Events that led to the Civil War

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    Events that led to the Civil War

  • Nat Turner's Rebellion

    This is a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton county Virginia. It was led by Nat Turner and he had a group of rebels made up of enslaved African Americans. They killed between 55 - 65 white people making it the deadliest event between slaves and white people in U.S. History. It ended at the Belmont plantation.
  • Nullification Crisis

    The North's investment in transportation and industries started from its industrialized economy and their need to support rapid urbanization. With their growing population and the immigrants the North requires good transportation like railroads to make the movement of goods and people more efficient. While the South's economy mostly relied on agriculture like the cotton production. This being said the Federal government favored the North and were taxing the South. The South did not like that.
  • The Compromise of 1850

    This was a package of 5 laws passed in September that was made to resolve disputes around slavery in the newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War. California come to the Union as a free state which upset the balance between free and slave states in the Senate. New Mexico and Utah had territorial governments s that allowed their white residents to decide whether they wanted to allow slavery's or not.
  • The Fugitive Slave Act

    Federal laws in in 1793 and 1850 that allowed for the capture an return if escaped enslaved people to their owners. Even if the enslaved individual had escaped and was living in a free state they were still to be returned back to their owner in the slave state. This act worsened the tension between the North in the South which ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
  • 'Uncle Toms Cabin' Is Published

    Toms Cabin is an anti-slavery narrative that depicts the brutalities of slavery and its impact on families. The story follows Tom who is a kind-hearted middle aged enslaved man and other characters as they face the hardships of slavery. The book was inspired by interviews with formerly enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act

    The act organized the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, repealed the Missouri Compromise, and allowed settlers to decide on the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty. Contributed to the Bleeding Kansas and escalated tensions that led to the Civil War. The initial reason for organizing the territories was to facilitate the construction of a transcontinental railroad and open new lands to settlement. It further inflamed sectional tensions over slavery increasing the Republican Party.
  • Dred Scott vs. Sandford

    Scott was a slave who tried to sue for his freedom saying that since he lived in free states and free territory that he should have the right to be a free man. The Supreme Court however, said no African American can be a citizen so Scott was still a slave.
  • The Pottawatomie Massacre

    Followers of John Brown killed five pro-slavery supporters in Franklin County, Kansas. The Pottawatomie Rifles were a group of about 100 abolitionist settlers from Franklin and Anderson County, Kansas. On June 2 John led anti-slavery forces to victory over the pro-slavery forces in the Battle of Black Jack.
  • The Election of 1860

    This election was a pivotal moment showcasing the deep divisions within the country regarding the issues with slavery and states rights. It featured 4 candidates, Abraham Lincoln for the Republicans who was against the expansion of slavery, Stephen A. Douglas for the Northern Democrats who supported popular sovereignty, John C, Breckinridge for the Southern Democrats who advocated for the protection of slaver, and John Bell for the Constitutional Union Party who sought to preserve the Union.
  • Secession

    This is an act where states left the Union. The Secession crisis from 1860 - 1861 led to the beginning of the Civil War When the Southern states were seceding from the Union and made themselves their own separate nation. South Carolina was the first state to cede following the election of Abraham Lincoln. They ceded because they desired to preserve enslavement.