1850’s – Civil War Timeline

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Compromise of 1850 By 1850 sectional disagreements centering on slavery were

increasing tensions in the union between the North and South.

These tensions became especially acute when Congress began to consider whether western lands acquired after the Mexican War would permit slavery.

In 1849 California requested permission to enter the Union as a free state. Adding more free state senators to Congress would destroy the balance between slave and free states that had existed since the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky proposed a series of resolutions designed to "Adjust amicably all existing questions of controversy . . . arising out of the institution of slavery."

The Compromise of 1850 called for the admission of California as a “free state,” provided for a territorial government for Utah and New Mexico, established a boundary between Texas and the United States, called for the abolition of slave trade in Washington, DC, and amended the Fugitive Slave Act.

(Henry Clay’s handwritten Compromise)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin - 1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-

slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Published in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the United States, so much so in the latter case that the novel intensified the sectional conflict leading to the American Civil War.

Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Academy and an active abolitionist, focused the novel on the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering Black slave around whom the stories of other characters—both fellow slaves and slave owners—revolve. The novel depicts the cruel reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian love can overcome something as destructive as enslavement of fellow human beings.

In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold in the United States alone.

When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the American Civil War, Lincoln is often quoted as having declared, "So this is the little lady who made this big war.“

Kansas – Nebraska Act - 1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S.

Congress on May 30, 1854.

It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders.

The act also served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act infuriated many in the North who considered the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement. In the pro-slavery South, it was strongly supported.

On January 29, 1861, just before the start of the Civil War, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state.

“Bleeding Kansas” - 1856 Three distinct political groups occupied

Kansas: pro-slavers, free-staters and abolitionists.

Violence broke out immediately between these opposing factions and continued until 1861 when Kansas entered the Union as a free state on January 29th.

During "Bleeding Kansas", murder, mayhem, destruction and psychological warfare became a code of conduct in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri.

New Party Alignment – mid 1850’s The traditional parties were competing and a new party

was formed, the Know-Nothing Party, who was completely opposed to the extension of slavery to new territories.

Members of the Know-Nothing Party strongly opposed immigrants and followers of the Catholic Church.

The majority of white Americans followed Protestant faiths.

Many of these people feared Catholics because members of this faith followed the teachings of the Pope, idea being that they would follow the ideas of the Pope above those of the United States.

The Know-Nothing Party quickly grew in popularity in the North, where most recent immigrants to the United States resided.  In 1854, Know-Nothing candidates won control of the Massachusetts legislature.  Know-Nothings also wielded some power in Ohio.

As a result of the party's refusal to take a position on slavery, the Know-Nothing Party had declined by the presidential election of 1860. By then many of its members had joined the Republican Party

Sumner – Brooks Incident - 1856 Charles Sumner was a Democratic Senator from

Massachusetts. In 1856, during debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, sponsored by Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina, Sumner verbally abused both Douglas and Butler.

Sumner was particularly harsh toward Butler, who was 89, ridiculing his odd ways and speech impediment, both of which were caused by an earlier stroke.

Butler's nephew, a Congressman also from South Carolina, later confronted Sumner as he sat writing at his desk in the Senate chamber. After accusing Sumner of labeling both Butler and South Carolina, Brooks proceeded to beat Sumner with a heavy walking stick. Sumner was beaten so severely that he was not able to resume his duties in the Senate for three years.

This confrontation increased tensions leading up to the Civil War.

1856 Elections James Buchanan was nominated unanimously

on the 17th ballot. The Democratic party, supported the compromise of 1850, opposed federal interference in slavery and supported the building of the transcontinental railroad.

Buchanan had two opponents in the election, John Fremont (of the newly organized Republican party) and Millard Fillmore of the Know-Nothing party.

The Republicans opposed slavery, and held Pierce responsible for the violence in Kansas at the time. The Know-Nothing Party consisted of those opposed to immigration and to Catholic influence.

The Democrats claimed that the South would not stand for a victory of Fremont and would secede. The election would be decided in the North East and in the North East enough voters feared the threats of the south to secede that Buchanan won.

Dred Scott v. Sanford - 1857 In 1846 a slave named Dred Scott and his wife,

Harriet, sued for their freedom in a St. Louis city court.

The odds were in their favor.

They had lived with their owner, an army surgeon, at Fort Snelling, then in the free Territory of Wisconsin.

The Scotts' freedom could be established on the grounds that they had been held in a free territory and were then returned to a slave state.

What appeared to be a straightforward lawsuit between two private parties became an 11-year legal struggle that grew into one of the most notorious decisions ever issued by the United States Supreme Court.

The Dred Scott case grew in significance as slavery became the single most explosive issue in American politics.

On March 6, 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney read the majority opinion of the Court, which stated that slaves were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the Federal Government or the courts.

The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory. This decision moved the nation a step closer to Civil War. (Ruling of Roger B. Taney 1857)

Lincoln - Douglas Debates - 1858 The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of formal

political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in a campaign for one of Illinois' two United States Senate seats.

Although Lincoln lost the election, these debates launched him into national prominence which eventually led to his election as President of the United States.

Douglas, a Democrat, was the previous Senator, having been elected in 1847. He had chaired the Senate Committee on Territories. He helped enact the Compromise of 1850. Douglas then was a supporter of Popular Sovereignty, and was responsible for the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The legislation led to the violence in Kansas, hence the name "Bleeding Kansas"

Lincoln stated that the US could not survive as half-slave and half-free states.

These intense debates fueled the on-coming Civil War.

John Brown’s Raid - 1859 On October 16, 1859, John Brown led 18

men, 13 of which were white males and the other 5 being African American males, into Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.

Brown intended to provoke an uprising of African Americans to cause a war on slavery.

Brown and the civilians exchanged gunfire, and 8 of Brown’s men were either killed or captured.

On December 2, Brown was hanged for treason

John Brown’s raid dramatically increased tensions between the North and South for Brown’s raid had been supported by Northerners. The South became wary of an attack from the North.

Election of 1860 William Seward was the front runner when the

Republicans met in Chicago in May of 1860, but Lincoln quickly pulled ahead and won the nomination on the third ballot.

The Republican platform opposed slavery in the territories but upheld the right of slavery in the South.

It also opposed the Dred-Scott decision.

The Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas and the Southern-Democrats who called themselves National Democrats nominated John Breckinridge. In addition, John Bell was nominated by the Constitutional Union party.

The Republicans were united behind Lincoln, while the opposition was divided by regions.

Stephen Douglas traveled to the South where he did not expect to win many electoral votes, but he spoke for the maintenance of the Union.

The contest was between Douglas and Lincoln in the North and West and between Breckinridge and Bell in the south.

The Republicans ran a very vigorous campaign and won.

Crittenden Compromise - 1861 The Crittenden Compromise, in U.S. history, was an

unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War.

It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional amendment in December, 1860, by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky with support from the National Union party.

It accepted the boundary between free and slave states that had been set by the Missouri Compromise, extended the line to California, and assured the continuation of slavery where it already existed.

In addition, it allowed slavery in the District of Columbia, upheld the fugitive slave law of 1850 with minor modifications, and called for suppression of the African slave trade.

At a peace conference called by the Virginia legislature in 1861, the compromise gained support from four border state delegations.

Nevertheless, it failed in the House of Representatives in January, 1861, by a vote of 113 to 80 and in the Senate in March by a vote of 20 to 19.

Its defeat made clear the inevitability of the Civil War.

(John Crittenden)

Fall of Fort Sumter - 1861 On April 10, 1861, Brigadier General Beauregard, in

command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

Garrison commander Anderson refused.

On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively.

At 2:30 pm, April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day.

The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War.

Although there were no casualties during the bombardment, one Union artillerist was killed and three wounded (one mortally) when a cannon exploded prematurely while firing a salute during the evacuation on April 14.

The fall of Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War.

Fort Sumter