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Leading to Civil War
This timeline includes just a few events that led to the Civil War. Each of these events provoked or pleased the North or South. They each have an important role, and without them, something completely different could have happened. We could, improbably, still have slavery today! -
Missouri Compromise (1-read first)
The Missouri Compromise is the compromise that kept the Union together in 1820. It pleased no one, though. The Missouri Compromise was that the Union would admit Missouri as a slave state and admit Maine as a free state. This was so the Senate would be equal in members of free state representatives and slave state representatives. At the same time, Congress drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana territory at latitude 36°30'. (New Box) -
Missouri Compromise (2)
North of this line, slavery would be banned forever, except in Missouri. South of the line, slavery was permitted. In the North, the men who voted to accept Missouri as a free state were called traitors. In the South, Slave holders were not happy with the ban on slavery in part of the Louisiana territory. This event led to war because of all of the displeasure. The compromise had not settled the future of slavery in the US. It caused many Southerners to be unhappy as well as Northernors. -
The Compromise of 1850 (1-Read first)
The Compromise of 1850 was made to end the deadlock over California. California, in 1849, applied for statehood as a free state. If this happened, this would upset the even balance of free and slave state representatives. On January 21, 1850, Henry Clay, who had created the Missouri Compromise, had come up with a plan to end this deadlock. In this compromise there was something for everyone. It admitted California to the Union as a free state, as a start. -
The Compromise of 1850 (2)
That would please the North. It would also allow Utah and New Mexico to be territories open to slavery. That would please the South. It would stop the slave trade in D.C. Slaveholders were allowed to keep their slaves, but trade was illegal. Finally, it called for a strong fugitive slave law. This encouraged the Civil War in a way irreversible. It caused the South to want Congress to just leave slavery alone, and it threatened to leave the Union. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen A. Douglas’s final bill proposed to Congress was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. It also repealed the Missouri compromise. It left it up to the settlers to vote on whether to permit slavery in the two territories. This was called “popular sovereignty” or rule by the people. The Northerners were haunted with the nightmare of slavery spreading across the plains. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This pushed towards the civil war because of fears. The North had fear of slavery spreading and the South had fear of the North abolishing slavery. -
Dred Scott Case
The Dred Scott case was the case in court where a slave named Dred Scott wanted to win his freedom. Scott had travelled with his owner to Wisconsin, where slavery was banned, and upon his return, he thought he had the right to be free. It was decided that Scott could not sue for his freedom in federal court because he was not a citizen. No African American, whether slave or free, was an American citizen. It was also decided that the Missouri compromise was unconstitutional. -
Dredd Scott case
People thought that this would encourage slaves to push more towards freedom. -
Election of 1860
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. When Southerners heard this they were shocked. Lincoln won with 40% of the votes. What also shocked the Southerners was that, in most places, Lincoln wasn't even on the ballot! This worried them. It told them that the North could have more power than them. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
This attack basically triggered the Civil War. This was bloodles, yet it started the bloodiest war that we know.
