-
The Compromise of 1850
Proposed by Henry Clay. The Compromise of 1850 was a set of laws passed dealing with the issue of slavery. It set set a weak existing condition between the North and South in terms of slavery policy. -
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote one of the most controversial books in American history. Called Unlce Tom's Cabin's, it showed the reality of slavery. Read by millions, even Abraham Lincoln referred to her as the ‘little lady who started a war.’ -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen Douglas made the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It pushed the idea of popular sovereigtity. Kansas with slavery would violate the Missouri Compromise. The bill was passed in May of 1854, leaving the North in outrage. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was about pro- and anti-slavery forces went to Kansas, hoping to shift the decision. Pro-slavery win the majority. While anti-slavery forces settled in Lawerence, Kansas, pro-slavery forces took over and destoryed most buildings. -
John Brown Raid
John Borwn was an anti-slave fanatic. He organized a small group of white allies and free blacks to raid a government arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He wanted to take weapons and distribute them to Southern slaves, to spark a movement. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a Virginia slave who tried to sue for his freedom in court. This case ended up in the Supreme Court. Cheif Justice, Roger Taney, ruled dred Scott was not and could never be a citizen. The effect of the decision meant being in a free territory didn't make slave free, declaring the the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional -
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada. The South believed that the North wasn't doing enough to stop slaves from escaping. -
South Carolina's Secession
South Carolina succeeded under political pressure from slave lobbyists and plantation owners who were afraid of loosing their cheap work force. -
Abraham Lincoln’s Election
Abraham Lincoln was elected by a significant margin in 1860, not including many Southern ballots. As a Republican, his party’s anti-slavery scared many Southerners. A month after the polls closed, South Carolina seceded from the Union -
the battle of Fort Sumter
Confederate warships turned back the supply convoy to Fort Sumter and opened a 34-hour bombardment on the area. they ended up surrending.
