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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This story was about a slaves life and his death. This story would show the brutal reality of the life of a slave at the time which would be one of the main causes of the Civil War. This book would become an instance hit with the public and would go on to be sold in not only the United States, but also in Great Britain. -
Bloody Kansas
Bloody Kansas happened after the Kansas-Nebraska Act. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed for territories to use popular sovereignty to determine if a new state would become a Free or Slave state. Stephen Douglas, creator of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, initially assumed that Nebraska would become free and Kansas would be a slave state to keep the balance. This did not happen because people who were anti slavery would fight pro slavers in bloody conflicts in order for Kansas to become a free state. -
Republican Party
The Republican party was started by Northerners and Abolitionist to be a major Anti-Slavery Party. The Republican party would very quickly become a dominate figure head in politics as it battled the pro-slavery Democrats. The main purpose of the Republican party was to be a force against slavery. Others that supported the Republican party was Northern protestants, free soil farmers, factory workers, businessman, and after the civil war former slaves also voted Republican. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was created by the Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas. The Act would split the land from the Louisiana purchase into Kentucky and Nebraska. It would also include Popular sovereignty for the new territories which would allow the people to choose by majority to be a free or slave state. Stephen Douglas assumed that Nebraska would be free and Kansas would be slave. This would also reappeal the 36-30 line from the Missouri compromise. Also made California a free state. -
Election 1856
The election would be against James Buchanan (Democrat), John C. Fremont (Republican), and Millard Fillmore(Know Nothing). This was the first election to have the Republican party in the Runnings for office. James Buchanan won this elections which caused Democrats, who were mostly pro-slavery, to win. This introduction of the Republican party would be major in the divide that was created with the opinions on slavery. -
Brooks-Sumner incident
Charles Sumner who was a Abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts. Sumner made a speech two days before the attack where he criticized slave owners but more specifically South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler who was Preston Brook's uncle. Preston Brooks who was apart of the House of Representatives for South Carolina marched into a Senate meeting and beat Sumner Mercilessly with a cane that broke in the altercation. This would lead to both of them being seen as heroes by their respective sides. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a African American slave. He and his wife Harriet Scott attempted to sue their owner John Sandford for their freedom since they was in a free state at the time. In the local courts, Scott and his family would be freed but their owner would take them to the Supreme court. The supreme court would rule in favor of Sandford with 7-2. The reason was because they said that Scott did not have the right to sue in the first place. This denied the legality of African Americans in America. -
LeCompton Constitution
The Lecompton Convention was took place in Lecompton Kansas in 1857. This convention was an attempt by Robert Walker, who was the governor, to make a choice on if Kansas would become a free or slave state. These conventions would not be very split since anti-slavers did not really go to them for some feared they may die. When they would do the voting, pro-slavers would come from out of state like Missouri to rig the votes if favor of slave state which is why they discarded this convention. -
House Divided Speech
Abraham Lincoln gave this house divided speech in 1858. This speech was about how slavery was seriously dividing the Nation. He talks about the Dred Scott case and how that case could open the doors to slavery being present in free states and in the North. His main goal with this speech was to inform the people that this divide will inevitable cause a disunion. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
The Lincoln Douglas Debates would consist of seven different debates against both presidential candidates. These debates would all be targeted towards one subject which would be slavery and its expansion. Both candidates would debate over their parties belief on slavery which would assist in the Union's divide. -
John Brown
John Brown was a Abolitionist. He became first known for his fighting during the Bloody Kansas. John Brown would lead a group of his men to the Harper's Ferry raid in which they would take it over and take all of the weapons. He took these weapons to hand out to slaves to start a revolt with the slaves. After the Harper's Ferry raid, John Brown would be prosecuted and put to death by hanging for this crime. He would be so impactful because he was a white man willing to die to end slavery. -
Harper's Ferry
Harper's Ferry was a small town that had a federal armory that was located there. John Brown gathered a group of men to lay siege onto this town to kill the people there and claim all of the weaponry. This was all done so that he could cause a slave revolt with the weapons that were found at this arsenal. After he gathered all the weapons, he passed them around to the local slaves to revolt against their owners which they did. -
Election 1860
The people that were running in this Election were Abraham Lincoln(Republican), Stephen Douglas(Democrat), John Breckinridge(Southern Democrat), and John Bell(Constitutional Union). Abraham Lincoln would win in both popular vote and in electoral vote which made it a landslide victory. There were two different Democrat candidates because the party was so heavily divided by slavery. With the new President being Anti-Slavery, this would be a cause for the southern secession. -
Secession
After Lincoln was put into office, eleven southern slave states would choose to secede from the Union. This secession would be the main kickoff of the Civil war as in predicted in Abraham Lincoln's House Divided speech, the south would secede and now the Union is now split. During the split the North would be called the Union and the South would be called the Confederacy. -
Lincoln's 1st inaugural Address
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address would be directed both to the North and the South. This address was an attempt to reconcile with the South by saying that they can join back with the Union and that he would not both the slavery that is already present in the state. His whole goal of the speech was to try and fix the separated union and prevent Civil War. He would not attack the South unless they do so first because he knew that the first major attack could be the cause of a Civil War.