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Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret trails and safe places that were set up to aid the escape of African American slaves. These people were escaping slave holding states and traveling to the Northern states and Canada. One estimate was that over 100,000 slaves escaped from bondage between 1810 and 1850 alone.
( https://www.nationalcenter.org/UndergroundRailroad.html ) -
Invention of the Cotton gin
US born Eli Whitney created the cotton gin. This invention made the production of cotton more efficient for removing seeds from cotton fibers. Although this machine was a success, Whitney made little money because of patent-infringement issues. ( http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/cotton-gin-and-eli-whitney ) -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the rivalries that were caused by the request of Missouri in late 1819. The US contained 22 states at this time. These states were divided evenly between slave and free states. This would corrupt the balance as well as set a precedent for congressional acquiescence on the continuation of slavery.
( http://www.history.com/topics/missouri-compromise ) -
Tariff of 1828 & Nullification Crisis
The tariff of 1828, aka Tariff of Abominations, was passed by congress to protect industry in the United States. It was put in place during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. The tariff was given this name by southern detractors because of the effects on the southern economy. -
The Liberator is Punished
The Liberator was a newspaper, published by William Lloyd Garrison in Boston. This date represents when the very first issue was released to the public. Garrison was the voice of abolitionism to people that grew up in the years leading up to the civil war. ( www.accessible-archives.com › Collections and Coverage ) -
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Nat Turners Rebellion
Nat Turner led the only effective, sustained rebellion in US history. They killed from 55 to 65 people which is the deadliest slave uprising. Him and his followers spreed fear throughout the white southern population during the two days it was in place. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso proposed a new American law to ban slavery. This proposal was to prohibit slavery in the territory gained by the USA after the Mexican War. A democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania was the one to offer up this law. ( www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Wilmot_Proviso ) -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise was put in place to resolve fighting over slave states after the Mexican/American War. It had laws setting California as a free state, making Utah and New Mexico boundaries but left slavery to popular vote, settling a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves. (https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Compromise1850.html) -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel that is regarded as a major cause of the civil war. The American writer is named Harriet Beecher Stowe, a dedicated abolitionist. The story features Uncle Tom, a hard working slave who's story touched millions.
( www.historynet.com/uncle-toms-cabin ) -
'Bleeding Kansas'
Kansas became the Bleeding Kansas, because Kansas became a place for warfare as the debate over the expansion of slavery led to violence. Along the boarder of Kansas and Missouri was apart of the national conflict that lead to the Civil War. On both sides of the states a total of 56 people were killed. ( https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bleeding-kansas/15145 ) -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act helped people to decide whether or not slavery was allowed inside these borders. This act also repealed the Missouri Compromise. After the act was set in place violence erupted in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery. ( https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/kansas.html ) -
Brooks-Sumner
Sumner delivered a two day speech called "the Crime Against Kansas." During this time Brooks became a hero to the South. Sumner was than lauded as a near martyr in the North. ( http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h225.html ) -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave and his owner was an army doctor that lived in a free slave state. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote most of the decision, that got issued. The United States Supreme Courts issued the decision in Dred Scott's case. ( http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dred-scott-decision ) -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.These were necessary in order to finalize one of the two Illinois Senate seats. Throughout the seven debates, both sides gained a lot of popularity and people from everywhere came to watch. In the end, Lincoln won the popular vote but didn't get the Senate seat. ( http://www.ushistory.org/us/32b.asp ) -
John Browns Raid on Harper's Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown led a group of men into Harper's Ferry, Virginia in a raid. He was hoping to cause a revolt against slavery. It was very hard fought but still the raid failed and Brown was executed. Still, tensions on slavery were raised going into the 1860 election. ( www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry ) -
Election of 1860
This day finishes up a 6 month long campaign to decide the next president of the United States. Lincoln only received 40% of the popular vote but still beat the other candidates that included John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas. Abraham Lincoln went down as the first republican party to win and the 16th president for the USA. ( http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/abraham-lincoln-elected-president ) -
Secession of Southern States
Secession is when over 1/3 of the population wanted to remove themselves from a country to become their own government. The Secession of Southern States was a series of events that came from the lower and upper south cutting their ties to the Union. 21 states still remained and kept the name USA but the 11 seceding states were now called The Confederate States of America. -
Fort Sumter is Fired Upon
Aides were dispatched to Major Anderson to demand the forts to surrender but he refused. The next morning, Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter and continued for 34 hours. Anderson however, did not return the fire for two hours when this began. The fighting went on until Anderson surrendered the fort on Saturday, April 13. ( https://www.civilwar.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter )
