Events leading up to the Civil War

  • The Missouri Compromise of 1820

    The Missouri Compromise of 1820
    admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state
  • The compromise of 1850

    The compromise of 1850
    ¨ Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South¨
  • Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

    Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
    this act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state.
  • Uncle Toms Cabin 1851

    Uncle Toms Cabin 1851
    Novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

    Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
    this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty.
  • POTTOWATOMI CREEK KILLINGS (1856)

    POTTOWATOMI CREEK KILLINGS (1856)
    ¨the murder of five men from a proslavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek, Franklin county, Kan., U.S¨
  • Dred Scott Decision of 1857

    Dred Scott Decision of 1857
    argument to whether the Congress had no power to forbid or abolish slavery in the territories.
  • Lincoln Douglas Debate of 1858

    Lincoln Douglas Debate of 1858
    series of 7 debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate for the U.S , Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate
  • Raid on Harpers Ferry 1859

    Raid on Harpers Ferry 1859
    where John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. This was an attempt to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy the institution of slavery.
  • Election of 1860

    Election of 1860
    demonstrated the divisions within the United States just before the Civil War.