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First Issue of "The Liberator"
William Lloyd Garrison made The Liberator to take a stand against slavery. He wanted an immediate end to slavery, not a gradual end. -
Compromise of 1850 passed
Henery Clay proposed the Compromise of 1850. California was added as a free state. Slavery would be illegal in Washington DC. Passed a new Fugitive Slave Act which said anyone who helped a fugitive could be fined or imprisoned. -
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" published
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It portrayed slavery as a cruel and brutal system. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was proposed by Stephen A. Douglass. It stated that popular sovereignty would decide is slavery would be allowed in Kansas and Nebraska Territories. It would also repeal the Missouri Compromise. Both the South and the North did not like this act. -
James Buchanan Sworn into Office as the 15th President.
James Buchanan was a diplomat and former congressman. He was nominated for president by the Democratic Party in 1856. He defeated John C. Fremont, the Republican candidate. -
Dred Scott Decision
Scott was not a citizen so he had no right to bring a lawsuit. He was property and the 5th amendment says you can't take property. Congress had no power to ban slavery because it would take someones property. It showed the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry
John Brown led a group on a raid. His target was a federal arsenal. Local citizens and federal troops defeated Brown's raid. Brown received a death sentence. They didn't get what they wanted, but they frightened the Southerners because they thought the Northerners had a plan to end slavery. -
Abe Lincoln elected President
Abe Lincoln won for the Republicans. He kept slavery how it was, but banned it in territories. He didn't want it to spread. He went against Stephe Douglas (Northern Democrat), John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell (Constitutional Union). -
South Carolina secedes from the Union
Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina seceded from the Union. South Carolina was the first to secede. Southerners used states' rights to justify secession. They had voluntarily chose to enter the Union, so they thought they could leave. -
Battle at Fort Sumpter begins
Ships couldn't reach the fort because they didn't have supplies. Lincoln said he was sending unarmed troops bringing supplies. He said the confederates shouldn't attack the Union unless they were fired upon. They had to surrender, but no one died. -
1st Battle of Bull Run
About 30,000 Union troops commanded by General Irvin McDowell attacked a smaller Confederate force led by General P.G.T. Beauregard. It took place in northern Virginia by a river called Bull Run. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abe Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It made slaves free in rebelling states. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Confederates entered the town looking for supplies. General Lee didn't want to fight on a land he didn't know well , but he encountered the enemy. After four days the Confederates had lost 25,000 casualties. The Union won, but lost 23,000. -
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman had his troops march across Georgia toward the Atlantic. He burned cities and crops. They joined Grant's forces. Union troops took food, tore up railroad lines and fields, and killed livestock. The march was part of a strategy called total war (targeting the land, people, and the army). -
The Surrender at Appomattox Court House
It was the formal end of the war. Grant said Lee's officers could keep their small firearms, and the soldiers could keep their horses. No one would disturb the soldiers on their way home. He gave 25,000 rations to feed Lee's troops. The North won. -
Lincoln's assassination
Lincoln was at a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., when actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the head. African Americans were sad because Lincoln put an end to slavery. White Northerners grieved because he restored the Union. Vice President Andrew Johnson became president.
