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1850’s – Civil War
Timeline
Connor O’ Toole
Period 2
USH+G
Compromise of 1850

By 1850 sectional disagreements centering on slavery were
increasing tensions in the union between the North and South.

These tensions became especially acute when Congress began
to consider whether western lands acquired after the Mexican
War would permit slavery.

In 1849 California requested permission to enter the Union as
a free state. Adding more free state senators to Congress
would destroy the balance between slave and free states that
had existed since the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed a series of
resolutions designed to "Adjust amicably all existing questions
of controversy . . . arising out of the institution of slavery."

The Compromise of 1850 called for the admission of California
as a “free state,” provided for a territorial government for Utah
and New Mexico, established a boundary between Texas and
the United States, called for the abolition of slave trade in
Washington, DC, and amended the Fugitive Slave Act.
(Henry Clay’s handwritten
Compromise)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an antislavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Published in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on
attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the
United States, so much so in the latter case that the novel
intensified the sectional conflict leading to the American
Civil War.

Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female
Academy and an active abolitionist, focused the novel on
the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering Black slave
around whom the stories of other characters—both fellow
slaves and slave owners—revolve. The novel depicts the
cruel reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian
love can overcome something as destructive as
enslavement of fellow human beings.

In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of
the book were sold in the United States alone.

When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the
American Civil War, Lincoln is often quoted as having
declared, "So this is the little lady who made this big war.“
Kansas – Nebraska Act - 1854

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S.
Congress on May 30, 1854.

It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and
Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not
to allow slavery within their borders.

The act also served to repeal the Missouri
Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north
of latitude 36°30´.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act infuriated many in the
North who considered the Missouri Compromise to
be a long-standing binding agreement. In the proslavery South, it was strongly supported.

On January 29, 1861, just before the start of the
Civil War, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a
free state.
“Bleeding Kansas” - 1856

Three distinct political groups occupied
Kansas: pro-slavers, free-staters and
abolitionists.

Violence broke out immediately between
these opposing factions and continued
until 1861 when Kansas entered the Union
as a free state on January 29th.

During "Bleeding Kansas", murder,
mayhem, destruction and psychological
warfare became a code of conduct in
Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri.
New Party Alignment – mid 1850’s

The traditional parties were competing and a new party
was formed, the Know-Nothing Party, who was
completely opposed to the extension of slavery to new
territories.

Members of the Know-Nothing Party strongly opposed
immigrants and followers of the Catholic Church.

The majority of white Americans followed Protestant
faiths.

Many of these people feared Catholics because
members of this faith followed the teachings of the
Pope, idea being that they would follow the ideas of the
Pope above those of the United States.

The Know-Nothing Party quickly grew in popularity in
the North, where most recent immigrants to the United
States resided. In 1854, Know-Nothing candidates won
control of the Massachusetts legislature. KnowNothings also wielded some power in Ohio.

As a result of the party's refusal to take a position on
slavery, the Know-Nothing Party had declined by the
presidential election of 1860. By then many of its
members had joined the Republican Party
Sumner – Brooks Incident - 1856

Charles Sumner was a Democratic Senator from
Massachusetts. In 1856, during debate over the KansasNebraska Act, sponsored by Stephen Douglas of Illinois
and Andrew Butler of South Carolina, Sumner verbally
abused both Douglas and Butler.

Sumner was particularly harsh toward Butler, who was 89,
ridiculing his odd ways and speech impediment, both of
which were caused by an earlier stroke.

Butler's nephew, a Congressman also from South
Carolina, later confronted Sumner as he sat writing at his
desk in the Senate chamber. After accusing Sumner of
labeling both Butler and South Carolina, Brooks
proceeded to beat Sumner with a heavy walking stick.
Sumner was beaten so severely that he was not able to
resume his duties in the Senate for three years.

This confrontation increased tensions leading up to the
Civil War.
1856 Elections

James Buchanan was nominated unanimously
on the 17th ballot. The Democratic party,
supported the compromise of 1850, opposed
federal interference in slavery and supported
the building of the transcontinental railroad.

Buchanan had two opponents in the election,
John Fremont (of the newly organized
Republican party) and Millard Fillmore of the
Know-Nothing party.

The Republicans opposed slavery, and held
Pierce responsible for the violence in Kansas at
the time. The Know-Nothing Party consisted of
those opposed to immigration and to Catholic
influence.

The Democrats claimed that the South would
not stand for a victory of Fremont and would
secede. The election would be decided in the
North East and in the North East enough voters
feared the threats of the south to secede that
Buchanan won.
Dred Scott v. Sanford - 1857

In 1846 a slave named Dred Scott and his wife,
Harriet, sued for their freedom in a St. Louis city
court.

The odds were in their favor.

They had lived with their owner, an army surgeon, at
Fort Snelling, then in the free Territory of Wisconsin.

The Scotts' freedom could be established on the
grounds that they had been held in a free territory
and were then returned to a slave state.

What appeared to be a straightforward lawsuit
between two private parties became an 11-year legal
struggle that grew into one of the most notorious
decisions ever issued by the United States Supreme
Court.

The Dred Scott case grew in significance as slavery
became the single most explosive issue in American
politics.

On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney read
the majority opinion of the Court, which stated that
slaves were not citizens of the United States and,
therefore, could not expect any protection from the
Federal Government or the courts.

The opinion also stated that Congress had no
authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory. This
decision moved the nation a step closer to Civil War.
(Ruling of Roger B. Taney 1857)
Lincoln - Douglas Debates - 1858

The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of formal
political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen
A. Douglas in a campaign for one of Illinois' two United
States Senate seats.

Although Lincoln lost the election, these debates
launched him into national prominence which eventually
led to his election as President of the United States.

Douglas, a Democrat, was the previous Senator, having
been elected in 1847. He had chaired the Senate
Committee on Territories. He helped enact the
Compromise of 1850. Douglas then was a supporter of
Popular Sovereignty, and was responsible for the KansasNebraska Act of 1854. The legislation led to the violence
in Kansas, hence the name "Bleeding Kansas"

Lincoln stated that the US could not survive as half-slave
and half-free states.

These intense debates fueled the on-coming Civil War.
John Brown’s Raid - 1859

On October 16, 1859, John Brown led 18
men, 13 of which were white males and the
other 5 being African American males, into
Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.

Brown intended to provoke an uprising of
African Americans to cause a war on
slavery.

Brown and the civilians exchanged gunfire,
and 8 of Brown’s men were either killed or
captured.

On December 2, Brown was hanged for
treason

John Brown’s raid dramatically increased
tensions between the North and South for
Brown’s raid had been supported by
Northerners. The South became wary of an
attack from the North.
Election of 1860

William Seward was the front runner when the
Republicans met in Chicago in May of 1860, but Lincoln
quickly pulled ahead and won the nomination on the
third ballot.

The Republican platform opposed slavery in the
territories but upheld the right of slavery in the South.

It also opposed the Dred-Scott decision.

The Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas and the
Southern-Democrats who called themselves National
Democrats nominated John Breckinridge. In addition,
John Bell was nominated by the Constitutional Union
party.

The Republicans were united behind Lincoln, while the
opposition was divided by regions.

Stephen Douglas traveled to the South where he did not
expect to win many electoral votes, but he spoke for the
maintenance of the Union.

The contest was between Douglas and Lincoln in the
North and West and between Breckinridge and Bell in
the south.

The Republicans ran a very vigorous campaign and won.
Crittenden Compromise - 1861

The Crittenden Compromise, in U.S. history, was an
unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War.

It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional
amendment in December, 1860, by Senator John J.
Crittenden of Kentucky with support from the National
Union party.

It accepted the boundary between free and slave
states that had been set by the Missouri Compromise,
extended the line to California, and assured the
continuation of slavery where it already existed.

In addition, it allowed slavery in the District of
Columbia, upheld the fugitive slave law of 1850 with
minor modifications, and called for suppression of the
African slave trade.

At a peace conference called by the Virginia legislature
in 1861, the compromise gained support from four
border state delegations.

Nevertheless, it failed in the House of Representatives
in January, 1861, by a vote of 113 to 80 and in the
Senate in March by a vote of 20 to 19.

Its defeat made clear the inevitability of the Civil War.
(John Crittenden)
Fall of Fort Sumter - 1861

On April 10, 1861, Brigadier General Beauregard,
in command of the provisional Confederate forces
at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the
surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in
Charleston Harbor.

Garrison commander Anderson refused.

On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on
the fort, which was unable to reply effectively.

At 2:30 pm, April 13, Major Anderson surrendered
Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the
following day.

The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening
engagement of the American Civil War.

Although there were no casualties during the
bombardment, one Union artillerist was killed and
three wounded (one mortally) when a cannon
exploded prematurely while firing a salute during
the evacuation on April 14.

The fall of Fort Sumter marked the beginning of
the Civil War.
Fort Sumter