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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel humanized enslaved people and brought to light all the brutal realities of slavery. This book became a bestseller in the North, sparking widespread antislavery sentiment, but however made the Southerners furious, where it was seen as an unfair and exaggerated portrayal of the institution. -
Republican Party
The start of the Republican Party as an antislavery political movement that created a new political divide. The party’s rapid growth in the North alarmed Southerners, who saw its antislavery stance as a direct threat to their way of life. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act, initiated by Stephen Douglas, allowed territories to decide for themselves whether they would be pro-slave or slave free through popular sovereignty. It repealed the Missouri Compromise, leading to violent confrontations in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas") and increased hate between the North and South. -
Bloody Kansas
Violent confrontations between pro-slavery and antislavery settlers in Kansas became representatives of the national struggle over slavery. The violence further divided the nation and made compromise more difficult. -
Brooks-Sumner lncident
After Senator Charles Sumner gave an emotional antislavery speech, he was beaten by Southern Congressman Preston Brooks on the Senate floor. The attack shocked the North and demonstrated the increasing breakdown of civil disagreements
over slavery. -
Election 1856
This election featured the Republican Party’s first presidential candidate, John C. Frémont, who was against the expansion of slavery. Although Frémont lost, the Republicans' strong showing in the North shows how deeply the country was divided along sectional lines. -
Dred Scott
The Supreme Court’s ruling that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories encouraged the South and outraged the North. It effectively nullified the Missouri Compromise and grew tensions over the issue of slavery’s expansion. -
LeCompton Constitution
This pro-slavery constitution for Kansas, which was supported by President Buchanan, was rejected by Congress after a public outcry. The LeCompton controversy showed the growing political conflict over slavery and the unwillingness of Northerners to accept pro-slavery legislation. -
House Divided Speech
In this speech, Lincoln argued that the nation could not endure permanently half-slave and half-free. His words increased Southern fear that the North would eventually move to abolish slavery altogether. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
These debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas focused heavily on the issue of slavery in new territories. Lincoln was against the expansion of slavery which angered many Southerners, while Douglas’ advocated for popular sovereignty which led to further dividing Democrats. -
Harper's Ferry
this was John Brown's raid on the federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, it was an attempt to initiate a slave rebellion. While it failed, the raid grew the Southern fears of Northern aggression and growing tensions, as many Southerners saw it as evidence that the North was filled with radicals willing to encourage slaves to rebel. -
John Brown
Known for his militant abolitionism, John Brown's actions at Harper's Ferry and in Kansas (where he was involved in violence) made him a hero in the North but a symbol of Northern activist
in the South. -
Election 1860
Abraham Lincoln’s wins the election without carrying a single Southern state convinced many Southerners that they had lost their influence in the federal government. The sectional nature of the election, with Lincoln not even appearing on the ballot in many Southern states, showed the deep divide between North and South. -
Secession
Southern states, beginning with South Carolina, seceded from the Union after Lincoln's election. The South believed that a Republican president would threaten the institution of slavery, and they saw secession as the only way to preserve their way of life. -
Lincoln's 1st lnaugural Address
Lincoln attempted to reassure the South that he had no intention of banning slavery where it existed but made it clear that secession was illegal. His stance against the expansion of slavery while calling for national unity was seen by many Southerners as further justification for their decision to divide.