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Underground Railroad (1810-1860)
The Underground Railroad was a trail of homes and shelters to help guide runaway slaves to freedom. -
Mexican American War
mostly volunteer US soldiers fought against the Mexicans. after a series of battles, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. It was the first large-scale success of the US military on foreign soil. -
Compromise of 1850
Admitted California as a free state and left Utah and New Mexico up to popular sovereignty. Also defined the Texas-New Mexico boundary, and made it easier for slave owners to recover runaways. -
Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
this act legally required slaves to be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, It focuses on the struggles of a slave named Tom who is continuously being sold from one plantation to the next with no control over his life and the brutality of the slave owners and conditions of life. -
KS-NE Act (1854)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and created two new territories allowing for a popular sovereignty vote to decide whether free or slave. -
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Bleeding Kansas
The period of repeated outbreaks of violent warfare between pro and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas. 55 people were killed. -
Republican Party est. (1854)
The party stemmed from what was previously known as the Whigs and free soilers who were against slavery. The new name Republican was introduced at a local anti-Nebraska meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin. -
Sumner-Brooks Incident
In the United States Senate chamber, Representative Preston Brooks (pro-slavery) used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist. -
Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution is ratified by Kansas voters. This election is tainted, as free-soilers continue to boycott. President James Buchanan submits the Lecompton Constitution to Congress, recommending its approval and the admission of Kansas as a slave state. -
Dred Scott v Sandford (1857)
The Supreme Court stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the US and , therefore, could not expect any protection from the government. -
Panic of 1857
A sudden drop in the US economy that resulted in an economic depression that lasted three years many people lost their jobs. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The first real presidential debate in which both people got to rally back and forth publicly. -
John Brown’s Raid (Harper's Ferry)
John brown- an abolitionist in an effort to free and arm the slaves him and his sons descended on the town and captured citizens and seized the federal armory. ENded in the capture of John brown and later his execution. -
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln the republican candidate won over Stephen Douglas the democrat candidate with only a 40% popular vote but easily won the electoral college. only 5 weeks after he was in office the first shots of the civil war began.