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Harriet Beecher publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin
is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman -
Rebulican party forms
is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery activists -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory. -
Buchanan defeats Fremont and Fillmore for presidency
Buchanan won because there were doubts about Fremont’s honesty, capacity, and sound judgment.
Perhaps it was better that Buchanan won, since Fremont was not as
strong as Lincoln, and in 1856, many people were still apathetic about
slavery, and the South could have seceded more easily. -
Sumner beaten by Brooks in Senate chamber
Congressman Preston S. Brooks decided that since Sumner was not a
gentleman he couldn’t challenge him to a duel, so Brooks beat
Sumner with a cane until it broke; nearby, Senators did nothing but
watched, and Brooks was cheered on by the South. -
Brown's Pottawatomie Massacre
John Brown, a crazy man (literally), led a band of followers to
Pottawatomie Creek in May of 1856 and hacked to death five presumable
pro-slaveryites.
This brutal violence surprised even the most ardent abolitionists
and brought swift retaliation from pro-slaveryites. “Bleeding
Kansas” was earning its name. -
Period: to
Civil war in "bleeding Kansas"
was a series of violent political confrontations involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the neighboring towns of the state of Missouri between 1854 and 1861. -
Lecompton Constitution rejected
By 1857, Kansas had enough people to apply for statehood, and those
for slavery devised the Lecompton Constitution, which provided that the
people were only allowed to vote for the constitution “with
slavery” or “without slavery.”
However, even if the constitution was passed “without
slavery,” those slaveholders already in the state would still be
protected. So, slaves would be in Kansas, despite the vote -
Tariff of 1857
The panic also brought calls for a higher tariff rate, which had been lowered to about 20% only months before. -
Panic of 1857
Psychologically, the Panic of 1857 was the worst of the 19th
century, though it really wasn’t as bad as the Panic of 1837.
It’s causes were
California gold causing inflation,
over-growth of grain,
over-speculation, as always, this time in land and railroads. -
Hinton R. Helper publishes The Impending Crisis of the South
Another book, The Impending Crisis of the South, written
by Hinton R. Helper , a non-aristocratic white North Carolinian, tried
to prove, by an array of statistics, that the non-slave-holding
Southern whites were really the ones most hurt by slavery.
Published in the North, this book and Uncle Tom’s Cabin were both banned in the South, but widely read in the North. They drove the North—South wedge deeper. -
Dred Scott decision
Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him north into free states
where he lived for many years. After his master’s death, he sued
for his freedom from his new master, claiming that he had been in free
territory and was therefore free. The Missouri Supreme Court agreed,
freeing him, but his new master appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which overruled the decision. -
Lincoln-Douglas debates
In 1858, Senator Stephen Douglas’ term was about to expire, and against him was Republican Abraham Lincoln.
Abe was an ugly fellow who had risen up the political ladder slowly
but was a good lawyer, had a down-home common sense about him, and a
pretty decent debater. -
Browns raids Harpers Ferry
John Brown now had a plan to invade the South, seize its arms, call
upon the slaves to rise up and revolt, and take over the South and free
it of slaves. But, in his raid of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, the
slaves didn’t revolt, and he was captured by the U.S. Marines
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee and convicted of
treason, sentenced to death, and hanged. -
SC secedes from the union
South Carolina had threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected
president, and now it went good on its word, seceding in December of
1860. -
Crittenden Compromise fails
In a last-minute attempt at compromise (again), James Henry
Crittenden of Kentucky proposed the Crittenden Compromise, which would
ban slavery north of the 36°30’ line extended to the Pacific
and would leave the issue in territories south of the line up to the
people; also, existing slavery south of the line would be protected. -
Morrill Tariff
The North passed the Morrill Tariff Act, increasing tariff rates by about 5 to 10%, but war soon drove those rates even higher. -
the suspension of habeas corpus
Such actions included the advancement of $2 million to three
private citizens for war purposes, the suspension of habeas corpus so
that anti-Unionists could be arrested without a formal charge, and the
intimidation of voters in the Border States. -
7 seceding states form Conderate States of America
Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas (the
Deep South) followed in the next six weeks, before Abe was inaugurated.
The seven secession states met in Montgomery, Alabama in February
of 1861 and created the Confederate States of America, and they chose
Jefferson Davis as president. -
Lincoln takes office
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated president, having
slipped into Washington D.C. to thwart assassins, and in his inaugural
address, he stated that there would be no conflict unless the South
provoked it. -
Four upper south states secede
The Deep South (which had already seceded), felt that Lincoln was
now waging an aggressive war, and was joined by four more Southern
states: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. -
Fort Sumter fired upon
Most of the forts in the South had relinquished their power to the Confederacy, but Fort Sumter was among the two that didn’t. And since its supplies were running out against a besieging South Carolinian army, Lincoln had a problem of how to deal with the situation.Lincoln wisely chose to send supplies to the fort, and he told the South Carolinian governor that the ship to the fort only heldprovisions, not reinforcements. -
First Battle of bull run
ill-trained Yankee recruits swaggered out toward
Bull Run to engage a smaller Confederate unit. They expected one big
battle and a quick victory for the war.
The atmosphere was like that of a sporting event, as spectators gathered in picnics to watch. -
Northern army seize New Orleans.
In the spring of 1862, a flotilla commanded by David G. Farragut joined with a Northern army to seize New Orleans. -
Conferderacy enacts conscription
At first, there were numerous volunteers, but after the initial
enthusiasm slacked off, Congress passed its first conscription law ever
(the draft), one that angered the poor because rich men could hire a
substitute instead of entering the war just by paying $300 to Congress -
McClellan's Peninsua Campaign
At this moment, President Lincoln took McClellan’s expected
reinforcements and sent them chasing Stonewall Jackson, and after
“Jeb” Stuart’s Confederate cavalry rode completely
around McClellan’s army, Southern General Robert E. Lee launched
a devastating counterattack—the Seven Days’
Battles—on June 26 to July 2 of 1862.
The victory at Bull Run ensured that the South, if it lost, would
lose slavery as well, and it was after this battle that Lincoln began
to draft an emancipation proclamation. -
7 days battle
At this moment, President Lincoln took McClellan’s expected
reinforcements and sent them chasing Stonewall Jackson, and after
“Jeb” Stuart’s Confederate cavalry rode completely
around McClellan’s army, Southern General Robert E. Lee launched
a devastating counterattack—the Seven Days’ -
Second Battle of Bull Run,
In the Second Battle of Bull Run, Robert E. Lee crushed the arrogant General John Pope.
After this battle, Lee hoped to thrust into the North and win,
hopefully persuading the Border States to join the South and foreign
countries to intervene on behalf of the South.
At this time, Lincoln reinstated General McClellan. -
Naval battle of the Merrimack
The biggest Confederate threat to the Union came in the form of an
old U.S. warship reconditioned and plated with iron railroad rails: the
Virginia (formerly called the Merrimack), which threatened to break the
Union blockade, but fortunately, the Monitor arrived just in time to
fight the Merrimack to a standstill, and the Confederate ship was
destroyed later by the South to save it from the North. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in not-yet-conquered
Southern territories, but slaves in the Border States and the conquered
territories were not liberated since doing so might make them go to the
South; Lincoln freed the slaves where he couldn’t and
wouldn’t free the slaves where he could -
Grant takes Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
Lincoln finally found a good general in Ulysses S. Grant, a
mediocre West Point graduate who drank too much whiskey and also fought
under the ideal of “immediate and unconditional surrender.”
Grant won at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, but then muffed-up and
lost a tough battle at Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862), just over the
Tennessee border. -
The National Banking System
The National Banking System was a landmark of the war, created to
establish a standard bank-note currency, and banks that joined the
National Banking System could buy government bonds and issue sound
paper money. -
NYC draft riots
At first, there were numerous volunteers, but after the initial
enthusiasm slacked off, Congress passed its first conscription law ever
(the draft), one that angered the poor because rich men could hire a
substitute instead of entering the war just by paying $300 to Congress.
As a result, many riots broke out, such as one in New York City. -
Battle of Chancellorsville
Fighting Joe” Hooker (known for his prostitutes) was
badly beaten at Chancellorsville, Virginia, when Lee divided his
outnumbered army into two and sent “Stonewall” Jackson to
attack the Union flank, but later in that battle, Jackson’s own
men mistakenly shot him at dusk, and he died. -
Battle of Vicksburg
At Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. Grant besieged the city and
captured it on July 4, 1863, thus securing the important Mississippi
River. Grant redeemed himself here after blundering at Shiloh.
The Union victory at the Battle of Vicksburg came the day after the
Union victory at Gettysburg, and afterwards, the Confederate hope for
foreign intervention was lost -
Period: to
Napoleon III of France installed Austrian Archduke Maximilian as emperor
Napoleon III of France also installed a puppet government in Mexico
City, putting in the Austrian Archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico,
but after the war, the U.S. threatened violence, and Napoleon left
Maximilian to doom at the hands of a Mexican firing squad. -
Sherman's march through GA
After Grant cleared out Tennessee, General William Tecumseh Sherman
was given command to march through Georgia, and he delivered, capturing
and burning down Atlanta before completing his infamous “March to
the Sea” at Savannah. -
Lincoln defeats McClellan
The Union Party chose Democrat Andrew Johnson to ensure that the
War Democrats would vote for Lincoln, and the campaign was once again
full of mudslinging.
Near election day, the victories at New Orleans and Atlanta
occurred, and the Northern soldiers were pushed to vote, and Lincoln
smoked his opponent in the Electoral College, 212-21. -
Lee surenders to Grant at Appomattox
Finally, Grant and his men captured Richmond, burnt it, and
cornered Lee at Appomattox Courthouse at Virginia in April of 1865,
where Lee formally surrendered; the war was over. -
Lincoln assassinated
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head by John Wilkes Booth and died shortly after.
Before his death, few people had suspected his greatness, but his
sudden and dramatic death erased his shortcomings and made people
remember him for his good things