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Wilimot Proviso
Goal was to eliminate slavery within the land acquired of the Mexican war -
Compromise of 1850
5 separate bills passed by the U.S. congress in September 1850 which defused a 4 year political conformation between slave and free states -
Uncle Toms Cabin is first published
Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly, is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. -
John Brown's Masacre at Pottawatomie creek
A sheriff was shot trying to arrest some antislavery. The next month he returned with 800 men and attacked the town. -
Dred Scott Decision
Was a slave that moved into free state so that he was not considered a slave anymore and took the case to the supreme court and the ruling was that since he was black he was still viewed as property and had no rights. -
Lincoln Douglas Debate
The issues they discussed were not only of critical importance to the sectional conflict over slavery and states’ rights but also touched deeper questions that would continue to influence political discourse. -
John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry, Virginia
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by white abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. -
Abraham Lincoln is elected as a Republican President
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. -
South Carolina seceded from the union
The force of events moved very quickly upon the election of Lincoln. South Carolina acted first, calling for a convention to SECEDE from the Union. -
Confederate troops fire at Fort Sumter, South Carolina
The fort had been the source of tension between the Union and Confederacy for several months. After South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860, the state demanded the fort be turned over but Union officials refused.
