Towards Civil War

  • Missouri Compromise

    Missouri Compromise
    Made to keep balance between slave states and free states. Northerners wanted to ban slavery and Southerners did not like Northerners interfering in their business. Those differences grew into sectionalism. Missouri would be in the Union as a slave state, and Maine as a free state.
  • Compromise of 1850

    Compromise of 1850
    Senator Henry Clay tried to help the problem between the North and South. Antislavery forces wanted to ban slavery in Washington D.C. and Southerners wanted a stronger fugitive law. The Fugitive Slave Act banned slave trade in Washington D.C.
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act

    Kansas-Nebraska Act
    Act allowed people in Kansas and Nebraska to choose whether or not to be a free or slave states. The states' rights would be changed. Senator Stephen Douglas called this popular sovereignty. After the law passed, people rushed to Kansas in armed groups called border ruffians.
  • “Bleeding Kansas”-Sacking of Lawrence

    “Bleeding Kansas”-Sacking of Lawrence
    When pro-slavery activists attacked and ransacked Lawrence, Kansas, a town which had been founded by anti-slavery settlers from Massachusetts who were hoping to make Kansas a free state.
  • Dred Scott Decision

    Dred Scott Decision
    Allowed slave owners to take their slave into West territories. Scott sued for his freedom, because he thought he should be free. Court ruled him not free, although he lived on free soil. Northerners were outraged by this, while Southerners were happy about this decision.
  • Lincoln Douglas Debates

    Lincoln Douglas Debates
    Ran against each other in 1858. Main topic of the debates were slavery. Douglas believed in popular sovereignty. He accused Lincoln of wanting African Americans to have the same rights as whites. Lincoln said African Americans had some rights and that slavery was wrong. Douglas won the election this time.
  • Raid on Harpers Ferry (John Brown)

    Raid on Harpers Ferry (John Brown)
    The target was a site where weapons are stored. He planned to give the weapons to enslaved African Americans for a revolt against their own slaveholders. Convicted of treason and murder,Brown was sentenced to death. Some saw Brown as a martyr-a person who died for a good cause.
  • Election of Lincoln

    Election of Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln is elected, against Douglas. He won the election, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. He received only 40 percent of the votes, but outran the others that were elected.
  • Battle of Fort Sumter

    Battle of Fort Sumter
    Lincoln wanted to help the forts and resupply them when needed. The fort refused, and opened fire. the fort soon surrendered, due to loss of their supplies.
  • Lincoln Inaugural Address

    Lincoln Inaugural Address
    Lincoln won election, and promised to not disturb slavery, but Southerners didn't trust him. Secession started. South Carolina left the Union first, followed by six other states. Lincoln attempted to convince the states to rejoin the Union, but they refused.