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Robert E. Lee
(date born) Robert E. Lee was a skilled general in the Confederate Army and a major asset to the Confederacy in the Civil War. He contributes to war because he fought many of the battles in the Civil War and led many of them as well. -
Ulysses S. Grant
(date born) Grant was a general for the Union during the Civil War and eventually became president of the United States. Grant contributed to the war by helping lead the North to win the Civil War. -
Wilmot Proviso
This proposed a law that would ban slavery in any new territories gained from Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Many people were in agreement with the Wilmot Proviso, but many weren't as well, causing conflicts that eventually led to the Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise admitted California as a free state and the territories of Utah and New Mexico were left to decide on whether or not to be free or slave by popular sovereignty. This caused even more conflict to arise between the slave states and the free states and the fight over new states and territories. -
Fugitive Slave Act
(specific day and month unknown) Included in the Compromise of 1850, this act took away runaway slaves rights to a trial, fined or imprisoned those who helped hide runaway slaves, and required local police officers to help in the arrest of these slaves. This caused conflict between the North who thought that the Act was too harsh and unjust, and the South who took full advantage of the Act, but also claimed that the compromise favored the North. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
(specific day not specified) In this Court case, the Supreme Court ruled that restricting slavery to just slave states was not legal, which overturned the Missouri Compromise. This caused a crisis because now not even the North was a safe place for African Americans. Many people were very unhappy with the court ruling as well, causing not only panic, but anger and tension also. -
Copperheads
(specific date unknown, but around 1860) This was the name of a group of Democratic Northerners who opposed Civil War, and were very active and vocal about their beliefs. This caused conflict between the Democrats and Republicans in the North, specifically those that opposed the Copperheads and those that supported them. -
Abraham Lincoln
(date elected) Abraham Lincoln became the president of the United States on the brink Civil War and was reelected before he was assassinated. This an example of leadership because Lincoln was the president of the Union before, during, and after the Civil War, and made abolition possible. -
Secession
Secession began after the Election of 1860 when South Carolina decided to secede from the Union. They did this because they realized that when Lincoln became president, he would try to end slavery in the country as a whole. After South Carolina, other states began to secede, forming the Confederacy. This caused a crisis by dividing the North and South completely, making Civil War a much more threatening reality. -
Fort Sumter
This was the first battle of the Civil War at Charleston, South Carolina and resulted in a win for the Confederacy. Being known as the site for the first shots of the Civil War, this greatly related to the concept of war. -
Anaconda Plan
(planning began on this date) The Anaconda Plan was a Northern war strategy that would cut off the South from its resources, effectively strangling them like an anaconda does its prey. This contributed to war because it was a war strategy that included plans to take over important Southern ports like New Orleans to restrict trade, and take control of the Mississippi River to cut the South in half, weakening them significantly. -
Writ of Habeus Corpus
After putting martial law into effect, Lincoln suspended the writ of Habeus Corpus, which protected people from being put in jail illegally. By doing this, Lincoln could swiftly imprison Southern sympathizers without a trial. This caused conflict between the North and South due to the outrage from Southern states at the unconstitutional imprisonment of powerful Southern supporters. -
Jefferson Davis
(date elected) Jefferson Davis was the first and only president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. This relates to leadership because Davis was the leader of the Confederacy, and the head of the opposing force against the Union. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation effectively made the war about slavery. Not only was it intended to publicly state the North's stance on the issue, but it was also a political move. By making the war about slavery, countries like Great Britain and France could not help the South due to the fact that they had outlawed slavery in these places. This was a crisis because it took away support from the South, strengthening the North and weakening the South in the war. -
Appomattox Courthouse
This battle that took place in Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia resulted in the surrender of General Lee, and signaled the end of the Civil War. Because this was the last battle of the Civil War, this is related to the concept of war. -
Black Codes
(specific day and month unknown) After Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency, the Southern states took the opportunity to pass laws that restricted the freedoms of African Americans, enforcing segregation at every opportunity. This caused conflict between the Southern white people who were pro-slavery and the African American community, and often times resulted in violence and abuse to blacks. -
Solid South
(specific date unknown, but after Reconstruction ended) Solid South was the term used to describe the South's complete support for the Democratic party and Democratic candidates after the Civil War. This caused further conflict between the North and South over divided political parties and power struggles in government between the two. -
Jim Crow Laws
(specific day and month unknown) These were laws enforcing segregation in the South that were put into place after the end of Reconstruction. This contributed to conflict because sever persecution and regression towards the black community arose from these laws. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
In this court case, the ruling was in favor of segregation laws, and coined the phrase "separate but equal", saying that African Americans could be equal but could have separate facilities like water fountains and bathrooms. This contributed to conflict due to the harsh treatment the black community faced in the name of being "separate but equal". -
Grandfather Clause
The Grandfather Clause was put into place to allow white males who couldn't pass the literacy tests required before voting to still vote. The clause stated that if your father or grandfather had voted in the past, you could vote no matter what. This caused conflict between the African American community and their supporters and those who believed in nativism. Because the Grandfather Clause was put in place to allow white males to vote but still restricted the black vote, many were outraged.