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Missouri Compromise
Behind the leadership of Henry Clay, Congress passes a series of agreements that admitted Maine was a free state and Missouri was a slave state. Louisiana was split by a line and North of the line was free and the South made slavery legal. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Led by Virginia slave Nat Turner, more than 50 slaves and followers rebelled against their condition of bondage. They attacked four plantations and killed about 60 whites. Whites eventually captured and executed many members of the group, including Turner. -
The Liberator
Written by William Lloyd Garrison, a radical white abolitionist and editor, The Liberator delivered an uncompromising demand: immediate emancipation. -
The North Star
Frederick Douglass escaped from bondage and became an eloquent and outspoken critic of slavery. Garrison sponsored him to speak for anti-slavery organizations, but Douglass eventually broke away from him due to a disagreement on using violence to achieve their goal. Douglass believed that abolition could be achieved without violence and started his own antislavery newspaper called The North Star, after the star that guided runaway slaves to freedom. -
Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman made a break for freedom after her owner died and reached Philadelphia. She decided to become a conductor of the Underground Railroad. She made 19 trips back to the south and helped 300 slaves, including her parents, flee to freedom. -
The Compromise of 1850
At the 31st Congress, California's statehood and a border dispute where Texas claimed east of New Mexico where slavery was still an issue were the prominent topics of discussion. Henry Clay worked to come up with a compromise, which allowed California to join as a free state for the North, provided a new and more effective fugitive slave law for the South, and allowed popular sovereignty (the right to vote for or against slavery) for New Mexico and Utah territories. -
Fugitive Slave Act
the law placed harsh terms on fugitive slaves as they were not entitled to a trial by jury and anyone who helped a fugitive was liable to a fine of $1000 and imprisonment for up to 6 months. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published her novel to stress that slavery was not just a political contest, but also a great moral struggle. As a girl, she watched boats filled with people on their way to be sold at slave markets. She expressed her hatred for slavery and stirred Northern abolitionists to increase their protests against the Fugitive Slave Act. Southerners claimed that it was an attack on the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The law repealed the Missouri Compromise and established popular sovereignty for both territories and divided Nebraska in the north and Kansas in the south. Northern congressmen saw the law as part of a plot to turn territories into slave states and Southerners defended the law. -
John Brown's Raid/Harper's Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown gathered a band of 21 black and white men into Harper's Ferry to seize federal arsenal and start a general slave uprising. There was no uprising since troops shut down the rebellion and Brown was put to death later. -
Formation of Confederacy
After Lincoln won the election, the South felt they had less representation and South Carolina was the first state to secede. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Former senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected as president. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was one of the four Southern forts that remained in Union hands and Lincoln decided to neither reinforce or abandon it. Confederate batteries began to thunder away at 4:30 AM. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln decided to use his constitutional powers as commander in chief to order the troops to seize enemy resources by authorizing them to emancipate slaves. The proclamation gave a moral purpose to the war and turned it into a struggle to free slaves and also ensured compromise was not possible. -
Thirteenth Amendment
The Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in Confederate boundaries, so the government decided to abolish slavery for the whole country. -
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
In a Virginia town called Appomattox Court House, Lee and Grant met at a private home to arrange a Confederate surrender. The terms were generous at Lincoln's request, allowing Lee's soldiers to be sent home with their possessions and 3 days worth of rations. Officers could also keep their side arms and Grant would parole Lee's soldiers.
