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Nat Turners Rebellion
Nat Turner a slave himself started a rebellion against several plantaions in Virgina. Him and around 70 others ended up killing about 60 people in the bloodiest slave uprising. Turner and 54 other slaves were tried and executed. This uprising did not help the slaves and actually did the opposite in causing more rights to be taken away from slaves. -
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Leading up to the Civil War
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Mexican American War
After the election of 1844 James Polk thought Texas should be reannexed and other parts of Mexico should be reoccupied. When Polks offer to purchase these lands were rejected he sent troops into disputed lands and war began. The U.S. took much land with little resistence and kept on moving forward taking more land until Mexico had basically given up on the war. This lead to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo giving America Texas and California to be later disputed between slave and non-slave -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was created so that slavery expansion would cease for the strengthining of the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act made it so slave owners could reclaim a run-away slave they thought was theirs. This compromise did little to help however in that it just made it more clear there was a divide in the country between the North and South. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the book Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852 it was the second best selling book in America in the 19th century behind the Bible. In the book Stowe writes about the life of slaves showing some of the horrors of the South that they did not know about. The South said the book was fake and untrue but many people turned into abolitionists after reading this book putting them on the side of the North. -
Bleeding Kansas
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 (saying that there were two areas were settlers could migrate to and popular vote in these areas would determine if it would be a slave state or not) flocks of people migrated to Kansas to try to shift the vote one way or the other. This created small outbreaks of anti-slavery and pro-slavery fights that shocked the country. -
The sack of the Lawrence
After an election dispute over boarder ruffians were not resolved Judge Samuel Decompte demanded that people of the anti slavery government in Kansas (many in Lawrence) should be indicted of treason. This caused over 800 proslavery forces from Kansas and Misourri to go to Lawrence to arrest or possibly kill members of the anti-slavery government. The members of the anti slavery government gave in but these forces still decided to destroy two newspaper offices and looted shops and homes. -
Charles Sumner is attacked
After Charles Sumner gave a speech attacking pro-slavery forces in Bleeding Kasas he was attacked by congressman Preston Brooks who was pro slavery. Brooks attacked Sumner with a cane on the US Senate floor. This was eaten up by the media inferiorating the anti-slavery North and making the pro-slavery South praise him for what he had done. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an African American Slave who went to court to sue for his freedom. As he was a slave his owner took him to a non-slave state and Scott then had the chance to go to court to gain his freedom. He did not however as his case ended up going to the Supreme Court. There they said Scott would remain a slave because he was considered property and the owner could take his property wherever he wanted. This created a lot of controversy and stirred up even more hate in abolitionists. -
Lecompton Constitution Rejected
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed Kansas could choose as to whether they wanted to become a slave state or free state. One of the constitutions created after this was the Lecompton Constitution this would make Kansas a slave state if passed. There was enough opposition however that it was sent back to Kansas to be voted on and it was turned down. This made Kansas a free state which helped abolitionalists gain power. -
John Browns Raid
John Brown had a big part in the fighting in Bleeding Kansas and didnt stop there as in october of 1859 he and a few white allies and slaves planed to raid a government arsenal in Virginia. He hoped to distribute these weapons to slaves createing more uprising. He was quickley surrounded however when in the arsenal and later tried and executed. -
Abraham Lincoln's Election
Abraham Lincoln was apart of the Republican Party who were against slavery. This fact frightend Southerners when he was elected as they knew he would take steps to try to rid of slavery. Only a month after he was elected South Carolina seceded from the Union starting the civil war. This could have been the single most influental event that caused the civil war.
