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Slavery Begins in the American Colonies (1619)

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Slavery Begins in the American Colonies (1619)

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While Slavery had already existed in many forms and places throughout history and was well-established in the Western Hemisphere, Slavery didn't reach what would become America until 1619.

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Over a century later, South Carolina established the first true law in the colonies dictating what slaves weren't allowed to do, such as moving abroad, learning to write English, assemble in groups, or farm without permission/orders.
Controversial as it was with some residents, most didn't argue too hard and it was mostly forgotten after a while, but one could argue that this law was the very beginning of the divide between blacks, whites, slaveowners, and those who argued.

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Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves (passed 3/2/1807, effective 1/1/1808)

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Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves (passed 3/2/1807, effective 1/1/1808)

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The first American legislation limiting slavery in any way, this act was the first sign for Southerners that slavery might be threatened in the future. It set them on edge against future attempts to help slaves and the abolitionist movement.

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The first time the balance between free and slave states had been deliberately maintained by the federal government, this event mostly indicated that an issue existed with slavery, even if it had been mostly ignored.

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The multi-day, seventy-person insurrection that killed around sixty people wasn't the first slave rebellion, but it was a huge red flag for Southern slaveowners. Unlike many previous rebellions, this one sparked major legal reforms, locking down all slave activity: gatherings of more than three people and any forms of education for slaves were banned, effectively stripping slaves of any remaining rights they had.

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An attempt to institute a law banning slavery in all territories acquired from Mexico. It failed, but the number of times it was introduced to Congress and the intensity of the debates each time caused everyone to start thinking harder about slavery, and caused southern lawmakers to see a threat to their economy and begin discussing secession.

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Admitted California as a free state in exchange for not regulating the rest of the formerly-Mexican territories and strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act. The last is what widened the rift - non-slave-owning whites were now required to return runaway slaves to their masters, which angered them.

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"Uncle Tom’s Cabin" published (6/5/1851)

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"Uncle Tom’s Cabin" published (6/5/1851)

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Harriet Beecher Stowe’s world-changing novel describing a fictional slave’s life in great detail. Northerners were shocked by the contents and Southerners felt it was slanderous. Anyone who wasn’t already involved in the conflict chose sides now, deciding whether they accepted or denied the evidence in the book.

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A bill deciding that those two states would use popular sovereignty to determine the status of slavery, which sparked major conflict in a variety of ways, including Bleeding Kansas.

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The result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. People poured in from both sides, trying to sway the vote. Dead people were voting. People were voting more than once in different counties or on both sides of the state lines. Violence ensued, and more than 50 people were killed in a guerilla war between pro-slavery and abolitionist forces. Now both sides were angry.

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Petition by diplomats to purchase Cuba from Spain, both to spread American Slavery and prevent a slave rebellion in Cuba like had happened in Haiti. Irritated the Northerners and poked at them since they were already riled up over Uncle Tom’s Cabin and happened around the same time as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, so this was like poking the hornet’s nest when they’ve already been stirred. It couldn't have come at a worse time.

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The Supreme Court judged that a slave was property that had no rights (and therefore, couldn’t sue for freedom) and was not considered a human. Since slaves were property, could the government regulate slavery? Was the court’s decision correct? Were slaves human? Rifts widened further.

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Public senatorial debates in Illinois between Lincoln and incumbent Senator Douglas, mainly over the topic of slavery. Douglas won the Senate position, but it came back to bite him when he lost the presidential race to Lincoln two years later. The debates brought Lincoln into the national spotlight and brought the issue of slavery to the attention of the common men, causing divides between normal people as well as the wealthy and powerful.

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John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (10/16-18/1859)

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John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (10/16-18/1859)

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After having started the guerilla war in Bleeding Kansas, Brown led an insurrection in Virginia trying to capture an armory and distribute the weapons to free the slaves. He was tried for treason and executed. The South was on edge.

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The South had already threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected, and lo and behold, they did. Seven states seceded before 1861, fearing they'll lose their slaves. Now they were officially two separate countries.

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Lincoln resupplied Union forts within Confederate territory. The Confederacy panicked and bombarded Fort Sumter, making them the ‘bad guys’ that spilled first blood. The rift was irreversible and the war had officially begun.