-
Missouri Compromise
Passed by the 16th Congress of the US, intended to diffuse tensions between pro and anti slavery states after Missouri petitioned for admission to the Union as a slave state. This meant that while Missouri implement slavery, Maine would join as a free state, and that slavery would not be permitted in lands north of latitude 36'30". This ensured an equal balance between free and slave states and temporarily diffused sectional and political tensions between North and South. -
Texas annexed by the USA
Texas was admitted to the Union as the 28th state after an effort started by President John Tyler in 1843 to, among other motivations, gain a base of support to win another term as president. However, James K. Polk won the election on a pro-Texas manifest destiny platform and after Tyler signed the annexation bill on 1 March 1845 and presented it to Texas on 3 March, which was later ratified by popular vote in Texas. The bill was signed by Polk that December. -
War with Mexico begins
After the loss of Mexico and the election of James K Polk in 1845, conflict with Mexico became much more likely. After his offer to purchase the two northernmost territories of Mexico for $25 million was denied, he sent US troops to the Rio Grande, 150 miles South of the agreed US-Texas border. It was shortly after this that the US troops were attacked by Mexican forces who killed 12 US soldiers and laid waste to a US fort. War followed shortly after this. -
Period: to
The Origins of the Civil War 1846-1861
-
US settles dispute with Britain over Oregon
Signed under the presidency of James K. Polk, the Oregon Treaty was an agreement with Britain that established the border between the two nations' territories at the 49th parallel, putting an end to competing claims between the two nations that had raged since 1818. Democratic expansionists wanted to annex the entire region from 54'50" North, but ongoing negotiations between James Buchanan and Richard Pakenham settled the tensions between the two nations. -
Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, introduced an amendment to a congressional bill that would give President Polk $2 million to assist in peace talks with Mexico. This was an attempt on the part of the North to limit the perceived growing power of the South, as many believed that the money would be used to purchase land from Mexico and that the amendment stated that slavery would not be permitted in this land or any land gained from Mexico. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Signed between the US and Mexico to end the raging war between the two nations, the treaty was signed after the defeat of Mexico and the fall of its capital. The US gained the territories of Upper California and New Mexico, established the Rio Grande as the new boundary between the two nations, reduced Mexico by half, and only had to pay $15 million for the privilege. The land given to the US by Mexico became known as the Mexican Cession. -
Compromise of 1850
After the death of President Zachary Taylor in July 1850, his successor Millard Fillmore wanted to be more flexible on the issues Taylor was not. When Senator Henry Clay proposed compromise on issues dividing the North and South, Stephen Douglas passed each as smaller bills. California was thus admitted as a free state, popular sovereignty on slavery was allowed in Mexico and Utah, Washington DC abolished the slave trade, and a new Fugitive Slave Act was passed. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
Written by staunch abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe partially in response to the Fugitive Slave Act and the injustices she believed it entailed. The novel revolves around "Uncle Tom," an African-American slave and lays bare the cruel realities of slavery, becoming an instant bestseller. The book sold 300,000 copies in the first year and was the most successful novel of the 19th century, as well as being adapted into a widely-viewed play. The South tried to counter its immense impact. -
Formation of the Republican Party
The issue of slavery became a national issue in the 1850s, with Northern Whigs, Northern Democrats, and the Free Soil Party uniting in their shared support for abolition. This party became the main challenger to the so-called "Southern Democrats," with their first presidential candidate John Fremont opposing the eventual winner James Buchanan. The election showed that the electorate was dividing along sectional lines, and spurred talk of secession from the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
After the 1803 Louisiana purchase, the acquired lands had to be organised into territories. This had not been completed even in 1852, which leading Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas decided to create but also allow popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska. The resulting act not only caused a rift in the Democratic party, but also repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and led to huge migration to and subsequent violence in Kansas from both sides of the debate. -
Dred Scott Judgement
Dred Scott v. Sandford was decided two days after Buchanan's inauguration by the Supreme Court, with the debate centring around Dred Scott, a slave who lived in both slave and free states and then petitioned for US citizenship. but the case was decided against him. The court, headed by Roger B Taney, concluded that Scott was bound by the laws of the slave state he left, he was not a US citizen, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
A group of 22 men, 17 of which were white and 5 black, were led by violent abolitionist John Brown to attack the US army's munitions depot in the town of Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Brown hoped that seizing the weapons would inspire local African-Americans to support the cause, but no such uprising occurred. The local militia regained control of the town, and US troops under the command of Robert E. Lee stormed the fire-engine house, capturing John Brown alive. -
Abraham Lincoln elected as president
Lincoln, running against Stephen Douglas, was the surprise but controversial victor of the 1860 election. Also running was John Bell, a member of the Constitutional Party, and John Breckinridge for the Southern Democrats. Lincoln only gained 39% of the popular vote and was basically elected by only one section of the nation, he still won the presidency, much to the chagrin of the dedicated anti-abolitionists in the South who believed he would outlaw slavery when he took office. -
South Carolina secedes from the USA
The election of Lincoln galvanised the pro-slavery South into action, deciding that the only option to protect their way of life was to rule themselves. South Carolina began this trend by holding a convention on that decided to dissolve the union between South Carolina and the other US states. While Lincoln ran on the platform of containing slavery where it currently existed, this did not stop the fears that he would abolish it entirely. -
Period: to
Six other states secede from the USA
Following the example of South Carolina and equally convinced their way of life was threatened by the election of Abraham Lincoln, the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas each seceded from the Union. The average vote on secession in state legislatures resulted in 80% in favour, with Texas the only state to make the descision a referendum vote that passed 44,317 to 13,020. These states would go on to form the Confederacy in February of that year. -
Lincoln is inaugurated as president
Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president of the United States at the Capitol in Washington DC. In his address to the nation, he called for the preservation of the Union, but called for compromise in order to not alienate the North or South. He promised once again not to interfere with slavery in states in which it already existed nor use force to maintain the Union. -
Period: to
Four more states join the Confederacy
After the Civil War started in April 1861, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia left the Union and joined the Confederacy from April to June of that year. This also caused the formation of the Union-loyal state of West Virginia.
