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Missouri Compromise
On March 6 1820, the Missouri compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time, so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation. The significance of the Missouri compromise is it maintained a delicate balance between free and slave states.It marked the beginning of the prolonged sectional conflict over the extension of slavery. -
Abolitionist movement
The abolitionist movement was an organized effort to end the practice of slavery in the United States.The Abolitionist movement in the United States was an attempt to eliminate slavery in a country that valued individual liberty and believed that “all men are created equal.” Slave owners dug in as abolitionists became louder in their demands, aggravating regional tensions that eventually led to the American Civil War. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
Nat Turner's Rebellion ignited a culture of fear in Virginia that eventually spread to the rest of the South, and is said to have expedited the coming of the Civil War. Nat Turners action set off a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of slaves and stiffened proslavery. Nat Turner's rebellion led to the passage of a series of new laws. -
Harper's Ferry
Harpers Ferry was used by freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. Free and enslaved people of color fought with John Brown to end American slavery.Although the raid failed, it inflamed sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown's raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and thus became an important impetus of the Civil War. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny is the belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.The rapid expansion of the United States intensified the issue of slavery as new states were added to the Union, leading to the outbreak of the Civil War. Manifest Destiny caused the Civil War because it led to western expansion which in turn agitated the slavery controversy between the North and South. -
Texas Annexation
The U.S. annexation of Texas and a dispute over the area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River brought about the Mexican-American War. The Texas Annexation was a series of events that led to Texas joining the United States as the 28th state in the Union on December 29, 1845. The annexation of Texas was a direct cause of the Mexican-American War and contributed to the growing section divide over slavery that led to the Civil War in 1861. -
Mexican American War
The Mexican American war is a dispute between America and Mexico which led to America gaining a large amount of new territory. But, the acquisition of so much territory with the issue of slavery unresolved lit the fuse that eventually set off the Civil War. It paved the way for so many other important events, from the expansion and dispossession of indigenous people, the California Gold Rush, and American Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
The ten-year armistice established by the compromise only pushed the nation further against slavery, making many in the South fear the end of slavery, and many in the North crave the end of slavery, the very issue which would push the South to secede after Abraham Lincoln's election as president.The Compromise of 1850 acted as a temporary truce on the issue of slavery, primarily addressing the status of newly acquired territory after the Mexican-American War. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln was elected in 1860 and the reaction of the nation was swift and tragic. Southern states began to succeed, removing themselves from the Union and forming the confederate states of America. By March 4th 1861, when the First Inaugural was delivered, the rebellion was in motion and the Civil War seemed invetible. The election of 1860 proved to be the breaking point for an already unstable nation. -
Southern Secession
The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South. The secession of South Carolina precipitated the outbreak of the American Civil War in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861. Southern states seceded from the union in order to protect their states' rights, the institution of slavery, and disagreements over tariffs.