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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and was an anti-slavery that profoundly effected the feelings of Slavery in the United States. The Northerners were angry at the injustices of slavery and the South was admit that the book greatly misrepresented how slavery was in the South, increasing tensions between the two. -
Republican Party
The left over Anti-Slave Whig Party members began to meet in upper Western States to establish the Republican Party in reaction to the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which did away with the Missouri Compromise, Popular Sovereignty, and cause the dissolvement of the Whig Party in the first place. The newly established Republican Party grew rapidly in the North and gave the divided Democratic party competition within the next election. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act deemed the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional as the government could not decide which states were free and slave states. They instead wanted the states to decide according to the rules of Popular Sovereignty, which then cause more controversy between the two sides of the argument as to whether Slavery was legal or not. This conflict rose to such heights that it would eventually led into what is now called Bloody Kansas. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, as it is now called, refers to the outbreaks of violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act a year before, and served as a bump that would push to U.S. closer to the up and coming Civil War. -
Election of 1856
This election marked the first time that a member from the Republican Party ran for President. -
Brooks-Summer incident
In this incident, also know as the Caning of Charles Summer, occurred when a debate over the legality of slavery in the U.S. Senate floor turned violent. This caused an even further divide between Northern abolitionists and pro-slavery democrats. The abolitionists could not believe that the democrats would go as far as to beat someone half to death over a debate, and the democrats encouraged more violence to occur. -
Dred Scott
The Dred Scott v Sanford ruled that people of African decent could not become American citizens, and deemed them property. This caused an outrage within the Northern States, where they declared that this case was just a decision to eventually legalize slavery across the United States, and was widely ignored and denounced in Northern States. -
Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution was created by pro-slavery advocates in an attempt to get Kansas to become a state faster to stop the violence. While doing this however, they still included slavery in the constitution and would continue to view those of African decent as property. Kansas overwhelming rejected this constitution which just ended up created even more tensions between the two. -
House divided speech
Lincoln's famous "House Divided Speech," where he said that "It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new-North as well as South." This was taken as a threat from the proslavery advocates and increased tensions. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates was a series of debates where the two traveled across the nation to debate about the spread of slavery with an audience. Douglas was adamant that states should be able to choose whether they were free or slave states, which would come back to bite him in the later elections. -
Harper's Ferry
John Brown raided Harper's Ferry to take possession of the of the arsenal held there and to establish a stronghold of freed slaves within the South. This event increased Southern fears of slave rebellion and was yet another kickstart to the Civil War. -
John Brown
John Brown was a Republican abolitionist who led the raid on Harper's Ferry. He believed that slavery was an act against god, and thought himself has an extension of the hand of god. He was executed on December 2nd, 1859, and was one of the major reasons of the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
In this election, Abraham Lincoln was elected President over the split Democratic candidates. This immediately caused much of the south to threaten succession. This is where you can begin to see all of the tensions that have built up over time to spill over into war. -
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address was Lincoln's attempt to calm the nerves of the South. He told them that their rights to "property" would not be infringed. This did not work however, and half of the southern slave states would secede immediately, and the other half would do so after the first battle of the Civil War. -
Secession
After Lincoln's inauguration, all of the southern states threatened to secede from the nation. The bottom half did not long after the inauguration, and the other half waited until war had broken out. This marked the beginning of the Civil War.