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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise created the 36'30 line, and enabled Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. This was a temporary truce in the US government, and marked the beginning of future conflict over slave and free states. -
Annexation of Texas
After a long wait, Congress admits the territory of Texas into the Union as a slave state. This broadened the influence of slave states in the United States, and led into the Mexican-American war. -
Mexican-American War
Caused by the recent annexation of Texas, dispute over where the border of Texas would be. Abolitionists saw the war as an attempt by slave states to increase their size and power. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was an end to the Mexican-American war, and America had greatly increased it's territory, and all of this new territory was a part of slave state's land. -
Compromise of 1850
New laws passed regarding slavery, including the fugitive slave act and forbidding the slave trade in 1850. The compromise helped temporarily settle differences between the abolitionist and pro-slavery movements. -
Fugitive Slave Law
One of the most controversial elements of the Compromise of 1850, the fugitive slave law called for local governments to return escaped slaves to their owners. The law was widely opposed in the North, but it continued to be in effect until the beginnings of the Civil War -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
An abolitionist novel written by Harriet Breecher Stowe, it was important because of it's widespread and popular contribution to the abolitionist movement. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska admitted the new states of Kansas and Nebraska into the Union. A bill introduced by Stephen Douglas was passed, allowing these new states to decide their slave or free status by popular vote. This caused voters to flood into the state, trying to sway the vote in Northern or Southern favor. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a period of violence in Kansas over the status of whether the state would allow slavery. This controversy escalated into mob violence and failed elections. The conflicts featured John Brown, who led antislavery attacks. The violence in Kansas spoke of the possibility for future violence between slave and free states. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott, a slave, had lived in a free territory and claimed that he was now free and should not have to return to the South. This legal trial reached the Supreme Court, where it was ruled that Scott was still a slave, and furthermore, that no African American could have US citizenship. This case was a major blow to the abolition movement, and put escaped slaves in the North at risk. -
Harper's Ferry
Harper's Ferry was a town raided by abolitionist John Brown. Brown seized the federal armory and arsenal in the town, and captured important citizens. He hoped the weapons could be redistributed to the slave population in order to begin a slave uprising, but the small rebellion was quickly put down. Like bleeding Kansas, Harper's Ferry is another example of violence before the war even begun. -
South Carolina Sucession
On December 24, 1860, South Carolina formally announced it's succession from the Union, which they did by sending a letter to House of Representatives. The rest of the slave states soon followed after. The Confederate succession was the beginning of the Civil War -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln won over a divided Democratic party, with only Northern electoral votes. The South, which had regularly been threatening to secede from the Union, took this as a sign it was time to leave. This event was the turning point for American divisions, as the South Carolina secession was almost immediate. -
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter was one of the last reserves of federal power in South Carolina. The Union announced they were sending supplies to the fort, which the Confederate troops there took as an act of aggression. Fort Sumter was the beginning of the Civil War, as the first act of official violence between the Confederates and the Union.