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Uncle Tom's Cabin published
An anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War". -
Kansas- Nebraska Act
created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement -
Republican Party Forms
The Republican Party was officially formed in Jackson, Michigan when a group of men who belonged to various splinter parties met and adopted the name Republican. -
Sumner beaten by Brooke
a member of the House of Representatives entered the Senate chamber and savagely beat a senator into unconsciousness. -
Brown's Pottawatomie Massacre
John Brown and his company of Free State volunteers murdered five men settled along the Pottawatomie Creek -
Bleeding Kansas
refers to the time between 1854-58 when the Kansas territory was the site of much violence over whether the territory would be free or slave. -
Buchanan becomes president
15th President of the United States, serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. -
Dred Scott decision
United States Supreme Court issues a decision in the Dred Scott case, affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western territories, thereby negating the doctrine of popular sovereignty and severely undermining the platform of the newly created Republican Party. -
Tariff of 1857
a major tax reduction in the United States, creating a mid-century lowpoint for tariffs. -
Panic of 1857
a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. -
Lecompton Constitution rejected
The Lecompton Constitution, the second constitution drafted for Kansas Territory, was written by proslavery supporters. The document permitted slavery, excluded free blacks from living in Kansas, and allowed only male citizens of the United States to vote. There were three separate votes on the Lecompton Constitution: December 21, 1857, January 4, 1858, and August 2, 1858. In the final vote, residents of Kansas Territory rejected the Lecompton Constitution. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the Senate in Illinois, and Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. -
Brown raids Harpers Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. -
Crittenden Compromise fails
unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War. It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional. -
Confederate States of America formed
The Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy, was a government set up in 1861 by seven slave states of the Lower South that had declared their secesion from the Union -
Morrill Tariff Act passed
An American protective tariff law. The act is named after its sponsor, Representative Justin Morrill of Vermont. -
Lincoln takes office
Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in November of 1860. He took office several months later, -
Confederate government formed
A Confederate Government is an alliance formed by a group of independent states .The Confederate States of America existed between 1861 and and 1865. -
Fort Sumter fired upon
The American Civil War begins when Confederates fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. -
First Battle of Bull Run
It was the first real major conflict of the American Civil War. -
Trent Affair
The Trent Affair was the diplomatic crisis that potentially brought Great Britain and the United States closest to war during the first year of the American Civil War. -
Confederacy enacts conscription
The Confederacy enacted the first American military draft on April 16, 1862. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act of 1862, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862.The Homestead Acts were several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. -
National Banking System
The National banking Act, passed by Congress during the Civil War, established a system of nationally chartered banks -
Final Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln -
Union enacts conscription
Union enacts conscription. 1863. Drafts are held for all men of the Union, but mainly immigrants were taken in. Those wealthy enough could pay their way out. -
New York City draft riots
In July 1863, attempts to enforce a Civil War draft measure resulted in the worst civil disturbance in New York City's history -
The Battle of Cold Harbor
Fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864. It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles. -
Hampton Roads Conference
President Lincoln meets with a delegation of Confederate officials to discuss a possible peace agreement. -
13th Amendment ratified
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified.
