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The Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman was called the "conductor" of the Underground Railroad. She helped free over two hundred slaves. If slaves were caught escaping using their codes and signals, they would be sold back into slavery. -
Fugative Slave Act
The Fugative Slave Act was passed to prevent slaves from being able to have a trial by jury. Anyone caught helping a fugative slave would be put in jail or fined. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe had witnessed butality in the south and wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. This fueled the abolitionist movement and led up to the Civil War. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Stephen Douglass proposed the bill which divided Kansas and Nebraska by the 40th parallel. It was decided that they would use popular sovereignty on the issue of slavery. -
The Sack of Lawrence
In Lawrence, Kansas, eight hundred armed men swept in. The burned down antislavery head quarters and resortedto violence. -
Violence in the Senate
While Charles Sumner's was giving his speach called 'The Crime Against Kansas' Andrew P. Butler increasingly became livid. He took his cane and beat Sumner for his proslavery beliefs. -
The Pottawatomie Massacre
John Brown commited the Pottawatomie Massacre as a result of being angry because of the Sack of Lawrence. He a group of abolitionists killed five settlers near Pottawatomie Creek. This became another event leading up to the Civil War and started Bleeding Kansas. -
Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution was in response to antislavery movements. It protected the rights of slave owners. President Buchanan endorsed a referendum saying free soilers were over reacting. Stephan Douglass gets the voters to reject the constitution and is seen as a new hero. -
Harpers Ferry
John Brown lead eighteen men to Harpers Ferry. He planned to take the federal arsenal and distribute weapons to the slaves to begin a revolution. Instead he was caught, eight of his men died and there was a decision to hang Brown. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Lincoln's election was a signal of seccesion of the southern states. Public appearences were watched widespread and were called the Lincoln-Douglass Debates. Lincoln fought against slavery while Douglass believed in popular sovereignty. During Lincoln's presidency was the end to slavery.
