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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a law signed by President James Monroe, that tried to prevent the growth of tension over the issue of slavery. We admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a non-slave state at the same time to try and keep the balance of slave to non-slave, and then mapped out what future states would be slave or non-slave. This Compromise would remain in force for just over 30 years before it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
Nat Turner Rebellion
The Nat Turner Rebellion was a slave revolt launched by an enslaved preacher and self-styled prophet named Nat Turner. The revolt lasted almost a whole day in Southampton County, Turner and his allies killed fifty-five white men, women, and children as the rebels made their way toward Jerusalem. They were then intercepted at James Parker’s farm, they scattered and reorganized forces later but due to multiple other setbacks were eventually defeated. Rebels were either tried or murdered by whites. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a failed amendment proposed in 1846 that attempted to contain slavery by barring slavery’s expansion into the lands acquired after the Mexican-American War. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American war lasted from 1846 to 1848. When Americans were killed in a conflict on disputed territory, President James K. Polk influenced Congress to declare war. After the victory of the U.S., under pressure, Mexico decided to make a treaty with America. They lost about one-third of their territory and various states were sold to America for $15 million. Texas also became independent. -
Gold Rush in California
After gold was found in California a massive amount of people migrated to the west seeking riches. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy. -
Harriett Tubman and Underground Railroad
Harriett Tubman was an escaped slave who returned to her previous slave owner's house to save her family traveling through roads and waterways(The Underground Railroad) she discovered through a community to other travelers. Tubman helped free approximately 125 slaves over the course of 10 years and 13 separate trips. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of measures proposed by U.S. Senator Henry Clay and passed by the U.S. Congress to settle several issues connected to slavery and avert the threat of dissolution of the Union. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published
Uncle Tom's Cabin was an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel profoundly affected attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as “Bleeding Kansas,” as proslavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Dred Scott V. Sanford
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393, was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, and therefore they could not enjoy the rights and privileges the Constitution conferred upon American citizens. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
South Carolina became the first state to secede from the federal Union on December 20, 1860. The victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election triggered cries for disunion across the slaveholding South. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates
The Lincoln–Douglas debates were a series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Although Lincoln lost the election, these debates launched him into national prominence which eventually led to his election as President of the United States. -
John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown, from October 16 to 18, 1859, to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. It has been called the dress rehearsal for, or tragic prelude to, the American Civil War. -
Presidential Election of 1860
Lincoln was elected in 1860 and the reaction of the nation was swift and tragic. Southern states began to secceed, removing themselves from the Union and forming the confederate states of America. By March 4th 1861, when the First Inaugural was delivered, the rebellion was in motion and the Civil War seemed invetible.