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The Mexican war Ends
With the end of the Mexican war, America was ceded western territories. This posed as a problem because these territories were turned to states and the US needed to make a decision on whether they would be free states or slave states.This caused a building tension between the North and the south. -
Confrontation of 1850
The confrontation of 1850 was a package of 5 bills that was a major causation of the American Civil War. These bills posed a political confrontation between slave and free states in territories acquired in the American-Mexican war. -
The fugitive slave act
The fugitive slave act was passed as part of the compromise of 1850. This act forced any federal official to arrest all black men and women in search of freedom or they would pay a fine. Obviously this caused tension in the North and gave northern activists more reason to pursue their efforts against enslavement -
Book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published
This book was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a northern Activist who wrote the book to hep people see the evil of slavery. This propaganda spread throughout the country helping some to see the full picture but leaving others to be angry with the thought of slavery being abolished. Even Abraham Lincoln recognized that this book was one of the causes of the civil war. -
Anthony Burns- Attack on Courthouse
Anthony Burns was a runaway slave that was caught, and under the fugitive slave act was forced to be put back into slavery. Outraged abolitionists from the north rescued him by storming the courthouse and killing one of the deputy Marshalls at the court. This issue shows the building anger from the northern States against the system of slavery. -
The Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas Nebraska Act was a territorial act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. This act was a cause of the civil war because it repealed the Missouri compromise (federal legislation that stopped northern to forever prohibit slaveries expansion) which created tensions over slavery, and contributed to a series of conflicts known as bleeding Kansas. -
Charles Sumner Attacked by Preston Brooks on the U.S. senate floor.
Pro enslavement supporter in Missouri (known as the "Border Ruffians") destroyed Lawrence, Kansas, which was known to be a loyal free state area. One day later congressman Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane After Sumner had given a speech about how evil pro enslavement really was. -
Dred Scott loses his case to be free
In 1857, Dred Scott loses his case that argued that he should be a free man because he had been held an enslaved person while living in a free state. The Supreme Court ruled that his petition could not be seen because he had no property. This decision amplified the acts of black activists substantially. -
Kansas Voters reject the Lecompton Constitution
After the Kansas Nebraska act was passed Kansas need to decide whether to join the union of not. The Lecompton Constitution was then passed making Kansas a pro enslavement state. However there was enough opposition that it was sent back to Kansas for a vote. Kansas voters then rejected the constitution and became a free state. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
The election of Abraham Lincoln is considered to be one of the biggest factors leading to the American Civil war. This election was the final straw for the southerners that triggered succession. The South felt threatened by Lincoln and believed he and the northern states had the power to put an end to slavery and its expansion. In response the southern states formed a confederacy to fight against the union.