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#5 Missouri Compromise
In 1820, amid growing sectional tensions over the issue of slavery, the U.S. Congress passed a law that admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while banning slavery from the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands located north of the 36º 30’ parallel The reason for the ranking of the Missouri Compromise was that the North wanted slavery to be abolished everywhere, while the South wanted to keep and expand slavery. Sparking the first ideas of war -
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Mexican American War
The Mexican-American War marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico (Mexican-American War). -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican-American War. Soon after the war began, President James K. Polk sought the appropriation of $2 million as part of a bill to negotiate the terms of a treaty.
The reason for the ranking of the Wilmot Proviso was that it helped widen the growing sectional rift, which ultimately separated the country leading to the civil war. -
Mexican American War Significance
The Significance of the Mexican-American war is that it led to the United States gaining new territory's in the south west and create a surge in nationalism. -
#6 Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was made up of five bills that attempted to resolve disputes over slavery in new territories added to the United States in the wake of the Mexican-American War (1846-48). It admitted California as a free state, left Utah and New Mexico to decide for themselves whether to be a slave state or a free state.
The ranking of the Compromise of 1850 is because it's lingering resentment over its provisions contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War. -
Fugitive Slave Law
The Fugitive Slave Law's were a pair of federal laws that allowed for the capture and return of runaway enslaved people within the territory of the United States. Enacted by Congress in 1793, the first Fugitive Slave Act authorized local governments to seize and return escapees to their owners and imposed penalties on anyone who aided in their flight The Significance of the fugitive slave law it ended slaves escaping and being free in the north. -
#8 Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was an abolitionist novel, it achieved wide popularity, particularly among white readers in the North, by vividly dramatizing the experience of slavery. The Significance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an immediate sensation and was taken up eagerly by abolitionists in the North and denounced in the South creating tension between the south and north.
The significance and ranking of the book is because it heavily criticized the south which led to tension and propaganda against slavery -
#7 Kansas Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed a bill to organize the Territory of Nebraska, a vast area of land that would become Kansas, Nebraska, Montana and the Dakotas. Known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the controversial bill raised the possibility that slavery could be extended into territories where it had once been banned.
The reason for the ranking of the Kansas Nebraska act is here because it continued to question and cause concern about how far slavery can and should be extended. -
#4 Bleeding Kansas
A period of repeated outbreaks of violent guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas in 1854. In all, some 55 people were killed between 1855 and 1859.
The ranking for the events is because the attacks intensified the ongoing debate over the future of slavery in the United States and served as a key precursor to the Civil War. -
Dred Scott v Sanford
The Dred Scott case, also known as Dred Scott v. Sandford, was a decade-long fight for freedom by a Black enslaved man named Dred Scott. The case persisted through several courts and ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, whose decision incensed abolitionists, gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement. The Significance of the case was Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. -
#9 LeCompton Constitution
The Lecompton Constitution was a document framed in Lecompton, the Territorial Capital of Kansas, in 1857 by Southern pro-slavery advocates of Kansas statehood. It contained clauses protecting slaveholding and a bill of rights excluding free blacks. The ranking of the LeCompton Constitution is 9 because it added to the frictions leading up to the U.S. Civil War, because it foreshadowed that the South was going to fight to keep slavery in their society. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Illinois, took on the incumbent Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas in a series of seven debates. Thousands of spectators and newspaper reporters from around the country watched as the two men battled over the primary issue facing the nation at the time: slavery and the battle over its extension into new territories. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy the institution of slavery. -
#2 Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was one of the most pivotal presidential elections ever. It pitted Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln against Democratic Party nominee Senator Stephen Douglas, . The main issue of the election was slavery and states’ rights. Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States
The reason of why the election is ranked number 2 is because the south believed that Lincoln was not their president and would abolish slavery so they went and formed the confederacy. -
#1 South Carolina Succeeds from the Union
The force of events moved very quickly upon the election of Lincoln. South Carolina acted first, calling for a convention to Seceded from the Union. State by state, conventions were held, and the Confederacy was formed.
The ranking for this event is because it would be the main factor leading to the war since the Confederate states broke away from the Union to preserve their culture and heritage. Its ranking is one because it was the main cause of the Civil war since it formed the confederacy. -
Crittenden Compromise
The “Crittenden Compromise,” as it became known, included six proposed constitutional amendments and four proposed Congressional resolutions that Crittenden hoped would appease Southern states and help the nation avoid civil war.
The significance of this event was that it would not succeed in obtaining peace and would lead to the Civil War. -
#3 Attack on Ft. Sumter
The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War—a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage.
The significance and ranking of this event was that it was the shot heard around the world and would begin the gruesome civil war making it the number one cause for Civil War.
