In 1776, the American Declaration of Independence said each state in “The United States” could decide whether to allow slavery.
(1780) The “slave” states were based around the cotton plantations of the south. The “free” states were based around the factories of the north.
(1790)The “slave” states wanted the US government to respect the customs of each state (a loose “Confederacy”). The “free” states wanted the US government to forge a national identity (a tight “Union”).
(1793) The invention of a new machine, the “Cotton Gin”, made the cotton plantations in the South very profitable.
(1820) The “Missouri Compromise”, kept a voting balance of a slave state (Missouri) and a free state (Maine).
(1850) California (taken from Mexico in 1848) joined the Union as a “Free State”. To keep the Southern “Slave States” happy, the “Fugitive Slave Act” was passed
(1850)Thousands of black former slaves who had sought safety in the North fled to Canada (“the underground railroad”).
(1850s) The Fugitive Slave Act persuades many people in the North to join a growing abolitionist movement
(1852) “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” became a bestseller. This novel (by Harriet Beecher Stowe) highlighted the terrible conditions which slaves lived in.
(1854) The newly created state of Kansas was allowed to decide whether it wanted be free or slave. The issue spilled into violence, earning the state the nickname of ‘Bleeding Kansas’.
(1856) In the American Congress (Parliament), the pro-slavery politician Preston Brooks attacked the anti-slavery politician Charles Sumner with a cane during a debate about the future of Kansas.
(1857) The enslaved person Dred Scott lost his legal campaign to get his freedom. The judge said openly that blacks could never hope to have equal rights with whites.
(1858) Abraham Lincoln announced he planned to stand for election as President. In his “House Divided” speech he said that “A house divided against itself cannot stand”
(1859) The Northern anti-slavery campaigner John Brown tried to start a slave rebellion by seizing army supplies at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. .
(1860) Washington, DC: Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. He promised that no new Slave States would be allowed into the Union.
(1860) Richmond, Virginia: Seven of the Southern Slave States broke away from the Union calling themselves “The Confederacy” and elected their own President, Jefferson Davis.
