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Missouri Compromise
Missouri applied to be a slave state, and the North didn't want them to because it would increase the South's power in the national government. The compromise helped states decide if they were free or slave. -
Nat Turner Slave Rebellion
Nat Turner freed slaves on Virginia farms & killed 60 whites. -
War with Mexico
Armed conflict with Mexico to help fulfill the American's "Manifest Destiny" and expand their territory. Ended in 1848 -
Wilmot Proviso
Law proposed by the North that would outlaw all slaves from the Mexican Cession.Did not pass -
Compromise of 1850
Solved sectional dispute between the North and the South. California entered as a free state. Utah and Mexico used popular sovereignty to vote on slavery. Slave trade ended in D.C. Fugitive Slave Law created to allow Southerners to recapture slaves in the North. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This law allowed Southerners to recapture slaves in the North. It was part of the Compromise of 1850. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and it talked about life on a plantation. Depicted slavery as a moral evil and inspired many in the North to join the abolitionist cause. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Congress a law that used popular sovereignty to allow the residents of the territories the right to vote to determine slavery. Congress repealed the Missouri Compromise. North was mad because it allowed slavery to spread into a place where it was already outlawed. Northerners formed Republican Party and committed to the "free soil" movement. -
Bleeding Kansas
A vote was held in Kansas to decide on slavery, and thousands of Missouri residents illegally voted. This illegal vote gave Kansas slavery, so a war was fought between the two. -
Dred Scott Decision
A slave sued for his freedom after travelling to a free state with his master. The Supreme Court ruled that he was not allowed to sue because blacks are not citizens. Congress did not have the power to stop slavery in western territories so the Missouri Compromise was ruled unconstitutional. Northern abolitionists were mad. -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown led an unsuccessful raid on a federal armory in VA in attempt to free slaves in a massive slave uprising. -
Lincoln's Election
Lincoln argued for "free soil" and a strong national government. Lincoln won without a single Southern vote. -
South Carolina secedes
They were the first state to secede from the Union. They assumed slavery would soon be abolished and began to discuss the possibility of seceding from the USA. -
Formation of the Confederate States of America
7 Southern states had seceded. Representatives from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana met in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America -
Fort Sumter
First battle of the Civil War. Happened in Charleston, SC -
Battle of Antietam
Confederate forces invaded the North. It was the 1st major battle on Union territory. The two armies met at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland -
Battle of Vicksburg
Important victory for the Union. The Union took the city, which gave them control of the entire Mississippi River, effectively splitting the Confederacy in two. -
Battle of Gettysburg
The confederates, led by Robert E. Lee, invaded the Northern states. This invasion failed and there were about 51,000 casualties on both sides. It is often described as the war's "turning point". -
Battle of Appomattox Court House
One of the last battles of the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant.
