IB HOTA - Pre-Civil War Event Timeline Flashcards

Missouri Compromise

(1st Event) Created in 1820, This prohibited slavery north of the 36'30 latitude line in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase (Extra- Maine entered as a free state, Missouri entered as a slave state)

Mexican-American War Territory Proposition

(2nd Event) Suggestion to ban slavery in the new territories gained from the Mexican War in 1846. This was not passed but it fueled the fire of the slavery debate.

Election of 1848

(3rd Event) Zachary Taylor was elected President, Free Soil party was also formed (anti-slavery)

California Entry, Zachary Taylor's Death

(4th Event) California was entered into the Union as a free state in 1850, while Utah and New Mexico will base off of popular sovereignty. The Slave Trade is banned in D.C. Fugitive Law is strengthened, oh and Zachary Taylor died.

The Election of 1852 + 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' Published.

(5th Event) Harriet Beecher authors 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', Franklin Pierce is elected in the Election of 1852, Whig Party starts to die out over conflicting stances of slavery.

Organization of Territories Kansas-Nebraska Act

(6th Event) Kansas-Nebraska act repeals the Missouri Compromise in 1854, Kansas and Nebraska would determine slave/free state status via Popular Sovereignty, it is suggested that the US take Cuba by force, enraging Northerners.

Bleeding Kansas

(7th Event) Both pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces claimed they had won over Kansas, leading to violence within Kansas between the two sides later titled, "Bleeding Kansas"

Bleeding Sumner, 1856 Election

(8th Event) South-Carolinian Senator Preston Brooks beat Massechusetts Senator Charles Sumner for insulting slave owners and one of Brook's relatives. In the election, Democrat James Buchanan won, the new Republican party placed second, and the Know-Nothings came in third.

Supreme Court Sanford v. Dred Scott case

(9th Event) Supreme court in 1857 ruled that African Americans were no citizens and cannot sue in court, also states that all slaves are property, and it is illegal to prohibit slavery anywhere.

Douglass & Popular Sovereignty

(10th Event) Illinois Senate race in 1858 sparked debates between Lincoln and Douglass, Douglass advocated for the use of Popular Sovereignty and said that slavery can be practically prohibited by discontinuing the use of slave codes (called the Freeport Doctrine). Fredrick Douglass won the Illinois Senate race.

John Brown's raid

(11th Event) John Brown and his followers in 1859 raid an arsenal in Virginia in hopes of sparking a slave rebellion. He fails and is sent to be hanged.

Election of 1860

(12th Event) Lincoln wins the election, defeating a divided Democratic party. His presidency led to South Carolina seceding from the Union on December 10th, sparking other southern states to follow suit. Confederacy is formed, and Jefferson Davis becomes the Confederacy's President.