THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CIVIL WAR

By daisy01

  • Constitutional Compromises

    3/5 Compromise Slave Trade Compromise

  • Northwest Ordinance

    Banned slavery north of the Ohio river to the Mississippi.

  • Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin

    Invention of a machine that separated cotton seeds from the cotton. it lead to an increased demand for slavery, because plantation owners could plant and harvest more cotton, therefore they needed more slaves to pick it.

  • Missouri Compromise

    1. Missouri and Alabama become slave free states.
    2. Maine admitted as a free state.
    3. The Louisiana Territory was split at the 36 latitude line - North = free, south = slave
  • Period: to

    Underground Railroad

    Secret network that helped slaves escape from the south. No, its not a real railroad!

  • The Nat Turner Rebellion

    A slave rebellion in Virginia. Nat Turner led slaves in a bloody revolt. 60 white men, women, and children were killed. Southerners ruled with an Iron Fist over slaves, in FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES!

  • The "Gag Rule"

    Northerners and Southerners agreed not to talk about slavery in congress.

  • Mexican/American War Ends

    U.S. gains Texas and Southwest. Northerners feared that slavery would spread to these territories.

  • The Compromise of 1850

    1. California was admitted as a free state.
    2. Utah and New Mexico territories are open to slavery.
    3. The slave trade, but not slavery, is banned in Washington D.C.
    4. A strong fugitive law is enacted!

  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

    Novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It showed northerners how evil slavery was!

  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois wanted to open the Kansas-Nebraska territory for settlement because the Trans-continental railroad would be built. Settlers there would decide if they would be a free or a slave state. This is known as "popular sovereignty" (the people's freedom to choose). Northerners were outraged!

  • Formation of the Rebublican Part

    Angry northerners formed this party. They were against the expansion of slavery in the territories.

  • Bleeding Kansas

    Pro-slave and anti-slave settlers, led by John Brown, clashed in a bloodbath in Lawrence, Kansas. It was an omen of things to come. Some people were no longer willing to walk their problems out about slavery anymore! They resorted to violence.

  • The Caning of Charles Sumner

    Charles Sumner, a northerner, gave his "Crimes against Kansas" speech in reaction to the violence in Kansas. Senator Preston Brooks, a southern plantain owner, brutally caned and nearly killed Sumner.

  • The Dread Scott Decision

    The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Scott was still a slave! Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled: a) Dred Scott was born a slave and was not a citizen, so he cannot sue in court. b) Scott was a slave and slaves are property. Congress can't take away someone's property without due process of law (the 5th Amendment); therefore the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, or illegal.

  • The Lincoln / Douglas Debate

    Lincoln = Republican // Douglas - Democrat
    An unknown Abraham Lincoln gained popularity in a series of senatorial debates in Illinois, against Stephen Douglas. Lincoln lost, but became known nationally.

  • The Raid at Harper's Ferry

    John Brown raided a federal arsenal in Virginia hoping to equip slaves with weapons to fight for their freedom. He was sentenced to death and became a martyr to the northerners and a villain to southerners.