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Underground Railroad
The system of escape for slave from the south to the north was dubbed as the underground railroad. It was not underground, nor was it a railroad. It was a series of houses where slaves would be hidden and cared for before they were transferred to the next house, or "station" -
Abolition
This is the movement to abolish slavery, it was considered as the most important of a series of reforms in the United States -
The Liberator
Written by William Lloyd Garrison, considered the most radical white abolitionist, established this paper. Before the paper was published, there were very few outspoken abolitionists. Garrison demanded emancipation of slaves and rallied supporters for the cause. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
This was a prominent rebellion led by Turner in Virginia. Turner and his men killed four plantation owners, along with sixty whites. many of them were eventually captured and executed. This act frightened and enraged slaveholders. -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglass debate
Douglass believed in popular sovereignty and Lincoln believed that slavery was immoral, no matter what the voters agreed on. Douglass won the debate, and a position in the senate. But Lincoln's fight against slavery raised even more awareness on the issue. -
The North Star
Begun and written by Frederick Douglass, The North Star was another pro-abolition newspaper. The name was based on the North star that slaves followed to the North U.S. It called for the end of Slavery. -
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was one of the mist famous 'conductors' of the underground railroad. She was a former slave who had escaped to the North at a young age. She made 19 trip along the underground railroad, risking being caught and returned, she helped around 300 slaves escape to freedom. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay came up with the compromise to solve increasing contention between people against abolition and for abolition. To please the North, California was admitted into the union as a free state. To please the South, the fugitive slave law was made stricter . However this was only a temporary solution as the idea of abolition grew ever the more controversial. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Under the law, slaves who had run away could not be given a trial by jury, giving slaveholders the ability to claim any former slave, free or not, as a fugitive. And anyone who was caught assisting a slave in escape or hiding was liable for a one thousand dollar fine and imprisonment for up to sis months. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it stressed that the fight to abolish slavery should not have been about pride or who won, it should be simply about the abolishment about slavery. This inspired Northerners to further protest the south, who criticized the book. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
After congressional arguments and the compromise of of 1850, Kansas and Nebraska were made into a territory open to slavery. -
Dred Scott v. Stanford
Dred Scott had been taken by his owner to a Northern state and took the issue of being a free man due to living in the Northern states to the supreme court. The court ruled against him on the grounds that as a black man and a slave he had no grounds to sue because he was not a citizen. -
John Brown's Raid/ Harper's Ferry
John Brown led a band of white and black men, 21 in total, into Harper's Ferry. He had a goal to seize weaponry and spark a nationwide uprising, which didn't happen. Brown was immediately executed. The North honored his death with bells tolling, guns firing saluted and huge crowds gathered to hear denunciations of the south. The South reacted with mobs attacking those who supposedly had anti-slavery views. -
Abraham Lincoln Becomes President
The Republican party nominated Lincoln as the representative in the 1860 presidential election. He promised to stop slavery from spreading but appealed to Southerners saying that he would not interfere with their slaves. Lincoln won the presidential election with no support from the South. -
Formation of the Confederacy
Southern states decided to secede from the Union in fear that they had lost their political voice. First was South Carolina in December 20th 1860, then Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. In February 1861, representatives from the seceded States met together and formed the Confederacy under a constitution like the U.S. one but protected slavery. They elected Jefferson Davis as their president. -
Battle of Bull Run
A Confederate victory and the first battle on the field. The Union attacked Confederates and they fought, the Confederates stood firm and did not permit the Union to defeat them. -
Income Tax
As the war grew and expenses shrank, the income tax was created, collecting taxes by an individual's income rather than rank, family or status or a blank tax. Included in the Revenue act of 1861 -
Attack on Fort Sumter
The attack on the fort was one of four attack by the South before Lincoln's inauguration. He would not order the people of the fort to retaliate against the Southerners, but sent in provisions to keep the men able to defend the fort. The South succeeded in taking hold of the fort. -
Battle at Antietam
As McClellan led his army to Richmond, they came upon a Confederate army, soon under the control of Robert E. Lee. McClellan ordered a pursuit and they fought by the creek Antietam. It was the bloodiest battle in United States history. Over 26,000 casualties -
Conscription
As fighting between the North and South grew worse, both sides were forced to impose conscription which forced drafting into the respective army. This led to riots, more casualties and separations from family. (Date is when President Jefferson Davis from the South first imposed conscription) -
Battle at Vicksburg
The Union general, Ulysses G. Grant, attempted multiple times to take control of the Vicksburg stronghold. He set up several artillery and weakened defenses before finally being able to attack it. It gave control of the Mississippi river to the Union and was a monumental victory for the Union. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The proclamation made by Lincoln authorizing the army to emancipate slaves. Meaning that all slaves in the rebellious slaves were now considered free, this could empower slaves to act, to fight back, or to rebel against their owners. -
Battle at Gettysburg
This was defensively the most important battle fought in the war, Confederate soldiers came upon several Union Cavalry brigades. The Confederates took the defensive position on the hills and ridges, waiting for the union. The Confederates took control of Gettysburg, but the Union fought back. After days, the Confederates retreated and the casualties were counted from the past few days. 23,000 Unionists and 28,000 Confederates were lost in battle. A cemetery was made to honor the men. -
Gettysburg Address
At the cemetery created only for the people who died in the battle of Gettysburg. A ceremony to dedicate it to the heroes was held. This supposedly, "remade America". Many realized that the United states was supposed to be united, not separated nations and it helped bring the two opposing sides together. -
Sherman's March
Led by William Tecumseh Sherman from Georgia to the East Coast for the purpose of terrifying the South into abandoning the Confederate cause. Lasted from November 15th 1864 to December 21st 1864. -
Thirteenth Amendment
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Ratified in 1865. -
Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
Following one of the last battle in the civil war, the Confederacy (Robert E. Lee) surrendered their battle at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
In the Peterson House, Washington D.C, John Wilkes Booth fired into the back of the head of Abraham Lincoln. Four days after the surrender of the Confederacy to the Union.
