrested under false charges, and after his arrest, a huge protest started with around 50,000 protesters that were against slavery. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
In 1854 the author of the Compromise of 1850, Senator Douglas, proposed another legislation "to organize the Territory of Nebraska," Nebraska covered present-day Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and Dakotas. He wanted to use this to create a transcontinental railroad. In order to get the transcontinental railroad, Douglas created a compromise that let the people in the territories decide whether to or whether to not legalize slavery. -
The Pottawatomie Massacre
John Brown, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, helped enslaved people escape to Canada in the 1950s. He had recently moved to Kansas and was mad that pro-slavery forces destroyed the newspaper office and other property. He, his sons, and a few other people attacked five pro-slavery men and killed them. -
Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution was the 2nd of four constitutions offered to Kansas. The Lecompton Constitution was incredibly pro-slavery, the Constitution never went into effect, and there were two others provided before one was accepted. -
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John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry.
John Brown, the same man who started the Pottawatomie Massacre, wanted something bigger. So, in October of 1859, he and 22 other men raided Harpers Ferry, a town in present-day West Virginia. They captured some important people from the town and took the stockpile of weapons from the town. This raid had a big response, where lots of John Browns Accomplices were killed, and John was captured. He was charged with a number of offenses and was hung in December the same year. -
The election of 1860
The election of 1860 was the year Abraham Lincoln was elected, he was very against slavery, and this added to the tension between the North and the South because of his strong moral opinions. -
The Formation of the Confederacy.
Shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected, South Carolina started having meetings, these meetings led to the state leaving the Union. Five states left after them, and the six states created the Confederate States of America, they elected Jefferson Davis as their president. About a month after they elected Jefferson Davis Texas left the Union and joined them as well. -
The formation of the Confederate Navy
The Provisional Confederate Congress formed the Confederate Navy Department in 1861, they chose Stephen R. Mallory to be the Secretary of the Navy. A congressional act on March 16th, 1861 authorized the Confederate States Navy and Marine Corps. -
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Abraham Lincoln Presidential Term
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to advocate against slavery, he was the only president during the Civil War and helped the Union win the War. He was assassinated not long after the war ended, on April 15, 1865. -
Union Blockade
The Union blockade was announced by Abraham Lincoln on April 19th. The Union blockade was just a small part of the strategy called the Anaconda Plan. The blockade meant that the Confederate could not receive any products or help from outside sources. -
The Capture of Both Forts Henry and Donelson
The capture of the two forts was the first major achievement for the Union forces during the Civil war and helped one of the many strategies used during the war. -
The Militia Acts
The Militia Act fixed the Militia act from 1795, which made it legal for African American men to enter the US Army. It also allowed the emancipation of any enslaved people who were willing/able to help, along with their families. -
Emancipation Proclamation
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the proclamation stated that all enslaved people in the states that left the Union were free. This was one of the main events that lead to the Union winning and was a huge step forward in African Americans' rights. -
West Virginia passed the Revised Constitution
On March 26th, 1863, West Virginia accepted the revised constitution, which meant that enslaved people would slowly be freed. This later lead to West Virginia being recognized as a state. -
West Virginia becoming a State
After West Virginia changed the constitution to have the overtime emancipation of slaves, Abraham Lincoln said that West Virginia would be recognized and treated as a state on June 20th, 1863. -
Abraham Lincolns Assassination
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. He was shot in the head while watching Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth with a .44 caliber derringer.