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Uncle Tom's Cabin
This book was written by Harriet B. Stowe which talked about the life of slavery. The book became very famous and one of her best sellers. It played an important role in convincing the North and the South that slavery was an issue that couldn't be ignored. -
Bloody Kansas
Blood Kansas was a series of violent civil conflicts in the United States between 1854 and 1861 which happened from a political debate over of slavery in the state of Kansas. -
Republican Party
The Republican Party opposed the expansion of slavery but supported railroads, and factories. They had argued that free market labor was higher than slavery and was the foundation of good citizen behavior and true republicanism. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
This act would allow the people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska choose for themselves on whether the territory would be free of slave labor or have slaves. -
Brooks-Sumner Incident
Charles Sumner gave a two day speech on the Senate floor. He denounced the South for crimes against Kansas and singled out Senator Andrew Brooks of South Carolina for extra abuse. Brooks beat Sumner over the head with his cane, severely crippling him. -
Election of 1856
In the election of 1856, Democrat James Buchanan defeated Republican John C. Frémont with 174 electoral votes to Frémont’s 114. -
Lecompton Constitution
Pro-slavery constitution written for Kansas admission to the union in opposition to the anti-slavery Topeka Constitution; it was eventually rejected and Kansas became a free state in 1861.It contained clauses protecting slaveholding and a bill of rights excluding free blacks, and it added to the frictions leading up to the U.S. Civil War. -
Dred Scott
He was a slave in Missouri who went to court to ask for his freedom. He said he was free because his owner lived in a free state for 4 years. Two state courts made 2 opposing decisions so Scott went to the Supreme Court in 1857 -
House divided speech
This speech was important because it helped lay out the anti-slavery position of the national Republican Party by 1860. The speech also brought Lincoln to the attention of the party's national leaders and contributed to their decision to nominate Lincoln for the presidency in 1860. -
Lincoln Douglass Debates
The debates were a series of seven debates between the Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign, largely concerning the issue of slavery extension into the territories. This helped Douglass win Senate but not election. -
Harper's Ferry
John Brown led followers in an attack on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His goal was to use the weapons seized to lead a slave uprising. This was not successful and he was taken prisoner along with the surviving men -
John Brown
John Brown was an abolitionist extremist who wanted to overthrow the slavery system. During Bleeding Kansas, he and his sons led attacks on pro-slavery citizens. He believed that his actions were a will of God, and therefore pure. -
Election of 1860
Election against Lincoln who was a Republican, John C. Breckenridge who was a Southern Democrat, Stephen A. Douglas who was a Northern Democrat and John C. Bell who was apart of the Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln won only 39 percent of the popular vote but won majority of the electoral votes. -
Secession
Began with South Carolina seceding from the Union on Dec. 10, 1860. During Jan. 9th all the way to Feb. 1st, 1861 six states: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas also seceded from the Union. -
Lincoln's 1st Inaugural Address
Lincoln outlined his position on the slavery issue by stating again that he, as president, had no constitutional authority to abolish slavery. He called on the southern states to avoid war. If war came, however, it would be the fault of the southern states and not the Unions.