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The election of Abraham Lincoln took place in the year 1860. Lincoln was a Kentucky-born lawyer who had received popularity in his campaign against Stephan Douglas for a U.S Senate seat. Although Douglas beat Lincoln in the race, they faced off again for the next presidency. When Lincoln and Douglas debated, it received a lot of attention because the debates were focused on pro vs. anti-slavery. The tension between the North and South was rising, and the two candidates had opposite views. Before the election took place, the Southern states warned the North that if Lincoln won the presidency, they would leave the United States. Sure enough, as Lincoln, the first republican, entered office, the Southern states announced their secession from the North and the formation of the Confederate states. The south elected Jefferson Davis as their president, and the tensions started rising faster than before. Within one month of Abe Lincoln being elected president, the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter, and the Civil War started. Throughout Abe Lincoln’s election and presidency, he advocated for abolishing slavery and is hailed for his efforts to stop it.

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John Brown was a white abolitionist born in Connecticut on May 9th, 1800. Later in his lifetime, he moved to Ohio. He had opposed slavery his whole life, and attacked the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, on October 16, 1859. He planned to inspire slave revolts, but he was caught and then hung by the government for his crimes, which may have been the reason he made a difference because it made him seem like he sacrificed his life to try and end slavery. John Brown’s raid increased tensions between the north and the south. This made it much harder to compromise. He even predicted the Civil War “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.”

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Dred Scott and his wife were slaves who sued for their freedom because the owner had taken them to a state where slavery was illegal. This case went up to the supreme court. In 1857, the Supreme Court denied his freedom and said slaves were not citizens and could not sue. They also ruled that the Missouri compromise was invalid. This was a major hit to all slaves and abolitionists and brought down their morale. This part led to the civil war because it made the country more divided, and abolitionists then knew that the south wanted slavery throughout the United States.

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Charles Sumner was a Massachusetts republican Senator who supported abolitionism. On May 22, 1856, a southern member of the House of Representatives, Preston Brooks, entered the Senate and beat Charles Sumner with a metal-headed stick for a full minute. Sumner was bleeding profusely and took months to recover. The assault of Sumner increased the tensions between the North and South because a southern congress member had just beat a northern one with a cane. As expected, northerners retaliated, and because of this, tensions increased. Thus, initiating the civil war.

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1854-1859

Violent Guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery sides

Dispute over the new territory of Kansas

55 people killed in 4 year period

It started because popular sovereignty led to a pro-slavery government in Kansas

Northerners set up unofficial governments and prepared for armed battles with slavery supporters

Late 1855 and early 1856, violent outbursts occurred between the two sides.

Pro-slavery formed the Free State stronghold of Lawrence on May 21, 1856.

They destroyed printing presses, looting homes, set fire to a hotel

In response, John Brown killed five people

1856: Pro-slavery forces suppressed the meeting of the Free State government in Topeka.

John Brown retaliated and led his supporters in guerrilla attacks at Black Jack and Osawatomie.

1860: Congress finally approved Kansas as a free state after Lincoln election in 1860

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Stephan Douglas came up with the bill

Gave Nebraska Territory popular sovereignty

Could decide whether to have slavery or not by popular vote

Needed slavery to build railroad faster

Connected East and west coast

Supplies and people needed for transporting

Repealed Missouri Compromise

Let state above 30 degrees 36 minutes decide about slavery.

Produced a storm when pitched to congress

It turned into a pro/anti-slavery debate

Ohio senator Salmon Chase denounced the bill calling it, “a gross violation of a sacred pledge.”

The Senate voted 37-14 to pass the Nebraska bill

It became law on May 30, 1854

Whig party split into republicans and democrats

“Bleeding Kansas” started because of this act

Pro and anti-slavery people

Flooded Nebraska territory

Swayed vote on slavery

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. It is about the lives of slaves. This book tapped in to the public' feelings, by showing the slaves crying or their hardships. Moreover, it said that slavery is anti-christian and a violation of human rights. This book created a divide because many slave owners and others because the slave owners felt offended and that their religion was being attacked. Abraham Lincoln later stated that she was, “the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”

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5 bills that attempted to resolve disputes over slavery in new territories added to the United States after the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).

Signed in September 1850

California was made a free state

Utah and New Mexico could decide whether they were free or slave states.

Texas-New Mexico boundary lines

Writers: Kentucky Whig Senator Henry Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas.

Contributed to the start of the Civil War due to resentment over the compromise

Each of the five bills stated:

Slave trade was outlawed in Washington D.C; however, slavery was still permitted.

California was added to the Union as a free state.

Utah and New Mexico could decide if they would permit slavery based on popular sovereignty.

New boundaries for the state of Texas were established after Mexican-American War.

Made Texas apart from New Mexico but awarded the state $10 million as compensation.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required citizens to help in capturing runaway slaves and denied enslaved people a right to trial by jury.

The main purpose of this compromise was to prevent the civil war, but that failed.

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Nat Turner was born on a Virginia plantation owned by Benjamin Turner. Nat was more educated than many slaves; he knew how to read and write. As he grew up, Nat became a preacher who believed that God chose him to free the slaves. Hearing voices, Turner convinced himself that it was time to rebel. On August 21, 1831, Nat and six more killed the family for who Nat worked. After collecting firearms and horses, 75 more slaves took part in this insurrection that killed 55 white people. Following the killings, Turner hid for six weeks before being discovered and hanged at Jerusalem, Virginia, with 16 others. Due to the fear of Slaves killing their owners, the public created harsher laws towards enslaved people. This caused event caused tensions to increase, which eventually led to the Civil War.

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The Liberator was a weekly issue newspaper written and edited by William Lloyd Garrison for 35 years, from January 1, 1831–December 29, 1865. Even though the newspaper was published in Boston, Garrison's message resonated throughout the country. Garrison wrote about the importance of immediate emancipation. Oftentimes, Southern slave owners would feel threatened by the writings of William Lloyd Garrison and decide to act violently to keep slave practices legal. Over time, the Liberator instigated a movement of abolitionism in the north which led to the Civil War.

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The Missouri Compromise was the result of two fighting factions in Congress. When the US bought the Missouri territory from France, the most asked question was whether it would be admitted as a slave or non-slave state. This question sparked debate between Congress which was already divided into two separate pro/anti-slavery parties. Although it seemed that both parties were stuck, an anti-slavery bill made it through congress but was stopped in the senate. The next bill that was passed through congress was Henry Clay’s Missouri Compromise. This bill stated that Missouri would be admitted as a slave state while Maine would be admitted as a free state. It also declared that any new state above 36 degrees 30 minutes longitude would be a free state while any state below that imaginary line would get to choose whether to be a free or slave state. Congress passed the bill on March 2, 1820. While this solved the problem of slavery for a few years, the Dread Scott Decision changed that. The Supreme Court called the Missouri Compromise bill unconstitutional. They invalidated the bill and thought it would solve slavery once and for all, but they had only thrown gas on the fire.

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Cotton Gin - Machine that cleaned the cotton

Inventor- Eli Whitney

Patented in 1794

With two people running the machine, it could work 50 times faster than manual labor.

Whitney wrote to his father: "One man and a horse will do more than fifty men with the old machines…Tis generally said by those who know anything about it, that I shall make a Fortune by it" (History.com Editors 2).

Justified to keep slaves

Increased production and profits of the cotton plantation

Profits increased so that the owners could expand the plantations. Thus, buying more slaves.

Slaves would help expand plantations even more.

Plantation owners mistreated slaves, and slave revolts started to increase.

The sudden influx of slaves eventually led to the Civil War.

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https://mrnussbaum.com/dred-scott-decision

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry#:~:text=Although%20the%20raid%20failed%2C%20it,impetus%20of%20the%20Civil%20War.

https://mrnussbaum.com/john-brown-rebellion

https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/uncle-tom-s-cabin-by-harriet-beecher-stowe

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/uncle-toms-cabin-harriet-beecher-stowe/1131956099

https://www.lourdes.edu/event/john-browns-raid/

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/dred-scott-case

https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/cotton-gin-and-the-expansion-of-slavery

https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/cotton-gin-and-eli-whitney#:~:text=One%20inadvertent%20result%20of%20the,in%20turn%20required%20more%20people.

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Liberator-American-newspaper

https://www.history.com/topics/abolitionist-movement/compromise-of-1850

https://www.ushistory.org/us/30d.asp

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/nat-turner

https://www.dailypress.com/history/dp-nws-nat-turners-rebellion-20160820-story.html

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/image/SumnerCaning.htm

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/abraham-lincoln-elected-president

https://www.britannica.com/event/Compromise-of-1850

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Kansas_Nebraska_Act.htm#:~:text=It%20became%20law%20on%20May,territories%20to%20sway%20the%20vote

https://www.history.com/topics/abolitionist-movement/missouri-compromise

https://www.worldhistoryedu.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Missouri-Compromise.jpg

https://www.havefunwithhistory.com/cotton-gin-facts/