Civil war opening

Events Leading to the Civil War by Destinee Baxter

  • The FIRST Missouri Compromise

    The  FIRST Missouri Compromise
     People fought over slavery.
    A time where Slavery was in the western territories, and it was prohibited for slavery in the former Louisiana Territory, north of the 36, 30 N except within Missouri. This was suppose to be Intended to keep balance between free and slaved states.
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    Events Leading to the Civil War

  • Texas Annexation

    Texas Annexation
    The Republic of Texas is admitted to the Union as the 28th state
    Then, the U.S. inherited Texas' border dispute with Mexico which led to the Mexican-American War.
  • Wilmot Proviso

    Wilmot Proviso
    Proposed by Congressman David Wilmot, it would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War ,But it failed to pass in the Senate (where the South had more representation.)
  • Mexican Cession

    Mexican Cession
    The region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S. in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
  • California Gold Rush

    California Gold Rush
     Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California
     By 1849, a flood of 49ers head west looking for gold
    Cities like San Francisco grew quickly, because fo gold.
    The railroad stretched from coast to coast.California grows so quickly, it becomes eligible to become a state.
  • The Fugitive Slave Act

     The Fugitive Slave Act
    The was a law requiring that all runaway slaves must be returned to their masters. Abolitionists saw it as an attempt to spread slavery to the North. Free Blacks were often kidnapped and taken into slavery It all just led to more anti-slavery resistance in the North.
  • The Compromise of 1850

    The Compromise of 1850
    Designed by Henry Clay to create a compromise between slave and free states. Mexican Cession states - could decide for themselves on free or slave. Slave trade banned in Washington, DC.Daniel Webster supported it for the sake of the union. Stephen Douglas had the job of winning passage. By the end of September, Douglas succeeded and the plan, now known as the compromise of 1850 became a law!
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin

     Uncle Tom's Cabin
    It was an Anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was the 2nd best, selling book of the 19th century (1800s) after the Bible. Lincoln supposedly said to Stowe: "So this is the little lady who started this Great War."
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

     Kansas-Nebraska Act
    Created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement. It also, repealed the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory.Then Pro- and anti-slavery elements flooded into Kansas with the goal of voting slavery up or down, leading to conflicts there.
  • 1854-1861: Bleeding Kansas.

    A time when mass immigration to Kansas by pro- and anti- slavery people. It was inspired by an incident in the US Senate, John Brown and his followers attack and kill a large group of pro-slavery people.
  • 1855: The Attack on Charles Sumner

    1855: The Attack on Charles Sumner
    In 1855 Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech in the US Senate. S. Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks attacked him with his cane because he didn't like what was said. Sumner was so badly injured he can't work for 3 years. The event angered anti-slavery activists like John Brown.
  • John Brown

    John Brown
    In 1855, after assisting the escape of several slaves, Brown and his five sons moved to Kansas just after that territory had been opened for the possible expansion of slavery by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. He and his sons murdered five reputedly proslavery settlers who lived along Pottawottamie Creek.
  • Dred Scott Case

    Dred Scott Case
    Dred Scott and his wife were slaves. He went to court because he was taken by owner to live in states and territories where slavery was illegal. So he sued for his freedom. In the end, the case went to the Supreme Court. He was ruled property, not a person, under the law. Making everyone angry.
  • The Attack on Harpers Ferry.

    The Attack on Harpers Ferry.
    John Brown leads an unsuccessful attack on Harpers Ferry, attempting to get weapons to arm slaves.he was captured and hanged. Then becomes a martyr for the abolitionist cause. And convinces South that abolitionists are causing slave rebellions.
  • 1860: The Election of Lincoln

    1860: The Election of Lincoln
    Divisions in the South allow the Republicans to win the presidency. Though Lincoln has told them he will not end slavery, Southern states declare they will secede.
  • Abe becomes #16

    Abe becomes #16
    Abraham Lincoln was Elected President (November 6, 1860). He was from the northern part of the country and wanted to put an end to slavery. The southern states didn't want him president or making laws that would affect them.
  • South Carolina Secedes

    South Carolina Secedes
    South Carolina Secedes (Dec. 20, 1860) - South Carolina became the first state to secede, or leave, the United States. They decided to make their own country rather than be part of the USA. Within a few months several other states including Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana would also leave the Union.
  • The Confederation is formed (Feb. 9, 1861

    The Confederation is formed (Feb. 9, 1861
    The southern states form their own country called the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis is their president.
  • Lincoln Takes Action

    Lincoln Takes Action
    (March 4, 1861) - Lincoln is in office, and wants to restore the Union. In other words, get all the states back into the same country.
  • The Civil War Begins

    The Civil War Begins
    The Civil War Begins (April 12, 1861) - The South attacks Fort Sumter South Carolina and starts the war.