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Compromise of 1850
Passed by Congress, admitting California as a free state and passing the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A novel about slave life published by Harriet Beecher Stowe. -
Bleeding Kansas
A violent confrontation within Kansas that occurred for about 6 years dealing with the legality of slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Passed by Congress, allowing people to in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
Sacking of Lawrence
The proslavery group, Border Ruffians attacks the antislavery stronghold of Lawrence, Kansas. -
Pottawatomie Massacre
In reaction to the Sacking of Lawrence, John Brown, an antislavery fanatic, and a group of abolitionists killed five settlers north of the Pottawatomie creek which became as one of the most bloodiest episodes preceding the Civil War. -
Lecompton Constitution
The second constitution drafted for Kansas Territory was written by proslavery supporters. The document permitted slavery, excluded free blacks from living in Kansas and allowed only male citizens of the United States to vote. -
Dred Scott Decision
The United States Supreme Court issues a decision in the Dred Scott case, affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western territories. Negates the doctrine of popular sovereignty and severely undermining the platform of the newly created Republican Party. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown seizes the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. -
Election of 1860
Republican Abraham Lincoln is elected president. Lincoln did not win a single southern state. Pro-slavery members thought it was against their livelihood and forced upon them.
