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Uncle Toms Cabin
Uncle Toms Cabin was a book that was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and even though she seen slavery in Kentucky she was inspired by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the book had angered many because they said that she was misinterpreting slavery, but this also pulled at the sympathy stings of many Northerners. The creation of Stowe's book increased the tensions between the North and the South. -
John Brown
John Brown was an abolitionist and he later became a martyr. He was the was the leader of the Harpers Ferry incident, as well as the leader of the Pottawatomie raid. He believed that to own people was doing wrong against God so by helping to free the slaves he was doing right by God. The Southerners didn't like this very much and drown was later sentenced to death by hanging. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This was an act that was put in place and it gave the states of Kansas and Nebraska the right to popular Sovereignty which allowed the people to choose if they wanted slavery in their state or not. While Nebraska decided be free, there was a big division in Kansas that would later lead to Bloody Kansas/Bleeding Kansas. -
Republican Party
The Republican party was a party that was created after the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This party was made by the members of the former Whig Party and they made the Republican party so that they could have a party that opposes slavery and the spread of slavery. They needed to create a new party because when the Kansas- Nebraska Act was passed it lead to the end of the Whig party so they then decided to meet to make the new party. -
Bloody Kansas
Bloody Kansas was the result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and it lead to violent fights between abolitionist and pro-slavery groups. During these fights Lawrence was raided and news mills were destroyed. There was a total of 55 people killed during these small wars that were happening. By the time the first election took place the pro-slavery side used illegal votes to get ahead but this didn't go over to well with the abolitionist so they made their own government. -
Brooks Sumner Incident
This was the event in which Preston Brooks a South Carolina representative, had beaten senator Charles Sumner who was a representative of Massachusetts with a cane. This was the result of the speech that Sumner gave about abolitionist and pro-slavery issues. Summers injuries were so bad that he has to take a three year leave from the senate to heal from his injuries. -
Election of 1856
This was a three way election between John Buchanan, John C. Fermont, and Millard Fillmore. John Buchanan who was for the democratic party won this election. During this election Millard only received 8 electoral votes. Pierce and Douglas were joining forces to try to stop Buchanan from winning but Douglas didn't follow through and dropped out putting Buchanan in first place. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave that was moved to a free state and was a resident , but then moved back to a slave state. He argued in court that he should be considered free and he should also be allowed to sue. The court decided against him though and they said since he was an Africana-American he is not and never will be considered a citizen, and saying that he was still a slave. This case later leads to the creation of the 13 and 14 amendments. -
Houses Divided Speech
This was Lincolns famous speech that includes the quote "a house divided against itself cannot stand on it's own." He gave this speech at the 1858 Illinois Republican state convention. this speech led him to be chosen to run for the Republican side against Stephen A. Douglas. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
During the Freeport Debate Lincoln asked Douglas if popular sovereignty could allow settlers to get rid of slavery before joining the union. Douglas had responded with yes and said territories should choose not to enforce Dred Scott by withholding the protection for slave holds under the local law, he said this is known as the Freeport Doctrine, (he basically said if you don’t enforce rules that allow slavery than slavery cannot exist). -
LeCompton Constitution
This was the creation of a constitution by pro-slave advocates, and this constitution that they made up contained clauses on why slaveholding should be protected, it also included a bill of rights that excluded the freeing of blacks. This just proceeded to add to the tension that would be the cause of the Civil War. Regardless of the constitution being made Kansas was still admitted into the Union as a free state. -
Harpers Ferry
This w as a raid led by John Brown, and this was one of his efforts to start a revolution for the slaves. He chose this ferry because it was an easy gateway and also he understand it was an arsenal at the time. There was only one fatality during this fight and it was George Washington's nephew. -
Election of 1860
This was the 4-way election that lead to Abraham Lincoln becoming the president. Lincoln went against John C. Breckinridge, Stephen A. Douglas, and john bell. This lead to serious division like this in the United States -
Lincolns First Inaugural Address
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address happened on March 4, and he wrote the whole speech by himself. He did go over his speech with a journalist named Ben Perley Poore and they had changed several sentences several times. 4 copies of the same address were made and had been locked away. Part of the reason it took Lincoln so long to write this was because he didn't want to say anything that could possibly upset the North or the South too much. -
Secession
A Secession is the act of withdrawing from a federation/ body, or political state. In this case it happened in America before and during the Civil war. The states that all left were North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, and Tennessee. After they had left 50 counties remained in the Union and all of them were west of Virginia. The reason why the slave states seceded was because they feared that slavery was about to be outlawed.
