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Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a key factor in the Civil War because the compromise helped defuse tensions building between the proslavery and antislavery political leaders. It also helped the admission of California into the Union as a free state, it helped strengthen the fugitive slave law, and also, it added a motion to delay the determination of the slave status of the New Mexico and Utah territories. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act was an act passed by the people so the settlers in newly organized territories north of Missouri would be able to decide themselves whether slavery would be allowed. The Act resulted in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which heightened political tensions and led to the creation of the Republican Party. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was the violence between proslavery and antislavery settlers in the Kansas Territory in 1856 and it was a key event due to the fact that it was one of the first rupture of violence leading to the Civil War. -
The Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott Decision was a key factor in the Civil War because it stated flatly that blacks had "no rights which the white man was bound to respect" and rejected the right of banning slavery in any territory, causing the inflimation of the North and it hardened the antislavery attitudes. It also created a surge in the population of the newly formed antislavery Republican Party. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were significant to the Civil War because of the topics included in the debates. Most of the topics centered around the idea of slavery and whether or not it would be allowed in the states. It also touched on the states' rights and what they could do. -
Lincoln's Election
Lincoln's Election was an important event in the Civil War due to his anti-slavery attitude. Lincoln actively opposed the expansion of slavery into new western territories and served as one of the most influential advocates of "free soil." Lincoln's Election changed everything because of what he brought to the table. -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was known as the "Opening Ball" aka the site upon which the shots which started the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. -
Bull Run
The Battle of the Bull Run was the first major land battle of the Civil War. There were other battles before the Bull Run, such as Fort Sumter, but the Bull Run was the first major battle that paved the way for the rest of the Civil War. -
Harper's Ferry
One reason Harper's Ferry was important to the Civil War due to the rebellion raid by John Brown, who was attempting to help the slaves revolt by getting them guns and ammunition. Another reason Harper's Ferry was important was because the important location on the Potomac put Harper's Ferry in a spot vital to both sides in the Civil War and it repeatedly changed hands. -
Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam was a major battle in the Civil War due the fact it was the first major battle on the Union soil. The battle only lasted a day but it is known as the bloodiest single-day battle in American history; over 26,000 men were killed, wounded or missing in action on both sides. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was a major event in the Civil War due to Lincoln's proclamation of the freedom of slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion. It was a really important key event due to the fact it was an order to let almost all the slaves go. -
Gettysburg and Gettysburg Address
One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Gettysburg is a turning point, and marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into northern territory. Gettysburg Address was the speech delivered by Lincoln for the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, months after the Union armies defeated the Confederates at the Battle of Gettysburg. It was one of the most memorable speeches in U.S. history, Lincoln promising "a new birth of freedom." -
Andersonville Prison
Andersonville Prison, also known as Camp Sumpter, was a prison camp for the Union soldiers captured in war. 45,000 Union prisoners were held there during war, nearly 13,000 of them dying of starvation, malnutrition, diarrhea and other communicable diseases. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
After four years of Civil War, and 630,000 deaths and over 1 million casualties, General Robert Lee officially surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant Ulysses Grant, thus ending the feud between the two. The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia allowed the government to bring in increased pressure on other parts of the south, resulting in the surrender of the remaining armies of the Confederacy over the next few months. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's assassination on April 14th, 1865 removed his politically moderate influence from the national stage, giving way to a more radical and brutal form of Reconstruction. -
Reconstruction
The survival of the United States as one nation was at risk, and on the outcome of the war depended the nation's ability to bring to reality the ideals of liberty, equality, human dignity, and justice. Reconstruction was trying to bring the United States back together.
