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Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave act prevented slaves from escaping from their owners and then becoming citizens in the North. Plantation owners would send slave-hunters to find the escaped slaves. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fugitive-slave-acts -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Published
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe against slavery. Stowe even ran into fugitive slaves and event the Underground Railroad. She also met Abraham Lincoln and he said "So this is the little lady who made this big war." http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uncle-toms-cabin-is-published -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act let any new state wishing to enter the United States of America choose whether they wished be a slave state, which would most likely join the Confederacy or a free state most likely joining the Union. Many citizens were very upset with this act and it caused a lot of problems. http://www.history.com/topics/kansas-nebraska-act -
Election of 1860
The 1860 election featured Abraham Lincoln a republican the unlikely winner and John C. Brekinridge a democrat. It was a close contest which many thought Brekinridge would win but Lincoln came out on top. https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1860 -
Battle at Fort Sumter
On April 12th General Beauregard lead his forces into Charleston Harbor, and started firing at the Union garrisoned fort. The next day Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort to the Confederates starting the Civil War. http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fort-sumter.html?referrer/ -
The Monitor vs. The Merrimack
The Battle of Hampton Roads was a naval battle between The Monitor the Merrimack also know as the CSS Virginia.This was the first naval battle between two ironclad ships. The battle started because the Confederate tried to break the Union blockade. http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-hampton-roads -
The Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh also know as the Battle of Pittsburgh Landing was a failed attempt at an ambush by the South that backfired. But both sided suffered heavy losses and the amount shocked both the North and the South. http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-shiloh -
The Emancipation Proclamation
After the victory at the Battle of Antietam President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves. Lincoln's original goal was just to keep the Union together but eventually he found that emancipation was a sound strategy and would be the turning point of the war. http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation -
The Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1st to the 3rd. It was considered the most important battle of the Civil War. It was a decisive victory for the North and the South lost many soldiers. http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburg -
Surrender at Appomattox
On April 9th, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces to the Union Army marking the end of the Civil War. The war lasted a long and bloody four years. http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/appomattox-court-house -
Assassination of President Lincoln
In Ford's Theater John Wilks Booth a actor and confederate sympathizer shot and eventually killed the President of the United States Abraham Lincoln. It was only a couple weeks after the war had ended Lincoln was killed. http://www.history.com/topics/abraham-lincoln-assassination -
Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment finally abolished slavery and any involuntary work was illegal. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/thirteenth-amendment