-
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a fiction novel written by Harriet Stowe. It was about a man named Uncle Tom and his life as a slave. The novel focused the the evils of slavery and the bad treatment of slaves in the South. About 2 million copies of the book were sold by 1857 and it increased tensions between the North and the South. Almost all people who live in the North owned or read the book and the majority of Southerners refused to read or sell
the book. -
Period: to
Bloody Kansas
This was also known as the Border War. Which was a series of very violent civil fights. All of these fights emerged from a political debate that was over making slavery legal in Kansas or not. -
The Republican Party
This party was also known as the Grand Old Party. There rival is the democratic party. This causes them to be both present in today's political parties. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act was passed by the US in 1854. This act allowed people that were in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether their territory would allow slavery or not. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that said slavery was not legal north of 36,30 latitude line. -
Election of 1856
The 1856 election was made up of the Democratic candidate James Buchanan and Republican candidate John Fremont. James Buchanan won and was president during a very divided time in the United States. After the election conflicting opinions over voter fraud caused great problems, especially in Kansas. At the time, Kansas was experiencing a time of internal conflict and was nicknamed Bloody Kansas because of all the battles and bloodshed. The results of the election 1856 didn't help. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
Brooks was a South Carolina pro slavery democrat that attacked the senator at the time, Charles Sumner, with his cane. This incident was all over the speech that Sumner gave 2 days prior which was about he was bashing the slaveholders. Preston Brooks was a slave holder so that means that he was bashing Brooks. This event basically led to the Civil War. This event also almost killed Sumner. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave whose owner moved Scott. Missouri was a free state so Scott sued his owner believing that since he was in a free state he should be a free person. Scott lost the case because it was ruled that he wasn’t a citizen, he was property. Also, the court ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, therefore limiting popular sovereignty. The ruling conflicted with many people’s views at that time and increased the tension between proslavery supporters and abolitionist. -
House Divided Speech
This speech was given by Abraham Lincoln at the Springfield, Illinois State Capitol. After he was given that chance to be the Republican Party’s nomination as the state’s US senator. -
Period: to
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
These were a series of about 7 debates between Lincoln and Douglas. Douglas was the senator of Illinois and Abraham Lincoln and this time was the republican candidate in the run for candidacy. -
Harper's Ferry
This was efforted by John Brown to arm the slaves in the southern states and he did this by invading the US's arsenal that is at Harper's Ferry. -
John Brown
John Brown was an abolitionist that attempted to start an armed slave revolt. Brown was known for helping slaves reach freedom from slavery by taking them into Canada. He was also known for attacking and killing pro-slavery supporters. Brown attacked a Federal Arsenal in attempt to steal weapons but failed. He was tried and found guilty of treason, and was executed on December 2nd 1859. -
secession
The first state to officially succeed from the Union was South Carolina. This was due to the election of President Abraham Lincoln into office. South Carolina’s secession caused many other states to follow their example. By March of 1861, 7 states had succeeded from the Union. This was the start of the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln won because of the divide in the Democratic party due to slavery. Lincoln was greatly disliked by the Democratic party, pro-slavery supports, and Southerners. His win caused South Carolina to secede from the Union and essentially resulted in the outbreak of the Civil War.