-
The Compromise of 1850
31st congress disputes statehood for California, the issue of slavery in the eastern half of the New Mexico territory. Henry Clay proposes the Compromise of 1850, which enters California as a free state, and enters a more effective fugitive slave law. Also allows popular sovereignty for New Mexico and Utah territories. This pleases both the North and the South. -
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin
This novel shows that slavery is a moral, as well as a political struggle. It stirred abolitionists to increase protests against the fugitive slave act. It also caused many southerners to be angry, as they saw it as an attack against the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Douglas proposes a bill that would repeal the Missouri Compromise and give popular sovereignty to both Kansas and Nebraska. Many Northerners saw it as a plot to allow slavery in Nebraska, a Northern state. However, the South defended it. After months of struggle, it became law in 1854. -
Bleeding Kansas
Many supporters and opponents of slavery attempted to populate Kansas as it became a state, in order to win the vote on slavery in the territory. However, after it had enough settlers to vote, thousands of "border ruffians" from the slave state of Missouri crossed into Kansas and illegally voted for slavery. A government was established and passed pro slavery laws. In response, abolitionists set up a government. Violence broke out. -
Dred Scott Decision
A slave, Dred Scott, was brought to a free state, then back to a slave state. He protested that this makes him a free man since he lived in a free state. After years, the court ruled against Dred Scott. They decided that since he is not a citizen, he does not have the right to sue. This caused much anger towards the Supreme Court from the North. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected president
When Lincoln was elected, the South saw him as an enemy, for he pledged to stop the spread of slavery. The South decided that they had lost their voice in the government, and, led by South Carolina, some southern states seceded from the Union, and formed the Confederacy. They elected Jefferson Davis as president. -
The civil war begins
The Confederacy fires at Fort Sumter. This marks the first attack of a war that would last 4 years. -
Battle of Bull Run
The first bloodshed of the Civil War. The South won when General Jackson held firm, earning the name "Stonewall Jackson". This victory, although small, boosted morale in the South. -
Battle at Antietam
McClellan fought against Lee. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in US history. McClellan could have followed the battered Confederate army into Virginia, but did nothing. This caused Lincoln to remove him from command of the Union army. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, which frees all slaves in the Confederacy. Of course, no slaves were released until after the war. -
Battle of Gettysburg
Lee invades the Union in Gettysburg and loses, suffering massive casualties. This is Lee's first loss, which is a major turning point in the war. -
The surrender at Appomattox
Lee and Grant meet at a courthouse to discuss the terms of Lee's surrender. This marks the end of the civil war. -
Lincoln's assassination
John Wilkes Booth assassinates president Lincoln, leaving Andrew Johnson as president.Johnson forgave high-ranking confederates, and vetoed many anti-slavery laws.This led to his impeachment in 1868. -
14th amendment ratified
The 14th amendment is ratified, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the US. This essentially overrules and nullifies the Dred Scott decision. -
U. S. Grant is elected President
After he was elected, suffrage was granted to African Americans with the 15th amendment. This was a sort of "punishment" for the South.
