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Pre-Civil War Events
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The Missouri Compromise
The U.S. admitted Missouri as a slave state and divided Louisiana Purchase into free and slave territory. Slavery was prohibited north of latitude 36°30', but allowed slavery south of it. This gave equal land for slavery and antislavery states among the north and south. -
Compromise of 1850
The U.S. accepted California as a free state, which the south found unfair because of the large population, and the Mexican Cession divided and chose for/against slavery through popular sovereignty. South found this unfair the north were gaining more slave states, and they felt outnumbered. -
Fugitive Slave Act
A law was made that it was illegal to help runaway slaves, and they could be captured and brought back to their masters if accused as a runaway. Northerners did not believe it was fair and slaves/free African Americans should be able to stand up for themselves while the south took advantage of the capturing of African Americans, free or slave. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe opened the eyes of many northerners and encouraged the abolitionists and others to strongly oppose slavery. The south, however, were angry that someone could write such atrocities and they were outraged at the book and Harriet and called the book absurd. -
Republican Party
People from different parties joined together to form one party because they opposed slavery, others did not believe in the party because they thought their plan was to abolish slavery, and the south did not like it. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Dividing the rest of the Louisiana Purchase into two- Kansas and Nebraska and popular sovereignty would determine the slavery laws. Anti-slavery northerners were outraged because it repealed the Missouri Compromise. The north tried protesting the law and sent petitions to Congress while the south strongly supported it. -
Kansas Divided
Kansas had divided in two, one side supporting slavery, the other opposing it. A mini civil war broke out within the state. -
“Bleeding Kansas” / Sack of Lawrence
Pro-slavery people went to Lawrence to arrest the free-soil leaders, but discovering they had left, they burned buildings, destroyed printing presses, and one man was killed. This angered the north, and sparked an uprising through the Pottawatomie Massacre. -
Dred Scott
The north was upset at the ruling of Dred Scott not being a free slave because Congress had the right to ban slavery in federal territories, and now they said Congress did not have that right. Southerners cheered and were happy with the ruling because it addressed the slavery questions in the south. Both sides disagreed on the topic. -
Harpers Ferry
John Brown led men to attack Harpers Ferry Virginia, and the south fought back against the them and killed men and captured Brown along with the remaining ones alive. Brown was sentenced to death and this angered some northerners because they saw Brown as a hero and the south felt threatened because they felt they would be attacked again. -
Democratic Party Split
Democrats wanted slavery and no slavery, so the party split in two which caused tensions between north and south. They both had different candidates and the followers followed the candidate they believed in. They also did not like the thought of a Republican winning the election. -
Confederate States of America
Southern states decided to leave the Union to preserve their way of life. They succeeded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, and this is when the Civil War began. -
Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
The south were upset that Lincoln was the new president because he opposed slavery, and they thought he would try to abolish it. They decided it was then that they needed to part from the Union to preserve their way of life.
