-
Underground Railroad
In spite of its name, the Underground Railroad was not underground nor was it a railroad with physical tracks laid throughout the countryside. It was paths that lead all over and then eventually to freedom. The Underground Railroad was highly secret, and a way for slaves to transport to freedom of Northern US and Canada. The Underground Railroad travelers had secret codes, so slave catchers wouldn’t know they’re saying. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise take place in the senate in the year 1820. Henery Clay came up with the Missouri Compromise, and he proposes that Maine is free and Missouri is slave. The 36'30' line established this balance, north would be free, (with the acceptation of Missouri), and anything south is slave. The senate wanted a balance between the north and south and is reached because of the 36’30’ line, with 12 free and 12 slave states. -
Abolitionist Walker's Appeal
David Walker penned Walker's Appeal urging slaves to use violence if needed to gain freedom. He called for vengance against white men, in hopes the cruel treatment to blacks would change. His message to slaves was: if liberty is not given you, rise in bloody rebellion. He was an agent for a black abolisitonist newspaper and leader in the Colored Association. Selling secondhand clothing made by slaves and giving the money to them. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
The Nat Turner Rebellion took place in Virginia in 1831. Nat Turner lead a group of 60 to 70 slave rebels. He and the rebels killed the Travis family, (Turner’s owner). In the end, Turner and his rebels killed about 60 plantation owners and their families. About 3,000 militia troops were sent out to find Turner and his rebels. Lots of innocent slaves were killed and some were captured and found innocent. Nat Turner was then captured, tried in court, found guilty and was hung. -
Dred Scott Case
In 1846, Dred Scott and his wife Harriet filed suit for their freedom in the St. Louis Circuit Court. This suit began an eleven-year legal fight that ended in the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a landmark decision declaring that Scott remain a slave. This decision contributed to rising tensions between the free and slave states just before the American Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
Henery Clay came up with the compromise. It took place in 1850 and was in the senate. Congress wanted to keep a balance of votes between the free and slave states in the senate. The Compromise had 5 parts, California became a free state, fugitive slave act was passed, slave trade was abolished in D.C., The Territory of New Mexico and Utah were organized under the rule of popular sovereignty, and The Republic of Texas gave up lands it claimed in New M. and received $10 million for debts -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide if they wanted slavery within their borders. After the act was passed there were 4 elections, but all failed. Violence soon erupted with anti-slavery forces lead by John Brown. The territory was nicknamed "bleeding Kansas." But then on January 29, 1861, just before the Civil War, Kansas became a free state -
Presidential Election of 1860
The Presidential Election of 1860 was a election held on November 6, 1860 between Abraham Lincoln(Republican) , Stephen Douglass(Southern Democrat) , John Breckinridge(Southern Democrat) , and John Bell(Constitutional Union party). In this election Abraham Lincoln won with 180 votes (all from the north) without one southern vote. -
Attack on Fort Sumter
On April 12, 1861, Confederate Fort Johnson and Fort Moultrie bombarded Fort Sumter. Confederate batteries that had surrounded the Fort, attacked Sumter. After 34 hours, Major Anderson made the decision to surrender and evacuate. After the surrender, Lincoln had called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion had cause four more states to secede the Union, thus, the Civil War had begun.
