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Abraham Lincoln Was Born
Lincoln was born in a one-room cabin near Louisville, Kentucky. -
Lincoln Took a Job
He moved farm produce from Indiana to New Orleans and there he had his first contact with slavery when he observed a slave auction. -
Lincoln Resigned From Congress
He was not offered the position he wanted so he returned home to Illinois to practice law. -
Compromise
California applied to Congress to become a state, which led to a historic debate between pro-slavery and antislavery legislatures. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law and it outraged northerners, weakened Democrats, and destroyed the Whig Party. -
Election of 1856
The democrats won the election and Buchanan became president. -
Dred Scott Decision
The court ruled against Dred Scott, a slave that lived on free soil for years, in a Supreme Court case and said that the Fifth Amendment protected the property rights of slaveholders. -
Pro-Slavery Convention
A pro-slavery convention tries to push through a state constitution that would allow slavery in Kansas. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Lincoln challenged Douglas on the work ability of popular sovereignty. Douglas was seeking re-election to the Senate. -
Marais des Cygnes Massacre
A pro-slavery gang gunned down 11 unarmed antislavery settlers. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia to get guns for a slave revolt. -
John Brown's Death
Marines captured Brown and sentenced him to death. -
The Election of 1860
In the North, it was Lincoln vs Douglas. In the South, it was Breckinridge vs Bell. Lincoln won presidency. -
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Secession
South Carolina withdraws from the Union. Other slave states follow South Carolina's lead and form the Confederate States of America. -
Convention to Consider Leaving the Union
They passed a resolution stating "the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other states under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved." -
Forming the Confederacy
Representatives of the 7 seceded states met and wrote a constitution that guaranteed the rights of citizens to own slaves. -
Lincoln Became President
In his inaugural address, he promised not to interfere with slavery where it existed. -
Southern Chivalry Argument
South Carolina representative Preston Brooks attacked Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner over an antislavery speech Sumner had made. -
Voting Rights Act
This act enforces and expands the voting protections of the Fifteenth Amendment.
