North and South dividing

Confederate Troops Fire at Fort Sumter, South Carolina

1861 BCE

Lincoln’s most urgent problem was Fort Sumner, located on an island in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The fort’s commander would not surrender it. South Carolina authorities decided to starve the fort’s 100 troops into surrender. They had been cut off from supplies since late december and could not hold out much longer.

Abraham Lincoln is elected as a Republican President

1860 BCE

The Republicans chose abraham Lincoln as their presidential candidate. His criticisms of slavery during his debates with Douglas had made him popular in the North. Southern Democrats wanted the party to support slavery in the territories. But northerners refused to do so. In the end, the party split in two. Northern Democrats chose Stephen Douglas as their candidate. Southern Democrats picked Vice President John Breckinridge of Kentucky.

South Carolina Secedes from the Union

1860 BCE

South Carolina was the first southern state to secede from the Union. When news of Lincoln’s election reached the state, the legislature called of a special convention. On December 20, 1960, the convention passed a declaration that “the union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other states, under the name of the United States of America’ is hereby dissolved.”

John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry, Virginia

1859 BCE

The nation’s attention soon was captured by the actions of John Brown. Driven out of Kansas after the Pottawatomie Massacre, Brown had returned to New England. There he hatched a plot to raise an army and free people in the South who were enslaved.

Lincoln - Douglas Debate "A House Divided Against itself cannot stand."

1858 BCE

Lincoln had had only a brief career in politics. After serving in the Illinois state legislature, he was elected to Congress as a Whig. There, he voted for the Wilmot Proviso. After a single term, he returned to Illinois to practice law.

Dred Scott Decision

1857 BCE

In March 1857 only three days after Buchanan took office the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a shattering blow to antislavery forces. It decided the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. Dred Scott was an enslaved person who had once been owned by a U.S. Army doctor.

John Brown's Massacre at Pottawatomie Creek

1856 BCE

A man that lead seven men to a proslavery settlement near Pottawatomie Creek. There they murdered five pro slavery men and boys.These incidents set off widespread fighting in Kansas. Bands of proslavery and antislavery fighters roamed the countryside, terrorizing those who did not support their views.

Confederate States of America are formed

1856 BCE

With hope of accommodation all but gone, six more states followed South Carolina out of the Union. However, not all southerners favored secession. Tennessee Senator Andrew Johnson and Texas Governor Sam Houston were among those who opposed it. Yet, the voices of the moderates were overwhelmed. “People are wild’ said one opponent of secession. “You might as well attempt to control a tornado as attempt to stop them.”

Compromise of 1850

1850 BCE

Laws being known as the Compromise of 1850. President Zachary Taylor had opposed the Compromise. Taylor died 1850. The new President, MIllard Fillmore, supported the Compromise and signed in into law.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 BCE

The issue was to vital for the northerners who wanted to stop slavery from spreading everywhere. They feared that Soush would gain too much power. Wilmot Proviso never became law, it aroused great concern in the South. Many supporters of slavery viewed it as an attack on slavery by the North.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is first published

Mar 20, 1852

One northerner deeply affected by the Fugitive Slave Act was Harriet Beecher Stowe. The daughter of an abolitionist minister, Stowe met many people who had escaped from slavery. She decided to write “something that will make the whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is.” In 1852, Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel about kindly Uncle Tom, an enslaved man who was abused by the cruel Simon Legree.

Kansas - Nebraska Act

May 30, 1854

The nation move closer to war after Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The act was pushed through by Senator Stephen Douglas. Douglas was eager to develop the lands west of his home state of Illinois. He wanted to see a railroad built from Illinois through Nebraska Territory to the Pacific Coast.