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Uncle Tom's Cabin
This was a book written by Harriet Stowe and was very controversial. It told the story of slavery and how terrible it was. The South did not like it because it was based on anti-slavery ideas. The author got nicknamed by Lincoln the one who started the Civil War because of how divided the nation became because of this book. -
Bloody Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was caused by making popular sovereignty the way the territories would decide if they would allow slavery or not. Anti-slavery would come to Kansas to try to sway the vote. After realizing this, slavery supporters would come to Kansas to also sway the vote. This led to violence and a rift between the two sides of the country. -
Republican Party
This party was formed because they were against slavery being expanded into the territories. This led to the Civil War because in 1860 the southern states said they would secede if the Republican Party won the presidency. Later that year, Lincoln won the election and 6 weeks later South Carolina seceded. When 6 weeks passed after South Carolina left, 5 other states joined them. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act was proposed by Stephan Douglas and allowed the territories to decide whether or not they had slavery by using popular sovereignty, repealed the Missouri Compromise, and split Missouri into two territories. This led to Bloody Kansas. Northern and southern would come to Kansas to try to sway the vote. It made both sides become even more hostile and divided. -
Election of 1856
This election was the last time that the Democrat party ever put in another Democrat while one was in office. The Democrats did not want Franklin Pierce because of what happened This was the first time that the Republican party. This caused the nation to be even more divided and showed that the civil war had to happen. This was also when Lincoln switched to the Republican Party. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
This was when Preston Brooks hit Charles Sumner with his cane in the Senate chamber. This was important to the Civil War history because Preston Brooks was a pro-slavery Democrat, while Charles Sumner was an abolitionist from Massachusetts. -
Dred Scott
This was a court case between Standford and Dred Scott. The decision was that slavery could be in the territories, black citizenship in America was illegal, and the Missouri Compromise was illegal. This decision made the country grow divided because of the decision about slavery in the territories. -
Lecompton Constitution
This Constitution was the second of the four made for Kansas. It allowed slavery in Kansas but was never completely ratified. This was because they weren't sure if it completely represented the people or only a select few. -
House Divided Speech
This was a speech made by Lincoln where he said that the country needed to come together and either be all slave states or anti-slavery states. If they don't come together, then the Union will forever be split. It led to the Civil War because it predicted that the southern states would secede from the country. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
In total, there were seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas, whose main topic was slavery and whether or not it should be in the territories. Douglas' main argument was that Lincoln supported equality and ruining the Union. Lincoln argued that slavery was morally wrong and said that popular sovereignty led to Bloody Kansas. It ended with Douglas winning because of his "Freeport Doctrine." His stance on this made the South upset and led to the division of the Democratic Party. -
Harper's Ferry
This raid was led by John Brown in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. It was supposed to be the first part of a plan that ended with multiple free slaves in Maryland and Virginia. It did not go successfully and finished with 17 men dying and Brown and the survivors getting hanged. This led to the Civil War because it made the South outraged. They saw this as the abolitionists doing whatever they could to stop slavery. John Brown also became one of the first to die because of their beliefs in the war. -
John Brown's death
John Brown was hanged because of his raid on Harpers Ferry. The Southerners did not like him because he had died for slavery. He also became a symbol for the Northerners who were also anti-slavery. His death made the nation split even more and made it more clear that the only way it would come back together was through war. -
Election 1860
This was a four-way election. Abraham Lincoln won the presidency through the Electoral College but only got 40% of the popular vote. This led to the Civil War because Lincoln was anti-slavery and he would cause different southern states to seced. -
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address
Lincoln's main goal with this address was to keep the union together and not go to a civil war. He also said that he would not interfere with slavery. He warned the South that they should stop rebelling and need to stop expanding slavery. -
Secession
The southern states seceded from the nation because they did not want to follow all of the laws that the federal government put out. It led to the Civil War because it caused an actual split in the country because the southern states were no longer a part of the country.