My top 10 by Alia Nevarez

March 1st-3rd, 1820: The Missouri Compromise

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 16:16:59 UTC

I chose this event because leading up to the Civil War, it was an extreme cause of sectionalism. This compromise created a social and political divide in the country by stopping the expansion of slavery. This initiated the beginning stages of the southern secession. This created a social divide because the 36'30 line prohibited the creation of new slave states. Due to this, Southern economic stress was heightened because they depended on slavery for a majority of their economic growth.

October 16th, 1859: John Browns Raid

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 16:17:47 UTC

I selected this event because it was the leading cause of social tensions before the war. John Brown spread an idea that the only way to end slavery was with violence, which lead to extreme social tensions between the North and South. He tried to raid Harpers Ferry to create a militia of armed ex-slaves to fight against their plantation owners. The Southerners took this as initiative to state the creation of the Confederate Army. This created an extreme political divide between the North and South because the Southerners felt that their slavery needs were being threatened by the North.

November 6th, 1860: The Election of Abraham Lincoln

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 16:18:34 UTC

The Election of Abraham Lincoln led to the secession of 6 Southern states because they completely rejected him as their president. In my opinion, this was the leading factor to the Civil War because it was the main reason leading to the physical divide in the nation. Because of this, the South created their own small country with their own constitution. This was one of the major political lead-ups to the Civil War. The South completely rejected Lincoln as their president, furthering social and political tensions.

1864: Creation of the Gatling Gun

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:17:13 UTC

The creation of the Gatling Gun had a huge impact on the outcome of the war because it had a completely different feel than the typical handgun. It fired with an extremely improved speed and accuracy. Paired with the Minie Ball, these weapons made the war so much more deadly, leading to the Civil War having a death toll of around 700,000. This heightened tensions extremely. Because of this, each side had more drive to win the war.

July 21st, 1861: Manassas Bull Run

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:17:51 UTC

This battle had a major impact on the outcome of the Civil War because it was the first major attack. Although the South won, the North did not let that defeat them, if anything, it only pushed them to fight harder to eventually win the war. This had a huge impact because not only did it end the lives of 30,000 union soldiers, but also 22,000 confederate soldiers as well. Such a huge loss caused political tensions to continue increasing during this war.

November - December 1864: Atlanta to Savannah March

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:20:03 UTC

in my opinion, this event was the most socially destructive event during the Civil War. It made a huge political statement, that the North will destroy everything in their paths to regain the South. This also made a huge economic impact on the South, causing their schools, bridges, and railroads to be completely destroyed. Not only did this cause extreme economic stress on the South, but it also caused technological stress as well.

1865: Passing of the 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:21:05 UTC

In my opinion, this was a major cause for social and political tensions after the war. The country was divided at this time, some fully against slavery and the other portion pro-slavery. These amendments were created to help the ex-slaves, and the South did everything they could to make exceptions to them. Personally, I think this made hatred towards ex-slaves in the South even more extreme because of their newfound freedoms. In the North, this helped ex-slaves become part of the country, but in the South it made their suffering worse.

1876: Corrupt Bargain

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:21:49 UTC

This is considered the end of Reconstruction, as the Union and Confederate came to an agreement that completely disregarded the lives of the freedmen. The Union put money over the safety and rights of the freedmen. In my opinion, this bargain was the most vital social and political event of Reconstruction, as the Union took back all safety they provided for the ex-slaves in the South. This highlights how our nation has always been built on greed, always putting money and power over our citizens.

March 3rd, 1865: Freedmen's Bureau

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:22:20 UTC

This was a huge political organization to help freedmen with their few social freedoms. This bureau provided new experiences for the freedmen that they were previously denied. This also caused economic tensions because now that slavery was abolished, the South could not depend on free labor to keep their economy running. This was a leading cause for tensions during the Reformation.

1866: Sharecropping

Alia_nevarez — 2025-10-03 17:22:45 UTC

This was a major fault of the Reconstruction. This was a big part of the political failures towards the freedmen. In my opinion this was a result of the South being desperate to contain slavery. This happened because the Southern government was insistent that the freedmen were less socially and intellectually important.