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The Missouri Compromise
This event turned Missouri into a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state. This was a federal legislation that balanced the desires of the northern states that in turn prevented expansion of slavery in the United States. In addition to this there was a 36'30" line that established division regarding slavery for the remainder of The Louisiana Territory. The compromise was overall successful in separating free states from slaves states in the U.S. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
This historically was known as the Southampton Insurrection, which was a rebellion of slaves in Virginia. Nat Turner was the leader of this rebellion and his actions set off a massacre of up to 200 black people and a new enlightenment of enslaved rights. In this rebellion the slaves killed up to 65 white people which turned this rebellion into the deadliest slave revolt in U.S. history. This rebellion lead to Virginia Legislation debating ending slavery but instead chose to punish all blacks. -
Wilmot Proviso
This was 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. The proposed amendment's purpose was simple and it required that slavery and involuntary servitude would be banned forever in all territories acquired as a result of the Mexican-American War. However Proviso's proposal was unsuccessful because of Polk's appropriations bill, but it did still leave a last effect that ended up contributing to the civil war. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise put California in the United States as a free state but allowed new territories to decide on slavery for themselves. This also included the Fugitive Slave Act. Five main points of this compromise were allowing California to enter the Union as a free state, dividing the rest of the Mexican Cession into the territories of New Mexico and Utah, ending the slave trade in Washington DC, setting a strict fugitive slave law, and to settle the a border dispute between Texas and New Mexico. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin displays an enslaved man, depicted as saintly and noble and certain in his beliefs. While being transported by boat to auction in New Orleans, Tom saves the life of a little girl named Eva, whose grateful father then purchases Tom. However this wasn't displayed as a good deed but more so "Uncle Tom" was a slur used to disparage a black person who is a servant to white people. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Scott VS Sanford
In 1846, an enslaved Black man named Dred Scott and his wife, sued for their freedom. They claimed that they were free due to their residence in a free territory where slavery was prohibited. The decision of Scott v. Sandford, considered by many legal scholars to be the worst ever rendered by the Supreme Court, was overturned by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution, which abolished slavery and declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens of the United States. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown's plan for his raid was that he and his men would establish a base in the Blue Ridge Mountains from which they would assist runaway slaves and launch attacks on slaveholders. He was able to free 11 slaves and kill one slave owner but more or less his plan had really just failed. It failed because he had been outnumbered and ambushed. He then captured and later executed. However 6 years later his efforts were realized and slavery became illegal. -
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln, who was republican, won the presidential election of 1860 in a four-way contest. Lincoln actually only received about 40% of the popular vote but was elected president because of his electoral votes. He had easily beat out his four other candidates, Stephen Douglas (Democrat), John Breckenridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional Union). The reelection of Lincoln eventually led to the 13th amendment and abolished all slavery. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
This attack marked the official start of the civil war. It began when Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the South Carolina militia was bombed by the confederate states of America. However, only two days later the fort surrender. Even though no blood was shed it was marked on of the most significant attacks in U.S. history as it officially marked the beginning of the Civil War, which was the bloodiest conflict in America.