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Election of 1844
President Polk wanted to extend the Missouri Compromise line all the way to the new territories in the west. this began the huge political debate on slavery in the west. -
Mexican-American War
This war resulted in Mexico's defeat and the loss of approximately half of its national territory in the north. This would lead to oppurtunities for further U.S. expansion and influence. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 admitted CA as a free state, Utah and New Mexico would be decided by popular soveriegnty, the slave trade was banned in D.C. and a strengthened Fugitive Slave Law was adopted. Shows the fight for slavery in the new expanded territories is getting more intense between the south and north. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is Published
This book was an insight as to how cruel plantation owners were to their slaves and how extremely difficult it was to be a slave. This was a a big propaganda act for the fight against slavery. -
Election of 1852
The two candidates running for president were Winfield Scott and Franklin Pierce. these two men stayed away from taking a stand on the issue of slavery as to avoid confliction with the population. Shows how much the issue of slavery could affect someone at this moment in history. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska act becomes law, allowing the issue of slavery to be decided by a vote of settlers. This established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and would breed much of the rancor that culminated in the actions of the next years of "Bleeding Kansas." -
First Railroad Crosses Over the Mississippi River
The first railroad train crosses the Mississippi River on the first bridge constructed at Rock Island, Illinois to Davenport, Iowa. Begins the railways progression into the west. -
Preston Brooks Attacks Charles Sumner
South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks attacks Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the U.S. Senate after Sumner gave a speech attacking Southern sympathizers for the pro-slavery violence in Kansas. Shows the South's hostility to abolitionism. -
Dred Scott Decision
The United States Supreme Court rules in the Dred Scott decision, 6-3, that a slave did not become free when transported into a free state. It also ruled that slavery could not be banned by the U.S. Congress in a territory, and that blacks were not eligible to be awarded citizenship. Shows how little the MIssouri Compromise and the fugitive slave laws were respected by Southern pro-slavers. -
Lincoln Gets Most Votes for President
Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln, running on an anti-slavery platform, defeats three opponents in the campaign for the presidency; Democrats Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell, Constitutional Union Party, leading to ardent cries of potential rebellion in southern slave states. This would lead to the South's immediate secession from the Union. -
Battle at Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina harbor is bombarded for 34 hours by Confederate forces after the U.S. Army commander failed to evacuate, thus starting the four years of conflict and the U.S. Civil War. This is the battle that begins the Civil War. -
Emancipation Proclomation.
President Abraham Lincoln, fresh on the heals of the Antietam victory, issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, stating that all slaves in places of rebellion against the Federal Government would be free as of January 1, 1863. This frees all slaves from the Southern States and basically makes the war a war on slavery. -
Gettysburg Address
This speech is regarded as one of the most powerful speeches in American History and is hat fuelled the Union to defeat the South once and for all. -
Appomattox Court House
General Robert E. Lee, as commander in chief of Confederate forces, surrenders his 27,000 man army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the four years of Civil War conflict. This officialy ends the Civil War. -
13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, takes effect. -
Women's Suffrage is Granted in Wyoming
In one of the first acts of success in the women's suffrage movement, a Women's Suffrage law passes in the Territory of Wyoming. The fight for women's suffrage is getting stronger and more influential. -
Georgia Rejoins the Union
The last former state of the Confederacy, Georgia, is readmitted into the Union, and the Confederated States of America is officially dissolved. This ends the CSA for good and the Union is whole again. -
Civil Rights Acts
The Civil Rights Act, giving equal rights to blacks in jury duty and accommodation, is passed by the United States Congress. It would be overturned in 1883 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Push for eguality between former slaves and the rest of the American population. -
The End of Reconstruction
This end, begins a new era of Ameirca filled with national industrialization, economic bomms and falls, and the beginning of the fight for equality between all men and women regardless of race.