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Texas Becomes a State
Texas became a state which gave more power to the southern states and greatly contributed to the Civil War. The addition of Texas to the U.S. adds a major slave state to the Union. -
The Mexican War Ended
When the Mexican War ended, America gained western territories through the Treaty of Guadelupe Hildago. The problem was if the new territories would be a free or slave state. Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 and made California a free state and popular sovereignty for Utah and New Mexico. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Was Released
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was released to show the northerners the truth of slavery and spread abolitionism. There were over 300,000 copies sold in the first year. The north could get an idea of how the blacks were victims of a cruel system. -
Kansas. Bleeding and -Nebraska Act
The Kansas- Nebraska Act was proposed by Stephan Douglas and caused Whigs into the Republican Party and opposed the expansion of slavery. It gave residents the right to decide if they were a free or a slave state. It tore apart Kansas and there were violence between pro and anti slavery, Bleeding Kansas. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a Missouri slave who wanted to sue for his freedom, wanting his four-year stay in the northern portion of the Louisiana territory that was made free by the Missouri Compromise. But Supreme Court didn’t allow him because he was property and not a citizen. This increased abolitionism and was a victory for pro-slavery. -
Lecompton Constitution
It was created so Kansas could be labeled as a slave state to the Union, but it got rejected. After this, Kansas boycotted the state’s constitutional convention and was a free state majority. Then finally joined the Union as a free state. -
John Brown Raided Harper's Ferry
John Brown was an abolitionist that seized the U.S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. He wanted to end slavery by massacring slave owners and freeing their slaves. His raid in 1859 failed and it was the line between abolitionists and those opposed to slavery. Brown's action convinced some Southerners that nothing would preserve slavery in the South. -
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln won the Election of 1860 with less than 40% of the popular vote. Lincoln won because the Democratic Party was divided into two. Due to his win, six states said that they would break off from the Union so that any states joining the Union had to be free states. -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the Civil War. South Carolina seceded from the Union and wanted all federal property in the State be surrendered to State authorities. Lincoln sends supplies to the fort in Charleston harbor, knowing the South would attack. Several southern states secede and the conflict had become war. The Confederates win and shock the North and South is more confident. -
Battle of Bull Run (1st)
Bull Run was at a creek in Northern Virginia, Confederate soldiers charged Union men who were on route to Richmond. Union troops fled back to Washington. Confederates didn’t realize their victory in time to follow up on it. It was the first major battle of the Civil War and both sides were poorly prepared. The Confederates won and the northerners realized that the war wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought.