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Nat Turner Slave revolt
A slave rebellion that took place in Southapton County, Virginia where the slaves killed around 55-65 people. -
William Lloyd Garrison Published the Liberator
The Liberator was an abolitionist paper that helped form the New England Antislavery society. -
American Anti-Slavery Society Begins
an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison, Arthur Tappan, and Frederick Douglass -
Sarah Grimke's Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women published
Sarah Grimke' responded to Catharine Beecher defense of the subordinate role of women -
Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls
First women's convention in the united states that launched the women's suffrage movement which later ensured women the right to vote -
Harriett Tubman Escapes from Slavery
Tubman escaped from slavery by using the underground railroad that was a network of secret routed and safe houses established in the United States -
Henry Highland Garnet's "Address to the Slaves of the United States of America"
abolitionist whose movements led to the anti slavery society -
Fugitive Slave Act
passed by the US congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave holding interests and Northern Free Soilers -
Compromise of 1850
A series of resolutions in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South -
Sojourner Truth Delivered her "Ain't I a Woman' Speech
The most famous abolitionist women's rights speech in american history, she later continued to speak out for the rights of African American and women during and after the Civil War -
Harriet Beecher Stowe Published Uncle Tom's Cabin
anti slavery novel that had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the US -
Bleeding Kansas
a series of violent civil confrontations in the United States which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
the act allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decided for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
Republican Party Formed
Anti slavery Whigs begun to meet in upper western states to discuss the formation of a new party -
Lecompton Constitution
instrument framed by southern pro-slavery advocates of Kansas statehood; it contained clauses protecting slave holding and a bill of rights excluding free blacks -
Panic of 1857
a financial panic in the US that was caused by the declining international economy and over expansion of the domestic economy -
Dred Scott Decision
The supreme court decision in the dred scott case affirmed the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the western territories -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates
the issues discussed between the candidates during the debates were very significant. Douglass was an incumbent senator who had established himself as a supporter of popular sovereignty on the subject of slavery -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
an effort by white abolitionist John Brown to start an armed slave revolt. He attacked and captured the US arsenal -
Democratic Party Splits into Northern and Southern Halves
Southern Democrats became republicans because the democratic vote was spread so thin -
Firing on Fort Sumter
The American Civil War begins when the Confederates fire on Fort Sumter, the fort had been the source of tension between the Union and the Confederacy for several months. -
Confederate States of America Founded
representatives from the six seceded states met to formally establish a unified government -
Battle of Antietam
the bloodiest single day battle in the American history, the battle ended with Confederate invasion of Maryland and resulted in a Union victory -
Battle of Gettysburg
The most important engagement of the Civil War -
Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the end of the ceremonies dedicating the battlefield cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania -
Emancipation of the Proclamation
the proclamation declared that "all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free" -
General US Grant Assumed command of union troops
Lincoln signed a brief document officially promoting Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the US army, tasking the future president with the job of leading all union troops against the confederate army. -
Abraham Lincoln reelected
The first time since 1812 that a presidential election took place during a war -
Congress passed the 13th amendment
The amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime -
Sherman's march to the sea
Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285 mile march from Atlanta to Savannah Georgia. The march was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the confederate cause -
Lincoln Assassination
He was shot in the head by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth -
Ku Klux Klan formed
Six confederate veterans from Tennessee created the original Ku Klux Klan during the reconstruction of the south after the civil war -
Period of "redemption" after the Civil War
A period during which the nation tried to resolve the status of the ex- confederate states, the ex- confederate leaders, and freedom (ex-slaves) after the American Civil War -
Johnson announced plans for the presidential reconstruction
Johnson implemented a plan of reconstruction that gave the white south a free hand in regulating the transition from slavery to freedom and offered no role to blacks in the politics of the south -
Freedman's Bureau Established
During the reconstruction period after the Civil War, popular name for the US Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and abandoned lands, established by congress to provide practical aid to 400,000 newly freed African Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom -
Arrival of Scalawags and Carpetbaggers in the south
Carpetbaggers is used to describe the northerners who moved to the south after the Civil War, during reconstruction -
Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army of northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant -
Civil Rights Act passed over Johnson's veto
Republican- dominated Congress enacted a landmark Civil Rights Act on this day, overriding a veto by President Johnson. The law's chief thrust was to offer protection to slaves freed in the aftermath of the Civil War -
First Congressional Reconstruction act passed
Outlined the conditions under which the southern states would be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War. -
US Grant Elected President
Republican nominee Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour -
14th amendment ratified
the amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" which included former slaves who had just been freed after the civil war -
Andrew Johnson impeached
The House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 in favor of a resolution to impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors -
15th Amendment ratified
The 15th amendment granted African American men the right to vote -
Slaughterhouse Cases (Supreme Court)
The first US Supreme Court interpretation of the US Constitution's 14th amendment which had recently been enacted. The amendment was interpreted to convey limited protection pertinent to a small minority of rights -
US v. Cruikshank
A Supreme Court case that led to an allowance of violence and deprivation of rights against the newly freed slaves -
Compromise of 1877
An informal, unwritten deal, that settled the intensely disputed 1876 US presidential election. It resulted in the US federal government pulling the last troops out of the south and formally ended the reconstruction era
