Top 9 Events That Led To The Civil War

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    Top 9 Events That Led to The Civil War

  • The Mexican War Ended

    The Mexican War Ended
    With the end of the Mexican War, America was ceded western territories.Congress passed the Compromise of 1850 which basically made California free and allowed the people to pick in Utah and New Mexico.
  • Fugitive Slave Act

    Fugitive Slave Act
    The Fugitive Slave Act was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850. This act forced any federal official who did not arrest a runaway slave liable to pay a fine.
  • Uncle Tom's Cabin Was Released

    Uncle Tom's Cabin Was Released
    This book, which was a best seller at the time, had a huge impact on the way that northerners viewed slavery. It helped further the cause of abolition and even Abraham Lincoln recognized that this book was one of the events that led to the outbreak of the Civil War.
  • Bleeding Kansas shocked Northerners

    Bleeding Kansas shocked Northerners
    The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed allowing the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide for themselves using popular sovereignty whether they wanted to be free or slave.
  • Charles Sumner is Attacked by Preston on the Floor of the Senate

    Charles Sumner is Attacked by Preston on the Floor of the Senate
    Border Ruffians ransacked Lawrence, Kansas which was known to be a staunch free-state area.
  • Dred Scott Decision

    Dred Scott Decision
    In 1857, Dred Scott lost his case proving that he should be free because he had been held as a slave while living in a free state.
  • Lecompton Constitution Rejected

    Lecompton Constitution Rejected
    In 1857, the Lecompton Constitution was created allowing for Kansas to be a slave state. Pro-slavery forces supported by President James Buchanan attempted to push the Constitution through the US Congress for acceptance
  • John Brown Raided Harper's Ferry

    John Brown Raided Harper's Ferry
    On October 16, 1859, he led a group of seventeen including five black members to raid the arsenal located in Harper's Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). His goal was to start a slave uprising using the captured weapons.
  • Abraham Lincoln Was Elected President

    Abraham Lincoln Was Elected President
    Lincoln agreed with the majority of the Republican Party that the South was becoming too powerful and made it part of their platform that slavery would not be extended to any new territories or states added to the union.