-
Harriet Tubman escapes to Philadelphia
Fearing she and other family members would be sold (the fate of several sisters), Harriet Tubman and two of her brothers escaped slavery in Maryland's Eastern Shore. The men turned back but she walked the 90 or so miles to Philadelphia to freedom. -
Fugitive slave act
There were four candidates that were running for president John Bell, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln did not win the popular vote, but he got enough electoral votes to win the presidency. Even before the election, the choice of the candidates was enough to show that the nation was severely fractured. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin published
President Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850 into law. To please the North, the Compromise stated that California would be admitted as a free state, and Washington D.C. would be banned from slavery. To please the South, popular sovereignty would determine slavery in the Mexican Cession. Southerners would also get a fugitive slave law. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The terms of the act said that slavery in Kansas and Nebraska would be decided by popular sovereignty. The act tipped the balance between slave states and free states. In the end, the act undid the Missouri Compromise, reopened the issue of slavery in territories, and outraged Northerners as the South gained the upper hand. -
Dred Scott Decision
The United States Supreme Court issues a decision in the Dred Scott case, affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western territories. Thereby negating the doctrine of popular sovereignty and severely undermining the platform of the newly created Republican Party. -
Abraham Lincoln debates Stephen Douglas
Lincoln was elected by Republicans to Run for senate against Stephen Douglas. Not many were sure of Lincoln's stance on slavery. But Southerners became convinced that Lincoln was an abolitionist. During their public debates, Douglas defended popular sovereignty, and Lincoln attacked slavery just as avidly. Though in the end, Douglas won the Senate election, the whole country now knew about Lincoln. -
John Brown attacks Harper's Ferry
The goal was to take the guns held there by the U.S. army. He planned to give the weapons to enslaved African Americans in order to lead a revolt. However, Robert E. Lee's forces surrounded them and killed 10 of his followers. Brown was hanged after being found guilty of murder in court. The South was shocked that the North mourned the man afterward, and were convinced that the North was out to destroy their way of life. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected
The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860. In a four-way contest, the Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged triumphantly. -
South Carolina Secedes
The Confederate troops were cutting off the supply delivery, trapping the soldiers. Lincoln sent a shipment of food, but not weapons, to the fort to avoid provoking the South. However, Confederate artillery opened fire on the fort for 34 hours until it surrendered. -
The Confederacy is formed
The states farthest south, where slavery and plantations agriculture were dominant, formed the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as President. They established their capital at Montgomery, Alabama and took over federal forts on their territory.
