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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin is one of two popular novels that shed light on the issues of slavery to both southern and northern readers. This novel was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe who was an abolitionist at the time. This novel brought sympathy from the north and aggravation from the south and would increase tensions between both parts of the US. -
Dred Scott
Dred Scott was a former slave in Missouri. His owner died and therefore he believed that he was free to hop from state to state as a free man. He attempted to sue for his rights as a "free man". Unfortunately, the Supreme Court case made to resolve the issue decided that he was not deemed a free man after making his way to free states and he could not effectively sue in order to protect his and his family's rights. The case also made the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. -
republican party
In 1854, opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act drove an anti-slavery coalition of Whigs, Free Soilers, Americans and disgruntled Democrats to found the Republican Party. The Republican Party had its first meeting in May of 1854 at Ripon, Wisconsin. The goal of the Republican Party was not to immediately abolish slavery but to prevent its expansion to the westward part of the US. In 1860, the Republican Party slipped into power because Northern and Southern Democrats were split over slavery. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was an agreement made by the Federal government that allowed the citizens of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether slavery should or should not be permitted. With this action, there were many disagreements among the citizens of the states which caused problems with the decision process because of the 50/50 split in regards to the decision. There was a stalemate within Nebraska for a while and Kansas was made a free state. -
Bloody Kansas
During the terror of Bloody Kansas, about 55 people were killed during the four years this occurred. This violence happened because of elections that didn't go the way of certain sides and previous legislation being repealed. This would keep going back and forth up until sporadic acts of violence started in 1855. The violence within the state would continue up until 1859, two years before the Civil War. -
Brooks Sumner incident
Charles Sumner made a two-day-long Senate speech in which he bashed three of his Senate members, one of whom was Andrew P. Butler. Andrew's cousin, Preston Brooks, took it upon himself to defend his cousin's honor by beating Charles with a cane in Charle's office. Charles suffered severe injuries and didn't go back to the Senate until three years later. -
Election of 1856
Democrat James Buchanan defeated Republican candidate John Fremont with 174 electoral votes. The Democrats had a "pro-dissolution of the Union" view had the anti-slavery sentiment made its way to the head government position. Despite the view on slavery, the democrats managed to take a massive victory with 174 electoral votes and even managed to snag Northern states as well as Western states. With the democrat in office, the party could gain more control over the topic of slavery. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
During the year 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated against each other on the topic of slavery and its expansion to the West. They debated against each other seven different times, using the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Missouri Compromise as fuel for the debates. They traveled a total of 4,000 miles. They attracted as many as 20,000 people during the debates. Thanks to telegraphs and railroads, more people were able to access these debates than normally. -
House divided speech
During this speech, Abraham Lincoln explains how either "all must be slaves or all must be free" and how there isn't a halfway in this issue. In this speech, Abraham Lincoln uses a quote from the New Testament in the Christian Bible that says "A house divided cannot stand". He proceeds to say that he doesn't believe the Union will dissolve but rather become all of one thing or the other. The speech actually hurt him because even slavery opposers didn't want a Civil War over this. -
Lecompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution is the second of four constitutions written for the state of Kansas. It was originally proposed in 1857 but did not ever go into effect for the state. The Lecompton Constitution was strongly pro-slavery. It required governors to be citizens for at least 20 years, prohibited an amendment for seven years as well, and prohibited free blacks from entering the states. -
Harpers Ferry
A US military arsenal at Harpers Ferry became the target of an abolitionist organization led by John Brown. This was supposed to be the first stage of an elaborate plan to have an independent stronghold of free slaves in Virginias' and Michigans' mountains. Brown was captured during the raid and eventually tried for treason and hung. The raid inflamed the fear of slave rebellions in the South and also increased mounting tensions among the North and South. -
John Brown
During the early part of 1859, John Brown was leading raids to free slaves in areas that permitted slavery. John Brown was very much for the arming of slaves to help them fight against their oppressors. On October 16th, Brown's men captured many slaveowners, but by the end of the day, the townspeople started to fight back. The next day, a local militia was formed and captured Brown and his men. John Brown was hung for murder, slave insurrection, and treason. -
Election of 1860
During this election, the primary issue at hand was slavery and state's rights. The main two opponents during this election were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Because the Northern and Southern Democrats could not come to a consensus, the Republicans gained a victory in the election and Lincoln was now the president. Before his inauguration, multiple Southern states had already succeeded from the Union. -
secession
After Abraham Lincoln's electoral victory, multiple lower Southern states have seceded from the Union. After April 12, 1861, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the Confederacy as a result of the election results and what they feared was to come as a result of this election. Fifty counties in Virginia, which were still loyal to the Union, became the state known as West Virginia. One-third of the population had separated from the primary US government during this time. -
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
During Lincoln's Inaugural address, Lincoln pointed out that he promised not to interfere with the institution of slavery where it already existed, but he would prevent it from spreading into other parts of the nation. He also made it very clear that he was against secession and the seizure of federal property. The government insisted Lincoln would "hold, occupy, and possess" its property and collect its taxes. He says that the people and him are not enemies but friends and they must be allies.