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John Brown
John Brown started his Anti-Slavery crusade in 1849. He went into Kansas to combat pro-slavery forces trying to expand slavery, participated in the Pottawatomie Massacre, and later attacked Harper Ferry. On December 2, 1859, due to his actions he was hung. His death made him a martyr to the anti-slavery movement. This would drive even further divisions between the North and South, as he attacked the pro-slavery movement with violence. The South even called him a fanatic. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The book, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, detailed a real story of a slave called Uncle Tom. The story showed many horrors of the slave experience to light. The book was extremely popular. The North felt sympathy for the slaves for this, strengthening their movement. The South however, banned the book, and purchasers never received it. They also denounced it and some, in both North and South, sued Stowe for defamation. This book led Lincoln to say she was the one who started the Civil War. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
This was where Brooks walked into the senate floor and beat Sumner mid session of the senate, while Sumner was at his desk. Following the event, the North was very much outraged at this beating. The South however, was very happy, and Brooks got new canes sent to him as celebration, kind of a "do it again" message. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The act organized the Kansas and Nebraska territories, and repealed the Missouri Compromise. The act opened up both Kansas and Nebraska to the ideas of popular sovereignty when it came to deciding if it were to be free or a slave state. This led to Bleeding Kansas, which Lincoln would later attack in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. The event would also lead to the creation of the Republican Party -
Bloody Kansas
After the Kansas-Nebraska act, pro-slave and anti-slave believers rushed into Kansas to try and sway the vote in their favor. The conflict turned deadly though, with many fights and fatalities between the sides, and burned towns. The Pro-Slaves won, but their constitutions being denied by Congress, anti-slave forces were able to create a constitution and submit it, entering Kansas as a free state. This infuriated the south, as they believed Kansas would be a slave state. -
Creation of the Republican Party
The first meeting of the party took place in July of 1854. However, the party was announced as an official unified political party in 1856. The party came from the dying breath of what was left of the dead Whig party. Directly created due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Republican Party was founded by Horace Greeley, Salmon Chase, and many others. It was created to combat the flood of pro-slavery into the Kansas territory, and prevent something like it from happening again. -
Election of 1856
This was the first election where the Republican Party was an option. Though this was not their victory, as they were very harsh on getting rid of slavery. The Democrats took advantage of this, saying that doing so could break the union. Seeing a pro-slavery president, the North were very much not a fan of this at all, and would kind of sorta make them upset. -
Dred Scott
The decision of Dred Scott's case in the Supreme Court was not good for the union. The case upheld slavery, declared the Missouri compromise unconstitutional, and denied any black person from being a free person no matter the state. The South would obviously be happy, but the North was furious. It completely steamrolled their ideas, and said that even in their free states, slaves are still slaves, and are not legally free men. -
LeCompton Constitution
This was the second proposed constitution of Kansas. It was very much in favor of slavery. This, like all the pro-slavery constitutions, was denied. This would anger the South very much. They won the popular sovereignty of Kansas, but were denied such victory. This would be even worse when an anti-slave constitution was accepted by Congress. -
House Divided Speech
This was a speech given by Abraham Lincoln where he basically said that the union could not stay half slave half free forever. For the safety of the union, he advises to get rid of slavery, which the South obviously hated. This would further divide the thoughts of the North and South. -
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Lincoln Douglas Debates
These were a long string of debates between Abraham Lincoln on the issues of the Union and how it cannot function forever as half slave half anti-slave. Or at least that is what Lincoln thought. During these debates, Douglas attacked Lincoln by painting him a dangerous radical, while Lincoln attacked popular sovereignty in regards to Bleeding Kansas. Douglas' arguments won him the senate election that year, but divided the Democratic party, as he angered the South. -
Harper's Ferry
On the evening of the 16 of October, John Brown and a small group of his followers, attacked Harper's Ferry Amory. Brown did this as a way to protest slavery, and push for abolition. This would be a failure, and enraged the South. After his capture, Brown was interviewed, arrested, and then put to death for the raid. -
Election of 1860
The election was between 4 candidates, due to the fact that the Democratic Party was still split. In the election, Bell, Douglas, and Breckinridge would all fall short of winning the election, losing to Lincoln. All four wished to preserve the Union, but the results flipped this goal. South Carolina, (because of course it was them), was very much upset about this, starting the secession train. -
Secession.
Secession started with South Carolina's secession, of course, because whenever inconvenience happens they threaten it. The last to secede was North Carolina. The start of the secession was due to Abraham Lincoln's victory in the election of 1860, in fear he would abolish slavery in the states. North Carolina seceded on May 20 of 1861, after Lincoln requested to use their forces to quell the rebellion at Fort Sumter. That was the last of the secessions from the Union. -
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Adress
This was the speech that Lincoln gave accepting his presidency, where he basically said that the union cannot fall apart, and that it could not stay half slave and half free. This would be following most secessions, and that the previous president did nothing to stop the secessions. This was essentially damage control. It didn't work, of course.