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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beacher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel that put many of the horrors concerning slavery into writing. While abolitionists and those in the Northern states praised the book and continued to advocate for change, those in the South who supported slavery resented it, further causing division between the states. -
Republican Party
Created by people who were anti-slavery, the republican party consisted mainly of abolitionists in the Northern states. This group was formed after the Whig party split up. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In order to form the two states of Nebraska and Kansas, attempting to balance the amount of slave and non-slave states, the senator of Illinois, Steven Douglas, devised the Nebraska Bill in order to carry out this action. Advocating for popular sovereignty, meaning the two new states could decide for themselves if they were to allow slavery. -
Bloody Kansas
These violent events, between those who supported slavery and those who did not, took place in Kansas since it was like a "battleground" next to Missouri, a slave state at that time. On May 21, 1856, a group who supported slavery stormed into Lawrence, Kansas, a known spot for anti-slavery supporters and the press, and destroyed houses and buildings, even setting a hotel on fire. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
At a Senate meeting in 1856, slavery supporter and South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks beat Republican Abolitionist and Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner to the ground with his cane. Though this Congressional meeting was initially to discuss the happenings in Kansas at the time ("Bleeding Kansas"), it ended up causing more divide not only among citizens but also in Congress as well. -
1856 Election
Taking place during all the violence in Kansas, the citizens elected James Buchanan out of the desire for a less problematic president. Before the results, the country was divided significantly between Buchanan and his opponent, John Fremont. With the country divided over the pro-slavery and anti-slavery concepts, Fremont only had people vote for him in the Northern states, and Buchanan won the election with 174 Electoral votes, while Fremont had 114. -
Dred Scott v Sandford
After Dred Scott and his family's slave owner passed away after they moved to a slave-free state, he applied for his freedom, which was accepted but then revoked in 1852. After this, he attempted to sue his former owner's brother, which brought into question whether or not he was considered a US citizen, and if he had the ability to vote or not. Labeled one of the Court's more controversial decisions, the case was ruled 7-2 against Scott. -
LeCompton Constitution
Created by a group who supported slavery in Kansas, the LeCompton Constitution not only had a Bill of Rights for people except free African Americans, but it also was to make Kansas a slave state. It also claimed states to be able to call for an election to take place, though the only people who had the ability to vote were white men. In the end, this Constitution was never ratified due to its lack of consideration for the people as a whole. -
Lincoln's House Divided Speech
Running for Senate against Stephen Douglas, Lincoln addresses the issues that caused division in the country, the pro-slavery forces versus the anti-slavery forces. Lincoln claimed the outcome of the Dred Scott case would only lead to slavery being allowed in more states, possibly eventually the North as well. Stating that "A house divided against itself cannot stand", he claimed that they needed to be united before nothing more could be done to save them from themselves. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lasting from August 21 until October 15, 1858, the Lincoln-Douglas debates were seven total meetings between the two candidates. The debates mainly tackled the issues at hand such as slavery, popular sovereignty, and the impact that anti-slavery versus slavery had on their society. -
Harper's Ferry
John Brown and a group of men raided an armory located in Harper's Ferry, located in Virginia at the time. Brown and his men hoped to supply slaves with weapons during their escape routes, though this was not the case. Not only did their intentions of having slaves join them in the raid fail, but Robert E. Lee had captured and even killed some of Brown's group, and eventually captured John Brown himself as well. -
Brown's Execution
After he was captured following the attempted raid at Harper's Ferry, John Brown was eventually sentenced to death for his actions. Though many slavery supporters saw him as merely psychotic and evil for his actions, the majority of his support and hero status came from the African Americans at the time. -
1860 Election
The 1860 election featured four different candidates of separate parties: Northern Republicans, Northern Democrats, Constitution Union, and Southern Democrats. All had varying opinions surrounding slavery. In the end, Abraham Lincoln won the election with 180 electoral votes, though he only had 40% of the popular vote. The division between states was at an all-time high, and many Southern states refused to put Lincoln's name on the ballot. -
Start of Slave States' Secession
Being the first of the states to do so, South Carolina announced their secession from the Union on December 12, 1860, at a convention. This was yet another event leading to the Civil War. In January 1861, the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama also broke away from the Union. In addition to this, Texas was the final from the group, seceding on February 1, 1861. -
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
As an effort to try and prevent any type of civil war from occurring, Abraham Lincoln used his first speech as president to prevent everyone from fighting with one another. In this speech, he supports the North but tries not to anger either side. Lincoln also said he didn't want to completely ban slavery in the states where it was already present.