Causes of the Civil War

Compromise of 1850

Package of five Congressional bills that admitted California as a free state, established popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico, ended the slave trade in D.C., and enacted a stricter law regarding escaped enslaved people.

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Federal law that required citizens and Northern officers to assist in the capture and return of escaped enslaved individuals, while denying the accused the right to a jury trial.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that humanized the brutal realities of slavery, surging Northern abolitionist support and provoking outrage across the South.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Legislation authored by Stephen Douglas that established popular sovereignty in two western territories, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise boundary of 1820.

Bleeding Kansas

Series of violent political confrontations in Kansas Territory between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions attempting to influence the territorial vote on slavery.

Caning of Senator Charles Sumner

1856 event where Representative Preston Brooks brutally beat an abolitionist senator unconscious on the Senate floor following a speech attacking pro-slavery leaders.

Presidential Election of 1856

Contest won by Democrat James Buchanan, notable for demonstrating the strong political support for the newly established Republican Party opposed to slavery expansion.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Landmark Supreme Court ruling declaring that Black people were not U.S. citizens and that Congress lacked constitutional authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858

Series of seven public political discussions focused on slavery's expansion that elevated Abraham Lincoln to national prominence despite losing the Illinois Senate seat.

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

1859 violent abolitionist assault on a federal arsenal in Virginia aimed at sparking a slave insurrection, escalating Southern fears of Northern military aggression.

Presidential Election of 1860

Four-candidate race won by Abraham Lincoln without carrying a single Southern state, directly triggering the push for Southern secession.

Formation of the Confederacy

1860–1861 establishment of a breakaway republic by eleven seceding Southern states organized to preserve states' rights and the institution of slavery.