-
Period: to
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave and social activist who served several masters before suing for his freedom. His case made it to the supreme court prior to the American Civil War. After reaching the supreme court, seven out of nine judges agreed with the outcome delivered by Chief Justice Taney, who announced that slavers were not citizens of the US, and therefore had not rights to sue in federal courts. This decision also declared that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery. -
Period: to
Susan B. Anthony
Born on February 15, 1820, Susan B. Anthony was raised in a Quaker household and went on to work as a teacher before becoming a leading figure in the abolitionist and women's voting rights movement. She partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and would eventually lead the National American Woman Suffrage Association. A dedicated writer and lecturer, Anthony died on March 13 1906. -
Period: to
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland around 1822. She escaped from slavery with two of her brothers in 1849, and fled to Philadelphia. Tubman was instrumental to leading hundreds of enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad. She remained active in the Civil War as an armed scout and spy. The head injuries sustained early in her life became disruptive, and she underwent brain surgery. Tubman was later admitted into a rest home where she died of pneumonia in 1913. -
Period: to
Social Movements and Influential People
-
Free-Soil Party
The Free-Soil Party was a political party that came into existence between 1847 and 1848 chiefly due to rising opposition to the extension of slavery into any of the territories newly acquired from Mexico. This political party supported national internal improvement programs, moderate tariffs designed for revenue only, and the enactment of a homestead law. Many of its members moved on to the new Republican party as their best hope to prevent the extension of slavery into the territories. -
Seneca Falls Convention
Organized by Elizabeth C. Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the Seneca Falls convention was the first women's rights convention to occur in the United States. The convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY in July 1848. Stanton proposed the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, which declared the rights of women and that all men and women were created equal. This event marked the beginning of the women's rights movement in the US. -
American Party
The Know-Nothing movement was actually a group of secret anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, and anti-immigrant political organizations that called itself the American Party. The movement was compromised principally of native-born, white, Anglo-Saxon males. They proposed restrictions on immigration, exclusion of forgein-born persons from voting or holding political office, and a residency requirement of more than 20 years for US citizenship. -
Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 mandated that states to which escaped slaves feld were obligated to return them to their masters upon discovery and subjected persons who helped runaways to criminal sanctions. Some states passed laws that rendered the Fugitive Slave Act void. The refusal of northern states to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act was alleged by SC as one reason for its secession from the Union prior to the onset of the Civil War. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin was the most controversial and most widely read book of the time period. Stowe''s main goal was to convince her large Northern readership of the necessity of ending slavery. The novel depicts the reality of slavery, as well as asserting that Christian love can overcome something as destructive as enslavement of fellow human beings. -
Period: to
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a term coined to describe the violent civil disturbances in the US territory of Kansas. The violence was provoked due to the KS-NE Act. People on both sides of the issue flooded into the Kansas territory in order to weigh any potential vote in favor of their cause. By 1855 there were two competing governments in KS, and things turned violent the following year when an armed force in favor of slavery burned the town of Lawrence, KS. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown, an abolitionist, believed that he was appointed by God to rid the nation of slavery. He devised a plan to start a slave rebellion and form a free state for blacks. The heart of the plan involved attacking the federal arsenal at Hapers Ferry, VA, and arm enslaved blacks in the area. Brown and the surviving members of his gang were charged with murder, conspiracy, and treason against the state of Virginia, and were sentenced to death.