-
First Issue of the Liberator
The Liberator is a newspaper to try to get rid of slavery. It was published weekly. -
Compromise of 1850- Passed
Proposed by Henry Clay. California was added as a free state. Passed a new slave act which said anyone who helped a slave escape could be fined or imprisoned. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is Published
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It became a top-selling book. Uncle Tom's Cabin was banned in the South because the book said that slavery was a cruel and brutal system. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Proposed by Stephen A. Douglas. Northerners did not like this act, but Southerners did. This would repeal the Missouri Compromise. -
James Buchanan sworn into office as 15th president
While he was president, seven southern states seceded. America was nearing the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Descision
Dred Scott was an enslaved African American, who was moved from the South to the North. Antislavery lawyers helped him sue for his freedom. The court said that he was not a citizen, and that he had no right to bring up a lawsuit. Taney, the judge, also said that voters could not ban slavery because that would be taking someone's property. -
John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry
Their target was a federal arsenal. John wanted to give weapons to enslaved people so they could rebel. They were defeated. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected president
It was Lincoln vs Douglas. Lincoln challenged Douglas to debates, and at these debates the main topic was slavery. Abraham's stand on slavery was to leave it alone in places it existed, but to ban it from new territories. Stephen's stand on it was that he supported popular sovereignty. -
South Carolina seceded from the Union
South Carolina was the first state to secede. The states that seceded chose Jefferson Davls to be their president. They called their new country the Confederates. Southerners used states' rights to justify succession. -
Battle at Fort Sumter begins
Fort Sumter was a Union fort guarding Charleston Harbor. Lincoln received a message that said the fort was low on supplies, and that the confederates demanded its surrender.Lincoln then sent a message to Francis Pickens of South Carolina saying that he was going to send an unarmed group of people with supplies. The Fort had to surrender because the Union ships couldn't reach it. -
Battle of Bull Run
This battle took place in Manassas, Virginia. The Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle. Some people who took place in this were General McDowell and General McClellan. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation declared "that all people held as slaves" in the rebellious states "are, and from now on shall be free." The Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave. -
Battle of Gettysburg begins
In this battle 23,000 Union men were killed or captured, and 25,000 of the Confederates were killed or captured. This battle took place in Gettysburg, of course. A general involved in this battle was General Robert Lee. -
Sherman's March to the Sea Begins
Sherman's March destroyed tons of things like railroads, bridges, telegraph lines, and plantations. Sherman's army was large and faced little to no resistance. They met 10,000 Confederate soldiers at the port, and they had a long battle.Sherman and his army entered the port on December 22, 1864. -
The Surrender at Appomattox Court House
On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Court House, Virginia.Then Grant offered his terms: Lee's soldiers could keep their small guns, and any soldier with a horse could keep it. No one would disturb the soldiers as they went home. -
Lincoln's Assassination
As the president enjoyed a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the head. Hours later, Lincoln died.
