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Invention of the cotton gin
This was created so the slaves wouldn't have to pull the seeds out of the cotton by hand. This lead to more cotton and slavery. -
Missouri Compomise
Missouri's petition for statehood is presented to the U. S. House. It is not considered before the end of the session.After several days of sharp debate the House passes the Missouri statehood bill including both parts of the Tallmadge Amendment, marking the first legislation demanding the abolition of slavery. The act is sent to the Senate where the bill is never voted on. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in the United States in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. It kept Europe out of war. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´. -
Dred Scott Supreme Court decision
the United States Supreme Court declared that all black slaves as well as free were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country's territories. -
John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry
Descending upon the town in the early hours of October 17th, Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown had hopes that the local slave population would join the raid and through the raid’s success weapons would be supplied to slaves and freedom fighters throughout the country but none of the slaves joined in and he was killed. -
Election of Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States because of the divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. -
Secession of South Carolina
South Carolina, long before the American Civil War, strongly supported the institution of slavery. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to declare its secession and later formed the Confederacy. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter that started the American Civil War.
