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Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave who tried, and failed, to sue for his freedom and that of his family's.In the case of Dred Scott vs. Sanford, Scott tried to sue his dead master's family for his freedom, since he had lived in free states/territories.The chief justice ruled that blacks could not sue in court, and Congress couldn't prohibit slavery in any state. The Dred Scott case destroyed any remaining agreements between free and slave states, and created national anger that led to the Civil War. -
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John Brown
John Brown was a leading figure in the abolitionist movement before the Civil War. However, unlike most anti-slavery activists, he was not at all a pacifist, and believed in using violence. His first action as part of the abolitionist movement was to join his sons in Kansas, and thus began his legendary career. He plotted the infamous raid on Harper's Ferry, and led his crew in doing it. He refused to surrender when caught, and the raid was a failure. He was hanged on December 2nd. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
This novel, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was written to protest the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. It was very popular both abroad and back at home, and emphasized the differences between the North and the South. While Northerners began to realize just how wrong slavery was, Southerners began to work harder to defend it. The novel caused changes in popular opinions about slavery, that conflicted between the North and South. It led to the creation of the Republican Part -
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Bloody Kansas, AKA the Border War
*exact date is from anywhere between 1854-1856 to 1859-1861
Bloody Kansas is what we call the series of violent civil protests that emerged from the debate over the legality of slavery in Kansas. The Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise, which led both pro-slavery and free state settlers to flood into Kansas in an attempt to influence the decision. This led to a lot of violence and a lot of conflict which led to the civil war. -
Republican Party Founded
The Republican Party was formed in 1854 by former Whig Party members, with the purpose of opposing the spread of slavery to new states/territories. The party was popular up North, and quickly gained supporters. The Republican Party's formation ultimately led to Lincoln's election and the subsequent secession of Southern states. This, in turn, led to the Civil War. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise, and tried to allow popular sovereignty by letting the two states decide whether to be a free or slave state. It directly led to the uprising known as "Bleeding Kansas." It caused tension between the North and South because they both wanted Kansas to be one of "their" states. This caused a shift in the balance of power, which led to the Civil War. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
The Brooks-Sumner Incident/Affair occurred when Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from SC, attacked Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts, with a walking cane while in Congress. The attack was brutal, and Sumner did not return to Congress for 3 years. Brooks was viewed as a Southern hero and a Northern villain. This incident exemplified the ever-growing hostility between the North and South in the time before the war. -
Election of 1856
The election of 1856 occurred after a period of drastic political change. It was a three-way election between three candidates: John C. Frémont, the Republican Party's first presidential candidate, Democrat James Buchanan, and Millard Fillmore. Buchanan won, with 174 electoral votes to Frémont's 114. -
LeCompton Constitution
The LeCompton Constitution was the second of four constitutions proposed for Kansas. It never went into effect, and was created by Southern pro-slavery advocates. It contained a bill of rights excluding free blacks and clauses that protected slavery. It was rejected in a territorial election, but Kansas was granted statehood anyways, as President Buchanan wanted to admit it as a state as soon as possible in response to Bleeding Kansas. -
House Divided Speech Was Given
This speech was given by Abraham Lincoln when he was accepting the Republican nomination for Senate at the former Illinois State Capitol. In this speech, Lincoln states that if the United States truly wanted to be a free country, they had to act now before it was too late. He did not believe that the country could remain being "half-free," but due to a misunderstanding, most people thought Lincoln was calling for a civil war. -
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of 7 public debates between Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas. These debates were mainly focused on slavery and its influence on American politics and society. These debates ultimately propelled Lincoln into the political spotlight. In the end, the Democrats won the Illinois Senate seat, but Lincoln won the publicity that would get him the presidency in 1860. -
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Harper's Ferry Raid
On the night of October 16, abolitionist John Brown and his invasion force of 22 men overran the arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Word began to spread,the men were surrounded by morning of October 17, and were defeated by soldiers. Brown was tried by the state of Virginia and found guilty. He was executed on December 2, 1859. This raised the stakes of the Presidential election and worsened sectional tensions. The raid caused any further accommodation between the North and South to become futile. -
Election of 1860
This election pitted Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln, Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas, Southern Democratic Party nominee John Breckinridge, and Constitutional Union Party nominee John Bell against each other. The main issue of the election was slavery & states' rights. Many Southern states were threatening secession if a Republican candidate won the presidency. Lincoln won, and this caused the southern states to being seceding from the U.S. 11 of them seceded before Lincoln's inauguration. -
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Secession
After the election of Abraham Lincoln, states were beginning to secede.South Carolina seceded from the United States on December 20, 1860. Four months later, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana seceded as well. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee finished seceding on May 21. Jefferson Davis was elected as the Confederate president. This period of secession led directly to the start of the Civil War. -
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
Abraham Lincoln became the sixteenth president of the U.S. and delivered his first inauguration speech on March 4. In this speech. he made a promise not to strip the Southern states of their slaves, and that he would try to help them secure slavery if it kept them happy. However, he kept a firm stance against secession. Many Southern states had already seceded from the U.S. to form the Confederacy. The Civil War began 6 weeks later.
