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Abolitionist Movement
This movement attempted to achieve immediate emancipation of all slaves and the termination of racial segregation and discrimination.
This led southern slaveholders to view the Northerners as anti slavery, which to them meant anti South. -
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The Events Leading to the Civil War
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William Lloyd Garrison
Garrison was the writer of the liberator, an abolitionist newspaper. He was very passionate and vocal about anti slavery and the rights of African Americans. Although his views were not very common, he got the word out. -
Fugitive Slave Act/Underground Railroad
The Fugitive Slave Act was a federal law that granted the capture and return of runaway slaves within the territory of the United States.The Underground Railroad was the term used to describe a secret network that helped escaped slaves on their way to freedom in the northern states or Canada.
The fugitive slave act brought slavery to the lives of Northerners which gave power to abolitionists. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri Late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. At the time, the United States consisted of twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free. Missouri wanted to be a state which would throw off the balance of the Union. The compromise was an attempt to alleviate the sectional and political tension brought up by Missouri. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe experience in an educational seminary, religious background, and experience in the south led her to write Uncle Tom's Cabin. The story follows 2 slaves and their unfortunate life experiences.
This book greatly influenced the public opinion and widened their knowledge to the terror and immorality of slavery. -
Dred Scott Decision
Scott lived in IL, a free state, for many years. Shortly after moving back to MO, his master died and Scott then sued the court for his freedom.His claim was that since he lived in a free state for so long (illegally owned), he should have freedom.By March 1857, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.The court ruled that no slave could be a citizen.Because Scott was a slave he had no rights and could'nt sue in a Federal Court.This grew the political and social divide between the North and South -
John Brown and Bleeding Kansas
John Brown was a very passionate abolitionist who was very violent because he believed it was the most powerful attempt at ending slavery. One of his acts of violence occurred in Kansas, which was known as bloody kansas because he was fighting for control to make Kansas a free state.
Brown's execution was viewed very differently in the north and south. But, both sides became more eager to continue and fight for their beliefs. -
The Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was a driving push for the start of the civil war. Lincoln won in the electoral college with 180 votes and a popular vote of about 40 percent. His winning was the tipping point for the South Carolina and other Southern states. -
Southern Secession
The Secession was composed of a series of important events that led to eleven states in the South to break away from the Union.
This completely severed the North from the South and began a mindset of war.
