Road to Secession timeline

Summary: Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave state, while Maine would become a free state in 1820 which was a deal reached between pro-slavery and anti-slavery leaders in Congress known as the Missouri Compromise. This Compromise stated that slavery would be banned to all states below the Missouri State line. It did not end slavery, but delayed slavery for a short period of time. The result of the Missouri Compromise was that it relieved some of the differences between the states and helped to balance the number of slave and free-states in the Union.

Northern Perspective: The Northerners disagreed with the Compromise because it meant that slavery was going to be able to grow into new territory. They did not want Missouri, another slave state, to be in the union since the North was totally against any more slave states.

Southern Perspective: The Southerners disagreed with the Compromise because it gave Congress the power to make laws about slavery. They believed that since Missouri was found as a slave state then it should be admitted to the Union, but there shouldn't be a compromise to let another non-slave state join.

Summary: Nat Turner was a slave born on a Virginia Plantation. He was one of the few slaves whose master allowed him to learn how to read and write. As Nat got older, he believed that he had been chosen by God to lead slaves from bondage, and decided to rise up with the help of other enslaved men on August 21, 1831 against the Travis family killing them and taking their weapons and horses. This led to more uprisings, until Turner was captured and hanged.

Northern Perspective: The North did not always agree with any violent actions taken, but they were against how the slaves were being treated. They saw the rebellion as the slaves' cry for help against harsh treatment.

Southern Perspective: The Turner Rebellion put fear in the heart of the South so they put even stronger laws in place against slaves and those who allowed slaves to learn how to read and write.

Summary: The Annexation of Texas occurred when Texas won their independence from Mexico. They declared independence on March 1, 1845. Mexico still believed that they had claims on Texas. Many thought this would lead to a war. Later on, Texas was the 28th state to be admitted into the Union on December 29, 1845.

Northern Perspective: The Northerners' perspective on the Annexation of Texas was that they wanted Texas to stay out because they disagreed with slavery.

Southern Perspective: The Southerners' perspective was that they wanted to add another state to their Union, like Texas, that agreed with slavery. Also, the soil in Texas was good for growing cotton so it would certainly be considered as a slave state as cotton was a big crash crop.

Summary: The Compromise was five separate bills that U.S. Congress passed on January 29, 1850. This Compromise included California as a free state with no slavery allowed, slave trade banned in the District of Columbia, New Mexico granted territorial status, and the Texas boundary settlement with the state being paid for lost lands. Also, the Fugitive Slave Act was included which said that any slave who escaped from one state to another would be returned to their owners. All of these bills were signed by Millard Fillmore.

Northern Perspective: The Northern States gained the most because of this Compromise so for the most part they were happy with California being admitted to the Union as a free state, slave trade outlawed, and the territories and Utah and New Mexico getting to decide whether to allow slavery or not. However, they did not agree with the Fugitive Slave Act where people in free states were encouraged to assist in capturing slaves. The Northern States were against slavery so they did not like this part of Compromise.

Southern Perspective: The Southern States were somewhat pleased with this Compromise mainly because of the Fugitive Slave Act which stated that all escaped slaves even across states must be returned to their owners.

Summary: The story of Uncle Toms Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in 1852. The story was about a slave named Tom who was on the way to a Slave Auction and saved the life of a little girl named Eva. The father as well as the little girl were grateful and decided to purchase him at the Auction. Eva and Tom become great friends. Then, everything went downhill from there because Eva'a health was not good and while she was on her deathbed she told her father to free all slaves which included Tom. Eva's father later gets killed. This means Tom would have to find a new owner. Tom's new owner had nearly killed Tom because Tom didn't tell his owner where the slaves where running away to. Through all of this, Tom had a Christian attitude toward his suffering.

Northern Perspective: The Northern States realized how cruel slavery was and they never knew because they had not experienced slavery first hand. The North was in opposition to slavery and many joined the abolitionist movement after reading the book.

Southern Perspective: The Southern States worked even harder to defend slavery. The Southern States banned the Uncle Tom's Cabin book. They wrote a book called Anti- Tom to show that slavery was not a bad thing and that Uncle Tom was lying.

Summary: The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed on May 30, 1854 by the U.S. Congress. This act allowed people who lived in the Kansas and Nebraska territory to decide if they wanted to allow slavery or not in their border. At the end, Kansas entered the Union as a free state in January 29, 1861. This was important because this act overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820 boundary line between slave and free territory.

Northern Perspective: The North opposed the idea of this act because it did not follow the Missouri Compromise 1820. Any territory north of the sacred boundary line, such as Kansas, was protected by the Compromise, and slavery had been outlawed.

Southern Perspective: The South agreed with the Kansas-Nebraska Act because they believed this was a step towards repealing the Missouri Compromise making it clear that each territory could decide on the issue of slavery on their own on the basis of popular sovereignty.

Summary: The Dred Scott Court Case also known as the Dred Scott v. Sanford case in 1857 involved Dred Scott originally being a slave who moved to a free state/territory. He tried to sue his master for freedom when his master moved him to a free state from a slave state. The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans, slave or free, were not legal citizens of the United States. Also, since Dred Scott was a slave he was not able to learn how to read or write so he was not able to plead his case with the financial support that was needed. Dred later went on to try and sue the Supreme Court for the ruling, but since he was not a citizen he was not able to sue the Federal Court.

Northern Perspective: The Northern States thought that this court case was just more proof that the South just wanted slavery to take over the whole nation. Also the Northern States thought that this court case ruling was not fair and completely disagreed with this ruling.

Southern Perspective: The Southern States agreed with this court case ruling because they believed that Congress should have never banned slavery in the other states/territories or otherwise this would have never happened. This case was important because it stopped other cases like this from happening.

Summary: John Brown's Raid occurred first on October 16, 1859 with a small group of men who raided the arsenal in Harper's Ferry Virginia using free men and slaves, white and black as a form of revolt against slavery. Some of the men were killed and captured as prisoners except for John Brown and a few others. This was all part of plan to help end slavery. On October 18, 1859, Colonel Robert E. Lee came to capture John Brown and he was convicted of treason and hanged on December 2, 1859.

Northern Perspective: This raid encouraged more of the Northern States to help runaway slaves to freedom. The North agreed with the revolt because the North opposed the idea of slavery even though they may not have liked John Brown's violent actions.

Southern Perspective: Some Southern states made harsher laws because of this raid on Harper's Ferry which made it harder for slaves to escape let alone for slaves to get together and talk. The Southern States became very concerned about raids such as these.

Summary: Abraham Lincoln was elected on November 6, 1860. This election caused the American Civil War immediately after he was elected. Also, this election was critical because Lincoln issued a document called the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863 which stated that all slaves would be freed.

Northern Perspective: The Northern states were in agreement and pleased with the election of Abraham Lincoln as president. After the election the results had shown that Lincoln got all of the North's votes but not one single Southern vote. The North was pleased because they agreed with him that slavery should be ended and that the United States should be a strong national government not each state with their own laws.

Southern Perspective: The Southern States were against the election of President Lincoln because they believed that Lincoln and the Northern states were going to be able to take over the nation creating a national government instead of state rights and end slavery.

Summary: The Secession of South Carolina occurred on December 20, 1860. South Carolina was the first slave state in the south to secede from the US. South Carolina wanted to secede so they could keep the slaves to help them on the farm as labor. When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860 the South knew he was against slavery and that he wanted a national government so they had to leave.

Northern Perspective: The North did not need labor like the slaves because they had become industrialized so they were in agreement with the secession of South Carolina. Many in the north believed slavery was illegal. The North tried to state that any territory that was North of the territory line would be considered free forever. Also, anything to the South of the territory line was allow slavery.

Southern Perspective: The South argued that each state had joined the Union voluntarily and that each state should have the right to leave the union especially to protect state rights and slavery.