MARCH 3, 1820

• MISSOURI COMPROMISE

The Missouri Compromise is an agreement that no slavery could be above the 36°30’ line of the United States. Free states are above the line, slave states are below. The important thing about the Missouri Compromise is it kept the North and the South happy and not needing to fight.

MAY 30, 1845

• THE KANSAS NEBRASKA ACT

The Kansas Nebraska Act abolished the Missouri Compromise that kept slavery out of the North. It divided the unsettled territory of the Louisiana Purchase into two parts called Kansas and Nebraska. The North wanted all the territories to be free of slavery. The South wanted slavery. This caused a huge fight in Kansas between the North and the South. It is important because it led to the Civil War.

MARCH 1857

• THE DRED SCOTT CASE

The Dred Scott case was a court case about a slave named Dred Scott. He went to court because he wanted to be legally free from slavery. The Supreme Court said he is still his owner’s property and it was Unconstitutional to make a law to take a person’s property away from him. This was an important case because if supported the Southerner’s right to own slaves. It made the Northerners very upset.

AUGUST 1858

• THE LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE/WINNER

The Lincoln Douglas debate is a debate between the Presidential candidates, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln was for no slavery and Douglas was for slavery. Lincoln debated that everyone is equal. Surprisingly, Stephen A. Douglas still won the election, but it did make Lincoln a well-known character throughout America.

OCTOBER 16, 1859

• JOHN BROWN

John Brown was born May 9, 1800. John Brown raided Harper’s Ferry October 16, 1859. Harper’s Ferry is an Arsenal, which is a weapon’s factory.   John Brown helped raid it and gave the weapons to the African-Americans to set them free. Southerners were scared because their slaves might rebel against them.

NOVEMBER 6, 1860

• THE ELECTION OF 1860

The election of 1860 was said to be possibly the last Presidential election for the United States of America. The Republican Party chose Abraham Lincoln. The Southerners thought that Abe Lincoln and his Party wanted to abolish slavery. The Southerners said they would secede from the Union if a Republican became President. That was exactly what happened. Within the next three months, seven states seceded from the Union.

APRIL 12, 1861

• THE START OF THE CIVIL WAR

The Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter, the last Union fort on an island in South Carolina. They attacked for 30 hours. Major Anderson had to surrender. Lincoln sent his army to attack the rebellion. Four more Southern states seceded and the Civil War began.