Events leading up to the civil war

  • The Second Great Awakening

    The Second Great Awakening
    Description: A wave of religious revival that emphasized emotional worship and personal salvation, sparking social reform movements.
    Significance: It inspired abolitionism and other reform movements that challenged societal norms, setting the stage for tensions between the North and South.
  • The Temperance Movement

    The Temperance Movement
    Description: A social campaign to reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption, led by evangelical Protestants. It aimed to fix issues like domestic abuse and poverty caused by alcohol.
    Significance: Temperance highlighted the push for social reform in the North, often led by women, and created further divisions with the South.
  • The Abolitionist Movement

    The Abolitionist Movement
    Description: A campaign to end slavery, led by figures like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, who used speeches and writings to demand emancipation.
    Significance: The movement increased North-South tensions and inspired other reform efforts, like women’s rights.
  • Seneca Falls Convention

    Seneca Falls Convention
    Description: The first women’s rights convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, where the Declaration of Sentiments demanded equality.
    Significance: Linked women’s rights to abolition, highlighting shared goals of justice and equality.
  • John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

    John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
    Description: John Brown led an armed raid on a federal arsenal to start a slave uprising.
    Significance: The raid deepened the divide between North and South, with Brown becoming a martyr for abolition.