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Uncle Tom's Cabin
This was a book written on how slavery was bad. It went through the life of a slave named Uncle Tom and how he was treated very badly by his masters. The North was very sympathetic towards the story and the south was angry that the book talked about slavery in such a bad light. -
Republican Party
This party was formed in the north due to them not wanting slavery to spread any further. They gained supporters very quickly and becoming equals with the democratic party and even wining over them in the 1860 presidential election. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act repealed the Missouri compromise, created two new states and allowed for popular sovereignty to decide if the state would be free or a slave state. This act cause the destruction of the Whig party and the rise of the Republican party. This lead to the Civil war by causing fighting in the states to win popular sovereignty and that slavery could move up north something Northers did not want and something the southerners loved. -
Bloody Kansas
This is when Kansas became a state and had to vote to be free or a slave state. Many pro-slavery people moved in to sway the votes. The pro-slavers decided to attack the anti-slavers and this started a battle between the two sides. Which played a huge role in the civil war since pro and anti slave people had already started fighting. -
Brooks-Sumner incident
This was when Senator Charles Summer gave an abolitionist speech in which he insulted the senator from SC. Preston Brooks was infuriated by this and decided to beat Charles Summer so badly he never fully recovered. This further the divided amongst politicians from those who supported slavery and those who where against slavery. -
Election 1856
In this election the republican party and the democratic party where the two main parties in the election. The U.S. was split amongst these two with the democratic part barley winning over the republican party. This helped lead to the election of 1860 where the republican party won the election. -
Dred Scott
He was a slave who traveled to a free state with his master and went to court claiming that since he had been in a free state he should be free. The Supreme court decided that since a slave was not a U.S. citizen they could not go to court for their rights also that the Missouri compromise was unconstitutional. This opened the North up to slavery and the northers hated the court decision where as the southerners loved this decision. -
House Divided Speech
This was a speech done by Lincoln after accepting the republican nomination. He talked about the U.S. being divided and that if they want to remain a free state they would have to do something about slavery soon before it was too late. This was important because it started Lincoln to become a know politician and eventually become the president of the U.S. -
The Lincoln Douglas debates
Lincoln and Douglas traveled Illinois debating to win election of senate. Douglas won the reelection but would go on to lose the presidency battle due to him dividing the U.S with what he said on the slavery issue. This divided the democrats into pro slavery and anti-slavery which allowed Lincoln to win presidency. -
John Brown
He was anti-slavery abolitionist. He on multiple occasions try to free the slaves and have them revolt against their masters. He inspired many northers to join in the fight against slavery with force. He was eventually tired and executed but by then he had inspired the north o fight against slavery. -
LeCompton Constitution
Was a constitution proposed for the state of Kansas that would allow slaves and would not allow free blacks into the state. This was never passed into effect but it caused more divide among the people who liked slavery and those who didn't especially when Kansas joined the Union as a free state. -
Harpers ferry
John Brown and a group of 21 men raided Harpers ferry for guns to use in a slave revolt. He is captured and trialed for treason and is found guilty and killed. After this the South believed that secession was their only hope of keeping their slaves. For the North it further intensified their passion to abolish slavery especially after John Brown speech which inspired Northers to fight against slavery by any means. -
Secession
Some slave states seceded from the U.S. due to believing they were not being heard and that they would lose their slaves. The states to leave were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. -
Lincoln's 1" inaugural Address
He gives his first speech after becoming president of the U.S. He promises to not interfere with slavery in states it already exist in. He warned the south against seceding from the union because he knew it would cause a war. Him becoming president cause some slave states to seceded from the union.