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Compromise of 1850
Sen. Henry Clay introduced a series of revolutions in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South.
-Stephen A, Douglas took charge to resolve the crisis. He divided the large compromise into several smaller parts so senators could abstain or vote whatever parts. By fall, Congress had passed all parts of original proposal. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders.
- Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers rushed to Kansas, each side hoping to determine the results of the first election held after the law went into effect. -
Bleeding Kansas
Series of violent political confrontations in the US involving anti-slavery, "Free-Staters" and pro-slavery, "Border Ruffian" or "southern yankees" between 1854 and 1861.
-By the end of 1856, about 200 people had died in the fighting and some $2 million worth of property had been destroyed. -
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott, a slave, sought to be declared a free man on the basis that he had lived for a time in a "free" territory with his master.
- Instead of removing the issue of slavery in the territories from politics, the Dred Scott Decision itself became a political issue that further intensified the sectional conflict. The Supreme Court had said that federal govt. could not prohibit slavery in the territories. -
Lincoln- Douglas Debate
A series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, Democratic Party candidate.
-Lincoln asked Douglas a question that would either oppose the Dred Scott ruling and lose Southern support or make it seem like he abandoned popular sovereignty.
-Douglas stated both the questions so he didn't lose/abandoned anything and won election. -
Harper's Ferry
Emerged onto the National stage when the radical abolitionist John Brown and a small band of followers raided the armory in an attempt to ignite a slave insurrection.
-Less than 36 hours after it had begun, Brown's attempt to ignite a slave insurrection ended with his capture. He was sentenced to death. -
Lincoln's Election
Republicans passed over Senator William Seward, whom see regarded as an extremist. Instead they nominated Abraham Lincoln.
-Republicans tired to convince voters they were more than just an anti-slavery party. They reaffirmed the right of Southern states to preserve slavery within their borders. Also supported higher tariffs, a new home stand law, and transcontinental railroad. -
Fort Sumter
Located in the harbor outside Charleston, South Carolina.
-In April, Lincoln announced that he would send a ship to resupply Fort Sumter. Jefferson Davis decided to capture the fort before the ship's arrival. After 33 hours Anderson and his men surrendered and the Civil War began. -
Bull Run
The first battle of the American Civil War, fought in Virginia near Washington D.C.
-The surprising victory of the Confederate army humiliated the North and forced it to prepare for a long war. This war made it clear that the North would need a large, well-trained army to defeat the South. -
Antietam
(Battle of Sharpsburg)
A decisive engagement in the American Civil War that halted the Confederate advance on Maryland for the purpose of gaining military supplies.
-The bloodiest one-day battle in American history, ended with 6,000 men killed and some 17,000 wounded. It was a crucial union victory. -
Emancipation Proclamation
An executive order issued by President Lincoln freeing slaves in all portions of the US not then under union control. (within the confederacy)
-The victory at Antietam also set the stage for Lincoln to end slavery in the South. It also transformed the conflict from a war to preserve the Union to a war of liberation. -
Gettysburg
The greatest battle of the Civil War, fought in South-Central Pennsylvania. It ended in a major victory for the North and is usually considered the turning point of the war.
-The Confederates pushed the Union troops out of the town, into the hills to the south. At the same time, the main forces of both armies hurried to the scene of the fighting. -
Gettysburg address
Speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln, dedication of Soldier's National Cemetery. (cemetery for Union Soldiers killed at Battle of Gettysburg) -
Andersonville Prison
The most infamous Confederate prison in Georgia which had no shade or shelter.
-Exposure, overcrowding, lack of food, and disease killed more than 100 men per day during the sweltering summer of 1864. In all, some 13,000 of the 45,000 prisoners sent to Andersonville died there. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his approx. 28,000 troops to Union Ulysses S. Grant in the front parlor of Wilmer McLean's home in Appomattox Court House, Virginia, ending the American Civil War.
-This event triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signaling the end of the war. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C, and fatally shot President Lincoln.
-In a speech Lincoln gave before his death, Booth sneered to a friend, "That is this last speech he will ever make." Lincoln's death shocked the nation. -
Reconstruction
The period after the Civil War in which the states formerly part of the Confederacy were brought back into the US.
- During reconstruction, the South was divided into military districts for the supervision of elections to set up a new government.
