-
1855 BCE
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas describes the period of repeated outbreaks of violent guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas in 1854. In all, some 55 people were killed between 1855 and 1859. -
Missouri Compromise
an agreement made by Congress in 1820 under which Missouri was admitted to the Union as a state with slavery and Maine was admitted as a state without slavery -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner's Rebellion, also known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831, led by Nat Turner. The rebels killed between 55 and 65 people, at least 51 of whom were White. -
Gag Rule
On this date, during the 24th Congress (1835–1837), the U.S. House of Representatives instituted the “gag rule,” the first instance of what would become a -
Wilmot Proviso
a proposal made in 1846 to prohibit slavery in the territory added to the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War -
Harreit Tubman escapes slavery
Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. -
Compromise of 1850
the agreements made in order to admit California into the Union as a state without slavery. These agreements included allowing the New Mexico and Utah territories to decide whether to allow slavery, outlawing the trade of enslaved people in Washington, D.C., and creating a stronger fugitive slave law. -
Lincoln–Douglas debate
The Lincoln–Douglas debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War". -
kansas-nebraska act
repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty -
Dred Scott Decision
a Supreme Court decision in 1857 that held that African Americans could never be citizens of the United States and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional -
John Brown raids Harpers Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown, from October 16 to 18, 1859, to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. It has been called the dress rehearsal for, or Tragic Prelude to, the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln elected
The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 6, 1860.