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Slavery
Slavery was a system in which people were bought and sold, and were forced to work. The slaves were treated more like property then people. Slaves had no rights. Slave owners could treat their slaves how ever they wanted. Slavery was the start of many more problems. -
Sectionalism
The different life styles, social structures, customs, and political values of the North, South, and West. The movement of two times as many leaving the south for north was a leading event to the civil war. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an organization was not an actual railroad but was a network of people who arranged transportation and hiding places for fugitives, or escaped slaves. The trail they traveled along was called "freedom trails". No one person or group of people was officially in charge of the trail. Most fugitives moved at night with only the stars to guide them. -
Abolisnist
An abolisnist was a person who wanted a complete end to slavery. Many of the people when on speaking tours, wrote pamphlets, and some even wrote newspaper articles to further the cause. The first Anti-Slavery society convention was held in Philadelphia. -
Popular Sovereignty
Popular sovereignty was the idea that the people that live in the state could pick if it was free or slave. This caused problems because it could cause an unbalanced of free and slave states. It also caused issues because not everybody liked the idea that the people could pick. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Made it a crime to help runaway slaves and allowed officials to arrest those slaves in free areas. Slaveholders were permitted to take suspected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who decided their fate. Fugitives could face up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise contained 5 parts:
-California would enter the Union as a free state
-Slave trade would be outlawed in D.C.
-Fugitive slave law would be enforced by northerners
-Texas would give up land east of the upper Rio Grande. In return, the government would pay Texas's debts from when it was an independent republic.
-The rest of the Mexican Cession would be federal -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This was an antislavery novel that showed the Northerners the awful reality of slavery and made many more people abolitionists. This novel was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This was a very popular book on the market and made many people open their eyes and realize what was going on. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Law that allowed voters in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether it was a free or slave state. Which lead to many people moving into these states to vote for what they strongly believed in. With all the different believes it caused conflicts between the people in these states. -
Pottawatomic Massacre
This was where John Brown and seven other men who were abolitionist killed pro-slavery people in Kansas, they did this to get back at them for taking sown Lawrence. But this lead to a war where about 200 people were killed. -
Dred Scott Case
Supreme Court case, Scott vs. Sanford. Brought to court by Dred Scott, a slave who lived with his owner in a free state before returning to Missouri (slave state). Dred thought that because his owner took him in to free land he should be free. The court said no black man could contain citizenship and couldn’t ask the court for freedom. It built up North and South tensions and was a fuel for the Civil War. -
John Brown Raid
John Browns raid scared a lot of southerners to believe that abolitionists in the North would continue to use violence and uprisings in the south. Pushed many into supporting succession. -
Secede
Secede is to formally withdraw from the Union. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North America all secede from the Union at least once over time. -
Confederate States of America
Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all seceded from the Union to create the Confederate States of America. The constitution guaranteed the citizens the right to own slaves. The president of the new Union was Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. -
Lincolns Presedency
When Lincoln was elected the south seceded in order to keep their right to own slaves. Seven states, SC, MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX, seceded before Lincoln went into office.
