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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in two volumes as an anti-slavery novel. Even months after its release, it was able to bring the concept of slavery alive for some Northerners who had no first-person experience of its horrors. For Southerners, it was a far less than adequate expression of one of their firm traditions. This book further divided beliefs and is considered one foundational cause of the Civil War. -
Republican Party
Former members of the Whig Party met to create a new group to oppose the spread of slavery into the West. This party rapidly gained support in the North and further divided America into two. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This act repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing for two new territories to be created and popular sovereignty to be reinstated. This meant it was up to the states to decide whether slavery would be legal in their territory or not. People's strong opinions led to a lot of conflict and violence on this issue. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri who resided in Illinois (free territory) with his master for over 10 years. He argued that his residency there made him a free man even if he didn't live there his whole life. In the Supreme Court case Scott v. Sanford, the Court ruled that no person of African descent could legally be a citizen of the United States. This proved to be one of the most controversial decisions made by the Supreme Court and prompted a lot of outrage with antislavery figures. -
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Bloody Kansas
Bloody or Bleeding Kansas was a series of uprisings over the issue of whether or not Kansas should find slavery legal under the Kansas-Nebraska Act. John Brown first made a name for himself during this period fighting on the anti-slavery side of the skirmishes. -
Election 1856
This three-way election was one of the most heated prefacing the Civil War. Democratic candidate, James Buchanon, won the presidency voicing his beliefs of popular sovereignty and in support of slavery. Republican candidate, John Freemont, campaigned against the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act but lost. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
Pro-slavery democratic representative Preston Brooks attacks abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with his walking cane on the Senate floor. This incident sparked considerable outrage as Sumner never fully recovered from his injuries and Brooks refused to apologize or explain his actions. -
House Divided Speech
This speech, given by Abraham Lincoln years before his presidency, laid the claim that a nation so aggressively divided could not function as a whole. The states needed to be one within the union, or else everything would fall apart. This was a good bit of foreshadowing on his part. -
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Lincoln Douglas Debates
These were a series of formal political debates between Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and challenger Stephen Douglas. The main focus of these hour-long discussions was slavery's influence on American politics and society. -
LeCompton Constitution
This was the second constitution drafted for Kansas. It made slavery completely illegal and even protected slave-owners. -
John Brown
John Brown was an anti-slavery figurehead and abolitionist who fought for the rights of black Americans under his execution following the Harper's Ferry revolt. -
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Harper's Ferry
The raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia was an effort by abolitionist John Brown to steal weapons and arm slaves, initiating a slave revolt in the Southern States. It's been considered the dress rehearsal to the Civil War. -
Election 1860
This was the last election preceding the American Civil war. With four solid candidates, it proved to be very pivotal in dividing the union EVEN more. -
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address
Abraham Lincoln restated his expectation that a nation divided could not stand together and be prosperous. He attempted to quell some of the anger in the Southern states by promising not to mess with territories where slavery was considered legal. This didn't really work out too well. -
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Secession
First South Carolina, then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, etc.
Southern states seceded from the union and claimed to be their own nation. This was the last stepping stone before the American Civil War.