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William Lloyd Garrison launches the Liberator
The Liberator (1831-1865) was an abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp in 1831. Garrison co-published weekly issues of The Liberator from Boston continuously for 35 years. -
Nat Turner leads a slave revolt in VA
Turner’s rebellion was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history. -
American Anti-Slavery founded in Boston
The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. -
Sarah Grimke's Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women
Sarah Grimke was a writer, educator, Quaker, and one of the first American women advocates for abolition and women's rights. -
Henry Highland Garnet's "Address to the Slaves of the United States of America"
Henry Highland Garnet captured the attention of delegates with his “An Address to the Slaves of the United States” in which he called for slaves' open rebellion. -
Frederick Douglass published the North Star
Frederick Douglass published an abolitionist newspaper in Rochester, New York, called The North Star. It got its name because slaves escaping at night followed the North Star in the sky to freedom. -
Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. -
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was an inspiring woman that freed thousands of slaves and started a movement after she ran from the south in 1849. -
Fugitive Slave Act passed
The Fugitive Slave Act passed by Congress was one of the most controversial elements of the Compromise of 1850. -
Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech
At the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention, Sojourner Truth spoke what is now known as one of the most famous women’s rights speeches in American history, “Ain’t I a Woman?” -
Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'
Harriet Beecher Stowe's best known novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (published serially from June 5, 1851-April 1, 1852), changed forever how Americans viewed slavery, and demanded that the US deliver the promise of freedom and equality. -
Republican Party founded
A meeting in Wisconsin on this day is generally remembered as the founding of the Republican political party. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act passed
The Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the land west of Missouri into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. Stephen Douglas argued for popular sovereignty, which would allow the settlers of the new territories to decide if slavery would be legal there. -
Civil War in Kansas known as "Bleeding Kansas"
The "Bleeding Kansas" Civil War occured from 1854 (the The Kansas–Nebraska Act) into 1861, over whether Kansas would be a slave state or a free state. -
Charles Sumner beating
In one of the most dramatic moments in the Senate's history, a member of the House of Representatives entered the Senate's room and violently beat a senator, Charles Sumner, into unconsciousness. -
Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision
In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that any African American, whether enslaved or free, was not an American citizen and therefore could not sue in federal court. -
Lecompton Constitution rejected by Congress
During the Kansas territorial period, several attempts were made to write and adopt a constitution under which Kansas would become a state. In 1857, some Kansas residents organized a 2nd constitutional convention. This convention was authorized by the proslavery territorial legislature to meet at Lecompton to draft a constitution. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of formal political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, in campaign for one of two Illinois state senate seats. -
John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown leads a group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, trying to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. -
Election of 1860
The Election of 1860 was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860, and served as the cause for the outbreak of the American Civil War. When Lincoln won the election, southern tates began to seceded from the Union.
