Events Leading to Civil War
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Created by:
jkellyqtown on April 29, 2009
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19 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 The Missouri Compromise | In 1820, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states in the United States. When Missouri applied for statehood, it upset the balance between free and slave states. Senator Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise which would admit Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. As part of the Missouri Compromise, Congress drew an imaginary line at latitude 36,30 N and slavery would be permitted in the Louisiana Purchase south of this line. |
| Wilmot Proviso | A law, created by David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, that called for a ban on slavery in any lands won from the Mexican War. It did not pass in Congress, but heated up the debate over slavery in the new territories. |
| Sectionalism | A loyalty to a state or section, rather than to the country as a whole. |
| Popular Sovereignty | Control by the people. |
| Free Soil Party | "Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." The main goal of the Free Soil Party was to keep slavery out of the western territories. (Most did not want to end slavery in the south!) |
| Compromise of 1850 | 1. California enters as a free state. 2. The rest of the Mexican Cession was divided into New Mexico and Utah. Voters in each territory would decide the slavery issue. 3. The slave trade would end in Washington, D.C. 4. A strict fugitive slave law was passed. |
| The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 | A law that required all citizens to help catch runaway slaves. Those who let fugitive slaves escape would be fined $1,000. It also set up special courts which gave money to judges to send fugitive slaves south. (Northerners were outraged!) |
| Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin | A novel widely read in the 1850's, it showed the evils of slavery. Southerners argued that it did not accurately give a true picture of slavery. |
| Kansas-Nebraska Act | Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced the act, which created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Douglas proposed that voters would decide whether each territory would be "slave" or "free." Northerners were outraged because they argued the Missouri Compromise already banned slavery in these areas. Southern leaders supported the bill because they thought slavery would spread from Missouri to Kansas and Nebraska. |
| Bleeding Kansas | Refers to the killing which occurred when proslavery and antislavery settlers elected their own government representatives; causing two governments to claim power in Kansas. John Brown and his four sons killed five proslavery supporters from their beds in the middle of the night and killed them. More violence occurred giving the area the name "bleeding Kansas." |
| The Dred Scott Decision | Dred Scott was a slave who had moved to Illinois and Wisconsin (free states) which his owner. When his owner died, lawyers argued before the Supreme Court that since Scott had lived in a free state, he was a free man. The Supreme Court argued that since Scott was black, he was not a citizen of the US and could not file a case. The Justices said slaves were property. The court also ruled that Congress did not have power to outlaw slavery in ANY territory. (this meant the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.) |
| The Republican Party | Main goal was to keep slavery out of western states. Created by Free Soilers, northern Democrats, and antislavery Whigs. |
| Abraham Lincoln | Raised in Illinois, spent only 1 year in school, taught himself how to read, he studied law, and served 8 years in the state legislature. He ran for the Senate in 1858. |
| The Lincoln Douglas Debates | Lincoln and Stephen Douglas ran against each other for a US Senate position in 1858. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates. In a series of 7 debates that were widely publicized, the two men debated slavery and states' rights. |
| John Brown's Raid (1859) | John Brown and his followers gained control of the Federal Aresanal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His goal was to have slaves join him and create a massive slave revolt. |
| The Election of 1860 | Lincoln (Republican) wins the election over John Breckinridge and John Bell (both Democrats). |
| Succession after the 1860 election | Unhappy with Lincoln as president, South Carolina (December 20, 1860), Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas seceded (by February 1, 1861). Few southerners thought the north would fight to keep the south in the union. |
| Confederate States of America | The seven states mentioned above held a convention to name their country the Confederate States of America. They elected Jefferson Davis as their President and named Richmond, VA as their capital. |
| Battle of Fort Sumter | By early 1861, Confederate troops controlled almost all forts, post offices, and government buildings in the south. On April 12, 1861 Confederate troops attack Fort Sumter. The fort fell into Confederate hands. |
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