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Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a set of bills passed by the United States Congress that came to an agreement about slavery in the territories acquired from the Mexican-American War. The compromise included things such as Texas surrendering some of its territorial claims, California being accepted into the Union as a free sate, and a stronger Fugitive Slave act. The compromise was drafted by Henry Clay and Stephen Douglas to avoid secession of the slave states. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, or the border war, was a conflict over the subject of slavery in the territory of Kansas, involving the anti-slavery Free Staters and the pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" . The conlict was over whether Kansas would become a free or slave state. The conflict was ongoing and eventually merged with the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott decision was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that the government had no right to regulate slavery in the territories and that people of African decent were not protected by the constitution and were not citizens of the United States. Dred Scott, an African Slave who lived on free soil Illinois for several years, sued for freedom. After a great deal of debating, Cheif Justice Robert B. Taney made the decision. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a set of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, both canidates for senator of Illinois. They were both trying to gain control of the Illinois legislatures, who elected state senators at the time. The question of slavery was raised in all 9 of the debates. Lincoln eventually lost the senate seat to Douglas. -
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry was a military armory and arsenal that was raided by radical abolitionist John Brown in 1859. John Brown and a group of 20 men raided a federal arsenal in an attempt to create a slave rebellion. The plan failed, however, and they were defeated by a detachment of 20 U.S. Marines. -
Lincoln's Election
During the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. Many southern states took this as an excuse to suceed from the Union, believing that an abolitionist had been elected president. The votes were split among the three other canidates more favored in the south, so Lincoln was elected. Lincoln was able to secure enough votes purely from the North to win without support from the south. -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was the site of the beginning of the Civil War. Federal arsenals at Charleston, South Carolina were seized by confederate forces, Union armies retreated to Fort Sumter, a heavily fortified fort in the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Confederate forces laid siege to the fort. The Union eventually evacuated. After this battle, widespread support for war prompted the Civil War. -
Bull Run
The first battle of Bull Run took place just months after the start of the war. Union troops were pressured into advancing on the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, and encountered Confederate forces at bull run on July 21st. The Confederates were at an initial disadvantage, but reinforcements soon arrived under Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and Union troops retreated. This first victory for the Confederates was actually more beneficial for the Union. -
The Battle of Antietam
Antietam was the first major battle of the Civil War to take place on Union soil. It had the most casualities of any American battle in all of history. General Robert E. Lee and General George B. McClellan met in battle at Antietam Creek in Maryland. Though niether side was victorious, it was a strategic victory for the Union and gave Lincoln enough courage to announce his Emancipation Proclamation. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln was an attempt to rally the slaves in Confederate states to aid the Union cause. The proclamation could not truly be enforced and did not apply to slave states of the Union, The proclamation helped the Union war effort, and eventually led to the 13th Ammendment. -
Battle of Vicksburg
Union General Ulysses S. Grant drove the Confederate forces to a defensive position at the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. After nearly forty days, Confederate general John C. Pemberton finally surrendered. This battle obtained Union control over the Mississippi River. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania between General Robert E. Lee's and General George Gordan Meade's armies. It ended in Union victory and was a great turning point in the war. Casualties were large for both sides. -
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address was a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the Soldier's National Cemetary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It is regarded as one of the greatest speaches in American history. In the speech Lincoln talked much of the human rights of equality and freedom as stated in the Declaration of Independence. -
Andersonville Prison
Andersonville was a prison run by the Confederates for prisoners of war from the Union army. Conditions were terrible within the prison, and the leader of the prison was tried and sentenced to death after the war was over. -
Appomattox Courthouse
General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant's forces at the Appomottox Courthouse after the Battle of Appomattox. This surrender marked the begining of the end of the Civil War, and the end of the war in Virginia. -
Assassiniation of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. Abraham Lincoln's assassination was part of a larger conspiracy between John Wilkes Booth and several others in an attempt to aid the South near the end of the war. Lincoln died the next morning. -
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery and all involuntary labor except if a punishment for a crime. It was initiated after the Republicans feared the Emancipation Prolamation would be seen as a temporary war measure. -
Black Codes
The Black Codes were laws passed in the south after the Civil War which limited the rights of freed African Americans. These were enacted shortly after the Civil War and reaffirmed the positions blacks held in the antebellum south. -
14th Amendment
The fourteenth amendment was adopted as a reconstruction amendment. It broadened the definition of citizenship and repealed the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, and required states to give people equal protection under the law to all citizens. -
15th Amendment
The fifteenth amendment denied states the ability to refuse the right to vote from any citizen based on race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. It was one of the reconstruction amendments.
