-
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, this novel opposed slavery and was not well received by the south. It was said to have ignited the civil war’s tensions. -
Republican Party
The Republican Party was the result of the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854. The act destroyed the Whig Party, and divided the Democratic Party. The Republican Party’s primary demand would be to eliminate slavery from all territories. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This Act is what followed the Missouri Compromise. It declared that popular sovereignty would be what decided the slave status of a state, rather than it’s location. Later on, this act would be declared unconstitutional by the Dred Scott court case. This caused heightened tensions, as now both sides had to “campaign” to the people to decide on slavery. Those tensions led to conflicts, such as Bloody Kansas. -
Election of 1856
During this election slavery played a key factor. Senator Douglas also advocated for popular sovereignty. -
Bloody Kansas
As a result of high tensions between pro and anti slavers, 800 proslavery men came into Lawrence, Kansas. They intended to arrest the anti-slavers and ransack the town, which they did. In the end one man died and $400,000 of damage was done. This attack made the north very angry and inspired the south to be more radical. -
Dred Scott(March 6, 1857)
The Dred Scott court case dealt with the questions of if slaves were citizens, if slavery could be banned or limited (if the MS compromise was constitutional) and if slaves were free in free states. The court ruled that slaves were not citizens, it was unconstitution to limit slavery and that slaves were still property in free states. As a result, the North became very upset. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
The Lincoln Douglas Debates were a series of debates brought into focus during the election campaign for U.S. senator from Illinois. These debates were made to be Douglas’s strategy to winning the election by making Lincoln out to seem as though his goal was to incite civil war, emancipate the slaves, and make African-Americans the social and political equals of whites. -
Harper’s Ferry(October 16, 1859)
Led by John Brown, this was an attempt to siege the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. It started out successfully with Brown’s 21 men capturing the arsenal with almost no resistance, the farmers soon gathered their weapons and fought Brown’s militia. The fighting lasted two days, with two failed attempts to surrender by Brown. In the end Lee’s marines stormed and reclaimed the arsenal. Only five of Brown’s men escaped without dying or being captured -
John Brown(December 2, 1859 (death
John Brown was executed on December 2nd of 1859, after being found guilty of treason. He was one of the leading figures for the abolitionist movement and used Christianity to justify his radical actions. He was born on May 9th in 1800. -
Election of 1860
Had the Republican, Lincoln, run against the Democrat, Douglas, the Southern democrat, Breckinridge, and the Union, Bell. Slavery was the man topic at hand and Lincoln ended up winning the election merely on electoral votes. This marked the turning point from civil disagreement to civil fights and separation. -
Period: to
Secession
After Lincoln became president the south felt their voices would not be heard and that slavery was under attack. So they succeeded in this order: SC (dec 20th 1860) MS (Jan 9th 1861) FL (Jan 10th 1861) AL (Jan 11th 1861) GA (Jan 19th 1861) LA (Jan 26th 1861) TX (Feb 1st 1861) VA (April 17th 1861) AR (may 6th 1861) NC (may 20th 1861) TN (June 8th 1861)