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Fugitive Slave Act
The fugitive slave act was a law that allowed citizens to help capture runaway slaves. Base law set slaves to 6 months in prison with a $1000 fine. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin was Harriet Beecher Stowe. Mrs. Stowe was against slavery and the southern slave states. She took a trip to Kentucky and witnessed the living conditions and poor treatment of slaves when she started the writing process of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It took Harriet two years to write the book and once published she sold more than 500,000 copies in the first 5 years -
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave who lived with his wife and is master, John Emerson. Dred Scott and his wife lived in a free state and moved to Missouri. When Dred Scott's master passed away Dred Scott would try to sue for his own freedom. He ended up loosing the case due to not counting as a citizen because he was black, even though he was free. -
The Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was the election between Stephen Douglas (Democrat) and Abraham Lincoln (Republican). Lincoln would end up winning the election becoming the 16th president with a 40% popularity vote and 180 electoral votes. Lincoln's movement into office would trigger South Carolina to secede from the Union. -
Secession
The Secession in 1860 is what triggered the start of the Civil War. Eleven slave states in upper and lower parts of the south succeeded from the Union and soon became the Confederate States. The capitol to these states was located in Montgomery, Alabama but soon after moved to Richmond, Virginia. The President of The Confederate States of America was Jefferson Davis.