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Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad, believed to have started in 1787, was a system that helped runaway slaves escape to freedom. Various routes included homes of people against slavery that would house them. Some escaped slaves such, as Harriet Tubman would guide others to freedom. Covered wagons and carts were used to transport the slaves from one place to another. The Fugitive Slave Act had no affect and the Underground Railroad continued. -
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was born in 1818 in the state of Maryland. He attended many abolitionist meetings during his lifetime. Not only was he a spokes person for the abolition of slavery but also he published an autobiography and a newspaper known as the North Star. Douglass was also responsible for recruiting some of the northern African Americans for the Civil War into the Union Army. -
Missouri Compromise
When Missouri applied for statehood, most of its settlers were from the south, because of this it was expected that Missouri would become a slave state. The original plan was to make it so that any slave that currently was in the territory would be freed at 25 years of age. Congress though thought that it would then make the new states unequal to the current ones if they had to have conditions, The problem was finally resolved with the 36' 30' line and Missouri becoming a slave state. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner, a slave owned by Joseph Travis, believed that he was chosen by God to lead a slave rebellion. In August of 1831 Turner and seven other slaves killed Travis and his family, in an attempt to launch the rebellion. Turner hoped that that this would cause an uprising but only 75 slaves joined the rebellion. It wasn't long before the militia sent after them defeated them. Many were killed, and Turner went in to hiding but six weeks later he was captured and executed. -
The Compromise of 1850
The act stated that any runaway slaves found were to be returned to the South or you could be fined or jailed. -
Compromise of 1850 cont.
The Compromise of 1850 was about the spread of slavery after the Missouri Compromise. Many issues were surfaced during the debate of what the North and South would get out of the compromise. The first thing that came out of the compromise was that there would be no more slave trade in Washington D.C. Also California was to enter the Union as a free state, which made the North happy. The South's gain was the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Bleeding Kansas
The passing of the bill caused Northerners and Southerners to rush into the territory and battle. Eventually Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was developed to decide whether the new territories would be free or slave. The act proposed that popular sovereignty would decide. While this angered the north the south was happy with the decision. Settlers form the north and south began to rush into the territory to try and secure their opinion. Eventually the battle of Bleeding Kansas was going on. When it had subsided Kansas had entered a free state and Nebraska a slave state. -
Bleeding Kansas cont.
Bleeding Kansas was a battle revolving around deciding if the Nebraska territory would be free or slave territory. Stephen Douglass proposed a bill that popular sovereignty would decide the fate. However, the North did not like the idea because it would open up a window of opportunity for the North to become slave states, since the bill would cancel the Missouri compromise. Douglass eventually had the bill passed on the 30th of May in 1854. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott fought for his freedom in court, since he believed that he should be free since he once lived in a free territory. The courts though did not believe Scott had the right to sue since he was black, and not considered a citizen. Even though Scott was not declared his freedom it brought the nation one step closer to the abolishing of slavery. -
Election of 1860 cont.
The election of 1860 was a four-way debate between, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell. Each candidate had different views on how the issue of slavery should be handled. Lincoln, a Republican, thought that slavery in the south should stay but not move into the territories or expand. Douglass, a Northern Democrat, believed in Popular Sovereignty, or letting the states decide the fate of the decision to allow or not allow slavery. -
Election of 1860
Breckinridge, who wanted to expand slavery, was a Southern Democrat. The final Democrat was Bell, a Constitutional Union Candidate. Bell was pro slavery seeing that he was a slaveholder. Even though Lincoln didn't win the popularity vote he won the actual election and became the 16th President of the United States of America. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The attack on Fort Sumter started at 4:30 am and lasted a total of 48 hours. The general of the Union, Anderson was once a teacher to the Confederate General Beauregard. The battle was initially the start of the Civil War, and it ended with Fort Sumter surrendering. No soldiers were killed and the only causality was a horse.
