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Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner's rebellion was the biggest slave revolt up to that time, and included many slaves who killed close to 60 people in Southhampton County, Virginia. The rebellion led to tougher laws and regulations on slavery, which then rallied for more abolitionist support. -
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Events Leading up to the Civil War
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Abolition
Abolitionists were people who supported the emancipation of slaves, and they continued to fight for the freedom of African Americans throughout the time before and during the Civil War. Disputes and conflict were results of the differing opinions of the North and South. -
Mexican American War
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Mexican American War
The Mexican American War was sparked after the annexation of Texas by the United States. Besides the obvious conflict with Mexico, a few conscience Whig politicians of the U.S. were upset, calling the war and addition of California and other Western Territories a conspiracy for the addition of slave states. The Whigs also disagreed with the war against Mexico altogether. -
Free-Soil Movement
Free Soilers were a political party formed as a branch off of the Whig Party who had the same views as the Whigs, which were the ideas of emancipation, but pushed for the preservation of land for farmers, and they wanted to oppose the slave power conspiracy that would take away republican rights. They wanted new territories to be free states so that southern plantation owners wouldn't dominate the farming land. -
1850 Crisis and Compromise
The disagreements over slavery continued as the possible addition of new territories continued. Southern states wanted slavery in the new states/territories, and the Northern states the opposite. The compromise prevented the South's secession due to the disagreements, and consisted of 5 laws split between the favor of the North and South. -
Fugitive Slave Law
The Fugitive Slave Law was a part of the condition of the compromise of 1850, and ensured that all federal officials were responsible for the returning of all runaway slaves to their owners. Slaves were harshly punished for running away, and ensuring their return meant more punishment. -
Bleeding Kansas
The term "Bleeding Kansas" refers to the conflict regarding the addition of Kansas to the U.S. as a free state or a slave state between the Union and Confederate states. Besides the political side of conflict, legitimate disputes broke out in the territory of Kansas which caused lives to be lost. Though this was not the first conflict, it was a major step towards the Civil War. -
Depletion of Whig Party
By 1856 the Whig party had split on multiple issues, especially the issues over slavery which included the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and caused the party members to become either Democrats or the newly formed Republicans. Even strong influential Whig leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln, left the party which eventually led to its entire decline. This left all of the political tension between the Democrats and Republicans. -
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner was an advocate against slavery, and often spoke out strongly against those who supported slavery. One incident, was his speech against Sentator Andrew Butler who supported slavery in Kansas. Preston Brooks, the cousin of Butler, proceeded to beat Sumner with a cane for the previously spoken words against Butler. -
Dred Scott Case
The ruling of the Dred Scott case was a very controversial ruling of that time. The Supreme Court ruled that slaves could not be citizens, and therefore were not allowed to sue in federal court. Also, the Supreme Court stated that they were not responsible for the controlling of slavery in free states. -
John Brown Conflict
John Brown was an abolitonist who took the means of eliminating pro-slave citizens to the extreme. He had hatched a plan on attacking in the town Harpers Ferry with an army of armed slaves, but lost the revolt to Robert E. Lee's soldiers. John Brown is also known for killing pro-slave families. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln's view on slavery was as follows: he strongly opposed the expansion of slavery, was working for emancipation of slavery, and pushing for the colonization of freed African slaves. He won the election of 1860 because of these views, which were more realistic than the other candidates, who were demanding abolition. However, his election caused conflict because some Southern states had already seeded from the Union and other states would follow becasue of disagreeing views.
