The events which led to the origins of the American Civil War

Origins of the American Civil War

The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is slavery, especially Southern anger at the attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories...

 and to the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 itself may be considered in two time periods, the long term build up over many decades and the five-month build up to war in the period immediately after the election of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 as President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 (in November 1860) and the fall of Fort Sumter

Battle of Fort Sumter

The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On...

 (in April 1861). Over many years from almost the beginning of the colonial period in Virginia, events, occurrences, actions and statements by politicians and others in the United States brought about issues, differences, tensions and divisions between the leaders and people of the slave states of the Southern United States and the leaders and people of the free states of the Northern United States (including Western states). The big underlying issue from which other issues developed was whether slavery should be retained and even expanded to other areas or whether it should be contained and eventually abolished. Over many decades, these issues and divisions became increasingly irreconcilable and contentious. Events in the 1850s culminated with the election of the anti-slavery, but not yet abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. This provoked the first round of State secessions as leaders of the Deep South States were unwilling to trust Lincoln not to move against slavery. This timeline briefly describes and links to narrative articles and references about many of the events and issues which historians recognize as causes of the Civil War. The series of events for the period from Lincoln's election on November 6, 1860 through the fall of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion on the next day, April 15, 1861, led to the breaking point and civil war. The timeline shows many key events and statements in this crucial period immediately before hostilities began. The entries that finish this timeline include a few more events in the following months in 1861 that relate to the secession

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

 of four additional states and further initial actions and occurrences as both groups of states prepared for war. Four additional states, the Upper South States of (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas) completed the formation of the Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 during this period. Their addition to the Confederacy insured a war would be prolonged and bloody because they contributed many men and resources to the Confederacy. Initially, only the seven Deep South States, with economies based on cotton (then in heavy European demand with rising prices) of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas seceded. President Lincoln's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion pushed the four other Upper South States also to secede.

Robert Francis Engs described the issues which caused the Civil War in Slavery during the Civil War in The Confederacy edited by Richard N. Current at page 983:

Although slavery was at the heart of the sectional impasse between the North and South in 1860, it was not the singular cause of the Civil War. Rather, it was the multitude of differences arising from the slavery issue that impelled the Southern States to secede....The new republic claimed its justification to be the protection of state rights. In truth, close reading of the states' secession proclamations and of the new Confederate Constitution reveal that it was primarily one state right that impelled their separation: the right to preserve African American slavery within their borders....Thus, the North went to war to preserve the Union, and the white South went to war for independence so that it might protect slavery.

Historian, James M. McPherson

James M. McPherson

James M. McPherson is an American Civil War historian, and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, his most famous book...

, similarly stated on the first page of his 1982 one-volume history of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction:

The social and political strains produced by rapid growth provoked repeated crises that threatened to destroy the republic. From the beginning, these strains were associated mainly with slavery. The geographical division of the country into free and slave states ensured that the crises would take the form of sectional conflict. Each section evolved institutions and values based on its labor system. These values in turn generated ideologies that justified each section's institutions and condemned those of the other.

McPherson notes at page 2 that "as early as 1787, conflict over slavery at the constitutional convention almost broke up the Union before it was fairly launched." He further stated at page 51 of Ordeal by Fire that:

Slavery was the main issue in national politics from 1844 to the outbreak of the Civil War. And many times before 1844 this vexed question burst through the crust of other issues to set section against section, as in the Missouri debates of 1819–1820. Even the nullification crisis of 1832, ostensibly over the tariff, had slavery as its underlying cause. The South Carolina nullifiers feared that the centralization of government power, as manifested by the tariff, might eventually threaten slavery itself. Nullification was the most extreme assertion of states' rights – a constitutional theory whose fundamental purpose was to protect slavery against potential federal interference.

At first, all the American colonies allowed slavery but over the period from 1777 to 1804, Northern states abolished it or provided for its gradual abolition within their borders. Thereafter, the Northern and Southern states gradually grew apart over slavery and a number of issues related directly or indirectly to slavery, as the historians who have studied and written about the war in depth have pointed out. Other issues that developed in association with the complex issue concerning the institution and retention of slavery in the United States included competing understandings between the Northern and Southern sections of the country relating to federalism and the powers of the federal and state governments, differences in party politics, preference or opposition to national expansion and to where it would or could occur, differing theories of economics and labor, preferences for and against tariffs and federally-financed internal improvements, industrialization versus agrarianism, sectionalism, and differences in social structures and general values.

The leaders and citizens of the various sections developed increasingly strident and irreconcilable positions about the existence and expansion of slavery and other issues during the 1850s. The slave states began to believe they were losing ground in these arguments and that the institution of slavery was increasingly threatened. The leaders of the Deep South States in particular reacted to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States on November 6, 1860 on a platform that called for the end of the expansion of slavery with professed fears that the Northern States and their leaders would soon try to abolish slavery altogether. No longer able, or perhaps no longer willing, to compromise or attempt to compromise on the issues which divided the sections of the country, the seven Deep South States gave up on the political process and seceded from the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 of the United States even before the inauguration of Lincoln as President. The onset of the Civil War in April 1861 occurred with only these seven Deep South States having passed ordinances of secession and joined the Confederacy. Soon after Lincoln's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion on April 15, 1861, the four Upper South States joined the Confederacy. Some people from the Upper South states in particular adhered to the Union but significant minorities in the border slave states of Kentucky, Maryland and Missouri, which remained in the Union, also supported the Southern cause.

This timeline is a chronological list of events, statements, writings and influences that historians such as James McPherson, David J. Eicher, Harry Hansen, John Bowman, E. B. Long, Margaret Wagner and others have cited and associated with the issues of slavery and other issues that led to the build up to and outbreak of the American Civil War.

Colonial period, 1607–1775

1619	A Dutch ship brings about twenty black Africans to the Colony of Virginia as indentured servants. From this beginning, slavery will be introduced to the future United States.
1640	The General Court of Virginia orders John Punch, a runaway black servant, to "serve his master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere."
1652	After earlier laws in Massachusetts (1641) and Connecticut (1650) limited slavery to some extent, a 1652 Rhode Island law clearly limited bond service to no more than 10 years or no later than a person attaining the age of 24. Nonetheless, Newport, Rhode Island became a large slave trade center a century later. In 1784, the state of Rhode Island prohibited the slave trade.
1654	John Casor John Casor John Casor , a servant in Northampton County in the Virginia Colony, in 1654 became the first person of African descent in the Thirteen Colonies to be declared by the county court a slave for life. In one of the earliest freedom suits, Casor argued that he was an indentured servant who had been...  of Northampton County Northampton County Northampton County is the name of several counties in the United States:* Northampton County, North Carolina* Northampton County, Pennsylvania* Northampton County, Virginia...  is the first Virginian to be judicially confirmed as a slave for life other than for violation of the law.
1671	About 2,000 of the 40,000 inhabitants of colonial Virginia are imported slaves. White indentured servants working for five years before their release are 3 times as numerous and provide much of the hard labor.
1712	An insurrection of slaves who caused significant property damage and in turn were severely punishment or executed occurs in New York.
1719	Non-slaveholding farmers in Virginia think slave labor threatens their livelihoods. They persuade the General Assembly to discuss a prohibition of slavery or a ban on importing slaves. In response, the assembly raises the tariff on slaves to five pounds, which about equals the full price of an indenture, so as not to make importation of slaves as initially attractive or preferable to a mere indenture for a term of years.
1741	Another insurrection of slaves who caused significant property damage and in turn were severely punishment or executed occurs in New York.
1774	Quakers, under the leadership of James Pemberton, and those of other faiths including Dr. Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.... , organize the first anti-slavery society in the colonies soon to become the United States, The Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, in Philadelphia.

American Revolution and Confederation period, 1776–1787

1776	The United States Declaration of Independence United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...  declares "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Slavery remains legal in the colonies.
1777	The Republic of Vermont, an independent country at the time, prohibits slavery in its constitution.
1778	The Virginia History of Virginia The history of Virginia began with settlement of the geographic region now known as the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States thousands of years ago by Native Americans. Permanent European settlement began with the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, by English colonists. As tobacco emerged...  legislature passes a law, with Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia... 's support and probably authorship, that bans importing slaves into Virginia. It is the first state to ban the slave trade, and all other states eventually followed.
1780	A gradual emancipation law is adopted in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to... . Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...  bans slavery in its constitution.
1782	Virginia liberalizes its very strict law preventing manumission Manumission Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. In the United States before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished most slavery, this often happened upon the death of the owner, under conditions in his will.-Motivations:The... ; under the new law, a master may emancipate slaves in his will or by deed.
1783	The New Hampshire New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...  Constitution says children will be born free, but some slavery persists until the 1840s.
1784	Rhode Island Rhode Island The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...  and Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...  pass laws providing for gradual emancipation of slaves. The Continental Congress Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....  rejects by one vote Jefferson's proposal to prohibit slavery in all territories, including areas that become the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
1786	George Washington George Washington George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...  writes: "There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it [slavery]." Civil War era historian William Blake says these "sentiments were confined to a few liberal and enlightened men."
1787	July 13: The Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution...  passes the Northwest Ordinance Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed July 13, 1787...  to govern territory north of the Ohio River Ohio River The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...  and west of Pennsylvania. The territory will become the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the ordinance, Congress prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude in the territory and requires the return of fugitive slaves found in the territory to their owners. The law no longer applies as soon as the territories become states. Anti-slavery Northerners cite the ordinance many times over the years as precedent for the limitation, if not the abolition, of slavery in the United States. Despite the terms of the ordinance, Southern-born settlers will try and fail to pass laws to allow slavery in Indiana and Illinois.

Early period under the Constitution, 1787–1811

1787	The new Constitution of the United States has compromises to protect slavery. Representation in the House and Electoral College is increased by counting each slave as three-fifths of a person (Article I, Section 2), the passage of any law that would prohibit the importation of slaves is forbidden for 20 years (Article I, Section 9) and the return of slaves who escape to free states is required (Article I, Section 2).
1789	August 7: Congress re-adopts the Northwest Ordinance under the Constitution.
1790	U.S. slave population in the 1790 United States Census: 697,681. The number will grow to 3,954,174 in 1860, 3.5 million of whom live in the seceding Southern states.
1791	Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...  admitted as a free state. Kentucky admitted by joint resolution of Congress before the State has adopted a constitution. Robert Carter III Robert Carter III Robert "Councillor" Carter III was an American plantation owner, founding father and onetime British government official. After the death of his wife, Frances Ann Tasker Carter, in 1787, Carter embraced the Swedenborgian faith and freed almost 500 slaves from his Nomini Hall plantation and large...  of Virginia begins gradually to free his 452 slaves. He will perform the largest manumission of slaves in U.S. history.
1792	Kentucky draws up a constitution as a slave state and is admitted to the union.
1793	Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 The Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed the right of a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave...  based on Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution. Eli Whitney, Jr. invents the cotton gin, making possible the profitable large-scale production of short-staple cotton in the South. The demand for slave labor increases with the increase in profitable cotton production.
1794	By 1794 every state had banned the international slave trade, although South Carolina reopened it in 1803. Congress in 1794 restricted the slave trade by a law that no U.S. port or shipyard could be used to build or fit out a ship used in the slave trade. No ship leaving an American port could be used in the slave trade. Ships sailing to Africa, whether flying the U.S. flag or a foreign flag, had to post cash bond that it would not engage in the slave trade in the next nine months. Sailors who worked on a slave ship were fined $200 (more than a year's pay), and half the penalty money would be paid to informers. The law was enforced, and was strengthened in 1800 by sharply raising the fines and giving all the reward to informers. A commercial ship that captured any slaver could take it to a U.S. port and receive the full value of the prize.
1796	Tennessee is admitted as a slave state.
1798	The legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia pass the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional... , which are anonymously written by Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...  and James Madison James Madison James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United... . Most other states reject the Resolutions, which claim that the states can negate federal laws that go beyond the federal government's limited powers. In the second Kentucky resolution of November 1799, the Kentucky legislature says the remedy for unconstitutional act is "nullification."
1799	New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...  enacts a law gradually abolishing slavery. George Washington George Washington and slavery George Washington was a slave owner for practically all of his life. His will ultimately emancipated his slaves upon the death of his widow Martha Washington. Although Washington personally opposed the institution of slavery after the American Revolutionary War, while President, he gave...  dies on December 14, 1799. His will frees the 124 slaves that he owns outright upon the death of his wife, Martha Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States... . They are freed by Martha in 1801, about 18 months before her death. Richard Allen, the head of the African Methodist Episcopal Church African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...  calls on the nation's white leaders to follow Washington's lead.
1800	U.S. slave population in the 1800 United States Census: 893,605 (as corrected by late additions from Maryland and Tennessee) The Gabriel Plot was led by Gabriel Prosser Gabriel Prosser Gabriel , today commonly – if incorrectly – known as Gabriel Prosser, was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned to lead a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the summer of 1800. However, information regarding the revolt was leaked prior to its execution, thus Gabriel's plans were... , a literate blacksmith slave. He planned to take the Richmond, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...  armory, then take control of the city, which would lead to freedom for himself and other slaves in the area. The plot is discovered before it was activated; Gabriel, along with 26 to 40 others were executed.
1803	The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...  from France. Slavery already existed and efforts to restrict it failed; the new lands permitted a great expansion of slave plantations. Ohio, a free state, is admitted to the union. 300 Blacks lived there and the legislature tried to keep others out.
1804	New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...  enacts a law that provides for gradual abolition of slavery. All states north of the "Mason-Dixon Line Mason-Dixon line The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and... " (the northern boundary of Maryland and Delaware) have now abolished or provided for the gradual abolition of slavery within their boundaries. The American Convention of Abolition Societies meets without any societies from Southern states in attendance.
1806	Virginia repeals much of the 1782 law that permitted more liberal emancipation of slaves, making emancipation much more difficult and expensive. Also, a wife can revoke a manumission provision in her husband's will within one year of his death.
1807	With the expiration of the 20-year ban on Congressional action on the subject, President Thomas Jefferson, a lifelong enemy of the slave trade, calls on Congress to criminalize the international slave trade, calling it "violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our country have long been eager to proscribe." At the urging of President Jefferson, Congress outlaws the international slave trade in an Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 is a United States federal law that stated, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States. This act ended the legality of the U.S.-based transatlantic slave trade... . Importing or exporting becomes a federal crime, effective January 1, 1808; in 1820 it is made the crime of piracy. The trade had been about 14,000 a year; illegal smuggling begins and brings in about 1,000 new foreign-born slaves per year. John Randolph of Roanoke John Randolph of Roanoke John Randolph , known as John Randolph of Roanoke, was a planter and a Congressman from Virginia, serving in the House of Representatives , the Senate , and also as Minister to Russia...  warns during the debates that outlawing the slave trade might become the "pretext of universal emancipation" and warned that it would "blow up the constitution." If there ever should be disunion, he prophesied, the line would be drawn between the states that did and those that did not hold slaves.
1810	1810 Census Data Volume 1 is unavailable online but a secondary source indicates that in 1810 there were 27,510 slaves in the North and 1,191,364 in the South. The percentage of free blacks increases in the Upper South from less than one percent before the Revolution to 10 percent by 1810. Three-quarters of all blacks in Delaware are free.

War of 1812 through Mexican-American war and California gold rush, 1849

1812	Louisiana is admitted as a slave state.
1814	The Hartford Convention Hartford Convention The Hartford Convention was an event spanning from December 15, 1814–January 4, 1815 in the United States during the War of 1812 in which New England's opposition to the war reached the point where secession from the United States was discussed...  of delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island and unofficial delegates from New Hampshire and Vermont meets between December 15, 1814 and January 4, 1815. The delegates discuss New England's opposition to the War of 1812 War of 1812 The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...  and trade embargoes. The convention report says that New England New England New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...  had a "duty" to assert its authority over unconstitutional infringements on its sovereignty, a position similar to the later nullification theory put forward by South Carolina. The war soon ends and the convention and the Federalist Party which had supported it fall out of favor, especially in the South although leaders in Southern states later would adopt the States' rights concept for their own purposes.
1816	Henry Clay Henry Clay Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives... , James Monroe James Monroe James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation... , Bushrod Washington Bushrod Washington Bushrod Washington was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice and the nephew of George Washington.Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and was the son of John Augustine Washington, brother of the first president. Bushrod attended Delamere, an academy administered by the Rev.... , Robert Finley Robert Finley Robert Finley was briefly the president of the University of Georgia. Finley was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated from College of New Jersey at the age of 15.-Early life:Finley was born to James Finley and Ann Angrest, James was born 1737 in Glasgow, Scotland where he... , Samuel John Mills Jr. Samuel John Mills Samuel John Mills Jr. was born at Torringford, Connecticut.His father was Congregational minister Samuel John Mills and mother was Esther Robbins....  and others organize the American Colonization Society American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...  to send freed slaves to Liberia Liberia Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open... . The Society funds the migration of about 10,000 free blacks to return to Africa. In Philadelphia, the African Methodist Episcopal Church African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the... , the first black denomination in the United States, is established by Richard Allen Richard Allen - Arts :*Dick Allen , American poet, literary critic and academic*Richard Allen , British painter*Richard Allen , British novelist*Richard J... . Indiana joins the United States as a free state.
1817	Mississippi, a slave state, is admitted the union.
1818	Illinois joins the United States as a free state. Missouri History of Missouri The history of Missouri begins with France claiming the territory and selling it to the U.S. in 1803. Statehood came following a compromise in 1820. Missouri grew rapidly until the Civil War, which saw numerous small battles and control by the Union...  petitions Congress for admission to the union as a slave state. Missouri's possible admission as a slave state threatens the balance of 11 free states and 11 slave states. Three years of debate ensues.
1819	Alabama, a slave state, enters the union. Missouri again petitions for admission to the union. U. S. Representative James Tallmadge, Jr. of New York submits an amendment to the legislation for the admission of Missouri which would prohibit further introduction of slaves into Missouri. The proposal also would free all children of slave parents in Missouri when they reached the age of twenty-five. The measure passes in the House of Representatives but is defeated in the Senate. Representative Thomas W. Cobb Thomas W. Cobb Thomas Willis Cobb was a United States Representative and Senator from Georgia.-Biography:Born in Columbia County, Georgia, he pursued preparatory studies, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in Lexington, Georgia...  of Georgia threatens disunion if Tallmadge persists in attempting to have his amendment enacted. Southern Senators delay a bill to admit Maine Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...  as a free state in response to the delay of Missouri's admission to the union as a slave state.
1820	U.S. slave population in the 1820 United States Census: 1,538,000. Speaker of the House Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...  Henry Clay Henry Clay Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...  of Kentucky proposes the Missouri Compromise Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30'...  to break the Congressional deadlock over Missouri's admission to the union. Missouri would be admitted to the Union as a slave state (which it was on August 10, 1821) and the northern counties of Massachusetts would be admitted as a free state, the State of Maine Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...  (which occurred on March 15, 1820). To the west, slavery would be prohibited north of 36°30' of latitude, which was approximately the southern boundary of Missouri. Many Southerners argued against exclusion of slavery from such a large area of the country. The restriction of slavery north of the 36° 30' line of latitude will be abrogated by the popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...  voting provision of the Kansas-Nebraska Act Kansas-Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...  of 1854. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, is a historically African-American Christian denomination. It was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number of years before then....  is founded in New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... .
1821	After Missouri becomes a state, its legislature passes a law excluding free blacks and mulattoes from the State in violation of a Congressional condition to its admission to the Union.
1822	The Vesey Plot Denmark Vesey Denmark Vesey originally Telemaque, was an African American slave brought to the United States from the Caribbean of Coromantee background. After purchasing his freedom, he planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States...  causes fear among whites in South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence... , who are convinced that Denmark Vesey Denmark Vesey Denmark Vesey originally Telemaque, was an African American slave brought to the United States from the Caribbean of Coromantee background. After purchasing his freedom, he planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States...  and other slaves plan a violent slave uprising in the Charleston area. The plan is discovered and Vesey and thirty-four of his presumed followers are seized and hanged.
1824	Congregationalist minister Charles Grandison Finney Charles Grandison Finney Charles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor... , a leader of the religious revivals known as the Second Great Awakening Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be... , includes abolitionism among the social reforms inspired by the Awakening in the Northeast and Midwest. Congress passes a high protective tariff law which many angry Southerners view as a corrupt aid to the North. South Carolina College (University of South Carolina) President Thomas Cooper Thomas Cooper (US politician) Thomas Cooper was an Anglo-American economist, college president and political philosopher. Cooper was described by Thomas Jefferson as "one of the ablest men in America" and by John Adams as "a learned ingenious scientific and talented madcap." Dumas Malone stated that "modern scientific...  questions the value of the Union to the Southern states.
1826	New Jersey, followed by Pennsylvania, pass the first personal liberty laws Personal liberty laws .....The personal liberty laws were a series of laws passed by several U.S. states in the North in respone to the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850.-Origins:... , which require a judicial hearing before an alleged fugitive slave can be removed from the state. Thomas Cooper of South Carolina publishes On the Constitution, an early essay in favor of states' rights States' rights States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation... .
1827	The process of gradual emancipation is completed in New York state and the last slave is freed.
1828	Congress passes the Tariff of 1828 Tariff of 1828 The Tariff of 1828 was a protective tariff passed by the Congress of the United States on May 19, 1828, designed to protect industry in the northern United States... . It also is called the "Tariff of Abominations" by its opponents, mainly Southerners and some New Englanders. The opposition of Southern cotton planters to transfer of federal funds in one state to another state for internal improvements and to protective tariffs to aid small Northern industries compete with foreign goods leads a South Carolina legislative committee to issue a report entitled South Carolina Exposition and Protest South Carolina Exposition and Protest The South Carolina Exposition and Protest, also known as Calhoun's Exposition, was written in December 1828 by John C. Calhoun, then vice president under John Quincy Adams and later under Andrew Jackson. Calhoun did not formally state his authorship at the time, though it was known.The document was... . The report outlines the nullification doctrine Nullification (U.S. Constitution) Nullification is a legal theory that a State has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional... . The doctrine would reserve to a state the right to nullify an act of Congress that injures perceived reserved state rights as unconstitutional. The state could prevent the law's enforcement within its borders. James Madison James Madison James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...  of Virginia, fourth President of the United States and a framer of the U.S. Constitution, called the doctrine a "preposterous and anarchical pretension." The report threatens secession of the State over high tariff taxes. In 1831, Vice President Vice President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...  and later U.S. Senator from South Carolina John C. Calhoun John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...  admits he was the author of the previously unsigned South Carolina committee report.
1829	David Walker David Walker (abolitionist) David Walker was an outspoken African American activist who demanded the immediate end of slavery in the new nation... , a freed slave from North Carolina living in Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had... , publishes Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. He calls on slaves to revolt and destroy slavery. Walker dies the following year amid reportedly questionable circumstances.
1830	U.S. slave population in the 1830 United States Census: 2,009,043. Daniel Webster Daniel Webster Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...  delivers a speech entitled Reply to Hayne. Webster condemns the proposition expressed by Senator Robert Y. Hayne Robert Y. Hayne Robert Young Hayne was an American political leader.-Early life:Born in St. Pauls Parish, Colleton District, South Carolina, Hayne studied law in the office of Langdon Cheves in Charleston, South Carolina, and in November 1812 was admitted to the bar there, soon obtaining a large practice...  of South Carolina that Americans must choose between liberty and union. Webster closed: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!" The National Negro Convention, a black abolitionist and civil rights organization, is founded.
1831	Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...  begins publishing The Liberator, a greatly influential publication. About this time, abolitionism takes a radical and religious turn. Many abolitionists begin to demand immediate emancipation of slaves. Nat Turner Nat Turner Nathaniel "Nat" Turner was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 60 white deaths and at least 100 black deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States. He gathered...  leads a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia Southampton County, Virginia As of the census of 2010, there were 18,570 people, 6,279 households, and 4,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 7,058 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...  in August. At least 58 white persons are killed. Whites in turn kill about 100 blacks in the area during the search for Turner and his companions and in retaliation for their actions. Turner hides but is captured several months later. Turner and 12 followers are executed. Turner's actions outrage Southerners and some suspect abolitionists supported him. They prepare for further uprisings. Southern defenders of slavery start describing it as a "positive good," not just a "necessary evil."
1832	Congress enacts a new protective tariff, the Tariff of 1832 Tariff of 1832 The Tariff of 1832 was a protectionist tariff in the United States. It was largely written by former President John Quincy Adams, who had been elected to the House of Representatives and been made chairman of the Committee on Manufactures, and reduced tariffs to remedy the conflict created by the... , which offers South Carolina and the South little relief and provokes new controversy between the sections of the country. John C. Calhoun further explains the nullification doctrine in an open letter to South Carolina Governor James Hamilton, Jr. Calhoun says that the Constitution only raised the federal government to the level of the state, not above it. He argues that nullification is not secession and did not require secession to be put into effect. Thomas R. Dew writes Review of the Debate in the Virginia Legislature of 1831 and 1832, a strong defense of slavery and attack on colonization in Africa by freed slaves. On November 19, 1832, South Carolina calls a state convention, which passes an Ordinance of Nullification Ordinance of Nullification The Ordinance of Nullification declared the Tariff of 1828 and 1832 null and void within the state borders of South Carolina. It began the Nullification Crisis...  with an effective date of February 1, 1833. The convention declares the tariff void because it threatens the state's essential interests. The South Carolina legislature acts to enforce the ordinance. President President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....  Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans... , a Southerner and slave owner, calls nullification "rebellious treason" and threatens to use force against possible secessionist action in South Carolina caused by the Nullification Crisis Nullification Crisis The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. This ordinance declared by the power of the State that the federal Tariff of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within... . Congress passes the "Force Bill Force Bill The United States Force Bill, formally titled "An Act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports", 4 Stat. 632 , enacted by the 22nd U.S. Congress, consists of eight sections expanding Presidential power... " which permits the President to use the Army and Navy to enforce the law. Jackson also urges Congress to modify the tariff, which they soon do.
1833	The Compromise Tariff of 1833 Tariff of 1833 The Tariff of 1833 was proposed by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun as a resolution to the Nullification Crisis...  proposed by Henry Clay ends the Nullification crisis Nullification Crisis The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. This ordinance declared by the power of the State that the federal Tariff of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within...  by lowering some rates. Under the Force Bill Force Bill The United States Force Bill, formally titled "An Act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports", 4 Stat. 632 , enacted by the 22nd U.S. Congress, consists of eight sections expanding Presidential power... , which is also enacted, the President could use the army and navy to enforce federal laws. No other states supported South Carolina's argument and position and after Clay's compromise legislation passes, South Carolina withdrew its resolution. The abolitionist American Anti-Slavery Society American Anti-Slavery Society The American Anti-Slavery Society was an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. Frederick Douglass was a key leader of this society and often spoke at its meetings. William Wells Brown was another freed slave who often spoke at meetings. By 1838, the society had...  is founded in Philadelphia. The movement soon splits into five factions that do not always agree but which continue to advocate abolition in their own ways. Abolitionist Lydia Maria Child of Massachusetts publishes An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans. Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, and orator. He was an exceptional orator and agitator, advocate and lawyer, writer and debater.-Education:...  and Charles Sumner Charles Sumner Charles Sumner was an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction,...  are persuaded to become abolitionists.
1834	Anti-Slavery "debates" are held at Lane Theological Seminary Lane Theological Seminary Lane Theological Seminary was established in the Walnut Hills section of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1829 to educate Presbyterian ministers. It was named in honor of Ebenezer and William Lane, who pledged $4,000 for the new school, which was seen as a forward outpost of the Presbyterian Church in the...  in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lane had been founded by abolitionist evangelist and writer Theodore Dwight Weld with financial help from abolitionist merchants and philanthropists Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan.
1835	A Georgia law prescribes the death penalty for publication of material with the intention of provoking a slave rebellion.
1836	The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Pinckney Resolutions on May 26, 1836. The first two resolutions state that Congress has no constitutional authority to interfere with slavery in the states and that it "ought not" to do so in the District of Columbia. The third resolution, from the outset known as the "gag rule", says: "All petitions, memorials, resolutions, propositions, or papers, relating in any way, or to any extent whatsoever, to the subject of slavery or the abolition of slavery, shall, without being either printed or referred, be laid on the table and that no further action whatever shall be had thereon." Massachusetts representative and former President John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...  leads an eight-year battle against the gag rule. He argues that the Slave Power Slave power The Slave Power was a term used in the Northern United States to characterize the political power of the slaveholding class of the South.... , as a political interest, threatened constitutional rights. Texas successfully declares its independence from Mexico. Arkansas, a slave state, is admitted to the Union. Committed abolitionists Angelina Grimke Weld Angelina Grimke Angelina Grimke may refer to:*Angelina Weld Grimke , journalist and poet*Angelina Grimké , American abolitionist and suffragist, aunt of the poet...  and her sister Sarah Grimke Sarah Grimké Sarah Moore Grimké was an American abolitionist, writer, and suffragist.-Early life:Sarah Grimké was born in South Carolina. She was sixth of fourteen children and the second daughter of Mary and John Faucheraud Grimké, a rich plantation owner who was also an attorney and a judge in South Carolina...  were born in Charleston, South Carolina, but move to Philadelphia because of their anti-slavery philosophy and Quaker faith. In 1836, Angelina publishes An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, inviting them to overthrow slavery, which she declares is a horrible system of oppression and cruelty. Democratic Party nominee Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson .... , a New Yorker with Southern sympathies, won the Presidential election.
1837	In Alton, Illinois Alton, Illinois Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois... , a mob kills abolitionist and anti-Catholic editor Elijah P. Lovejoy Elijah P. Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist. He was murdered by an opposition mob in Alton, Illinois during their attack on his warehouse to destroy his press and abolitionist materials.Lovejoy's father was a Congregational minister... , whose paper angered Southerners and Irish Catholics. Michigan, a free state, joins the United States.
1838	Kentucky Congressman William Graves kills Maine Congressman Jonathan Ciley in a duel. Anti-slavery societies claim to have 250,000 members.
1839	Slaves revolt on the Spanish ship Amistad La Amistad La Amistad was a ship notable as the scene of a revolt by African captives being transported from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba. It was a 19th-century two-masted schooner built in Spain and owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba... ; ship winds up in U.S. After a highly publicized Supreme Court case Amistad (1841) The Amistad, also known as United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, 40 U.S. 518 , was a United States Supreme Court case resulting from the rebellion of slaves on board the Spanish schooner Amistad in 1839...  argued by John Quincy Adams, the slaves are freed in March 1841; most return to Africa. Northern abolitionist Reverend Theodore Dwight Weld condemns slavery in American Slavery As It Is. He makes his argument by quoting slave owners' words as used in southern newspaper advertisements and articles.
1840	U.S. slave population in the 1840 United States Census: 2,487,000. The abolitionist Liberty Party nominates James G. Birney of Kentucky for President. Arthur Tappan and Lewis Tappan organize the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society split off from the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1840 over a number of issues, including the increasing influence of anarchism , hostility to established religion, and feminism in the latter... .
1841	The last slave (lifetime indentured servant) in New York is freed. Slaves being moved from Virginia to Louisiana seize the brig Creole and land in the Bahamas, a British colony that does not allow slavery. The British give asylum to 111 slaves (but not the 19 ringleaders accused of murder). The U.S. government protests and in 1855 the British paid $119,000 to the original owners of the slaves.
1842	In Prigg v. Pennsylvania Prigg v. Pennsylvania Prigg v. Pennsylvania, , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the Federal Fugitive Slave Act precluded a Pennsylvania state law that gave procedural protections to suspected escaped slaves, and overturned the conviction of Edward Prigg as a result.-Federal Law:In June... , the Supreme Court declares the Pennsylvania personal liberty law unconstitutional as in conflict with federal fugitive slave law. The Court holds that enforcement of the fugitive slave law is the responsibility of the federal government.
1843	Massachusetts and eight other states pass personal liberty laws under which state officials are forbidden to assist in the capture of fugitive slaves.
1844	The Methodist Episcopal Church, South Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...  breaks away from the Methodist Episcopal Church Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...  on the issue of slavery. Well-known black abolitionist, Charles Lenox Remond Charles Lenox Remond Charles Lenox Remond was an American orator, abolitionist and military organizer during the American Civil War... , and famous white abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, declare they would rather see the union dissolved than keep the Constitution only through the retention of slavery.
1845	Florida, a slave state, is admitted to the United States. The Southern Baptist Convention Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...  breaks from the Northern Baptists but does not formally endorse slavery. Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...  publishes his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. The book details his life as a slave. Former U.S. Representative and Governor of South Carolina, and future U.S. Senator, James Hammond James Henry Hammond James Henry Hammond was a politician from South Carolina. He served as a United States Representative from 1835 to 1836, the 60th Governor of South Carolina from 1842 to 1844, and United States Senator from 1857 to 1860...  writes Two Letters on Slavery in the United States, Addressed to Thomas Clarkson, Esq. in which he expresses the view that slavery is a positive good. Anti-slavery advocates denounce Texas Annexation Texas Annexation In 1845, United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state. The U.S. thus inherited Texas's border dispute with Mexico; this quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory , extending the nation's...  as evil expansion of slave territory. Whigs Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...  defeat an annexation treaty but Congress annexes Texas to the United States as a slave state by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress on a joint resolution without ratification of a treaty by a two-thirds vote in the U.S. Senate.
1846	The Walker Tariff Walker tariff The Walker Tariff was a set of tariff rates adopted by the United States in 1846. The Walker Tariff was enacted by the Democrats, and made substantial cuts in the high rates of the "Black Tariff" of 1842, enacted by the Whigs. It was based on a report by Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker...  reduction leads to a period of free trade until 1860. Republicans (and Pennsylvania Democrats) attack the low level of the tariff rates. James D.B. DeBow James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow was an American publisher and statistician, best known for his influential magazine DeBow's Review, who also served as head of the U.S...  establishes DeBow's Review DeBow's Review DeBow's Review was a widely circulated magazine of "agricultural, commercial, and industrial progress and resource" in the American South during the upper middle of the 19th century, from 1846 until 1884. It bore the name of its first editor, James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow DeBow's Review was a... , the leading Southern magazine, which becomes an ardent advocate of secession Secession Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:... . DeBow warns against depending on the North economically. The Mexican–American War Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...  begins. The administration of President James K. Polk had deployed the Army to disputed Texas territory and Mexican forces attacked Thornton Affair The Thornton Affair, also known as the Thornton Skirmish, Thornton's Defeat, or Rancho Carricitos was a battle between the military forces of the United States and Mexico. It served as the primary justification for U.S. President James K. Polk's declaration of war against Mexico in 1846,...  it. Whigs denounce the war. Antislavery critics charge the war is a pretext for gaining more slave territory. The U.S. Army quickly captures New Mexico. Northern representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives pass the Wilmot Proviso Wilmot Proviso The Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed...  which would prevent slavery in territory captured from Mexico. Southern Senators block passage of the proviso into law in the U. S. Senate. The Wilmot Proviso never becomes law but it does substantially increase friction between the North and South. Congress also rejects a proposal to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the west coast and other compromise proposals. Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...  is admitted to the United States as a free state.
1847	The Massachusetts legislature resolves that the "unconstitutional" Mexican-American War was being waged for "the triple object of extending slavery, of strengthening the slave power, and of obtaining control of the free states." John C. Calhoun asserts that slavery is legal in all of the territories, foreshadowing the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision in 1857. Democrat Lewis Cass Lewis Cass Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...  of Michigan proposes letting the people of a territory vote on whether to permit slavery in the territory. This theory of popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the political principle that the legitimacy of the state is created and sustained by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with Republicanism and the social contract...  would be further endorsed and advocated by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...  of Illinois in the mid-1850s.
1848	The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...  confirms the Texas border with Mexico and U.S. possession of California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...  and the New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...  territory. The U.S. Senate rejects attempts to attach the Wilmot Proviso Wilmot Proviso The Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed...  during the ratification vote on the treaty. Radical New York Democrats and anti-slavery Whigs form the Free-Soil party. The party names former President Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....  as its presidential candidate and demands enactment of the Wilmot Proviso. The party argues that rich planters will squeeze out small white farmers and buy their land. The Whig Party Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...  candidate, General Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass... , who was born in Virginia, grew up in Kentucky, lived in Louisiana and was the last U.S. President to own slaves, wins the United States Presidential Election of 1848. Taylor expresses no view on slavery in the Southwest during campaign. After the election, he reveals a plan to admit California and New Mexico to the Union as free states covering entire Southwest and to exclude slavery from any territories. Taylor warns the South that he will meet rebellion with force. His moderate views on the expansion of slavery and the acceptability of the Wilmot Proviso angered his unsuspecting Southern supporters but did not fully satisfy Northerners who wanted to limit or abolish slavery. Wisconsin, a free state, is admitted to the Union. Oregon Treaty Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...  between the United States and Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...  ends the Oregon boundary dispute Oregon boundary dispute The Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region... , defines final western segment of Canada – United States border and ends the scare of a U.S.–Great Britain war. Northern Democrats complain the Polk Administration backed down on the demand that the northern boundary of Oregon be set at 54° 40' line of latitude and sacrificed Northern expansion while supporting Southern expansion through the Mexican-American War and the treaty ending that war. The Polk administration offers Spain $100 million for Cuba. Southerners support Narciso Lopez's Narciso López Narciso López was a Venezuelan adventurer and soldier, best known for an expedition aimed at liberating Cuba from Spain in the 1850s..- Life in Venezuela, Cuba, and Spain:...  attempt to cause an uprising in Cuba Cuba The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...  in favor of American annexation of the island, which allows slavery. Lopez is defeated and flees to the United States. He is tried for violation of neutrality laws but a New Orleans jury fails to convict him.
1849	The California Gold Rush California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...  suddenly populates Northern California Northern California Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...  with Northern and immigrant settlers who outnumber Southerner settlers. California's constitutional convention unanimously rejects slavery and petitions to join the union as a free state without first being organized as a territory. President Taylor asks Congress to admit California as a free state, says he will suppress secession if it is attempted by any dissenting states. Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves...  escapes from slavery. She makes about 20 trips to the South and returns along the Underground Railroad Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,... with slaves seeking freedom.

Compromise of 1850 through 1860 election

1850	U.S. slave population in the 1850 United States Census: 3,204,313. March 11: U.S. Senator William H. Seward William H. Seward William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...  of New York delivers his "Higher Law" address. He states that a compromise on slavery is wrong because under a higher law than the Constitution, the law of God, all men are free and equal. April 17: U.S. Senator Henry S. Foote Henry S. Foote Henry Stuart Foote was a United States Senator from Mississippi from 1847 to 1852 and Governor of Mississippi from 1852 to 1854. His emotional leadership on the Senate floor helped secure passage of the Compromise of 1850, which for a time averted a civil war in the United States.-Biography:Henry...  of Mississippi pulls a pistol on an anti-slavery Senator on the floor of the U.S. Senate. President Taylor dies on July 9 and is succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president... . Although he is a New Yorker, Fillmore is more inclined to compromise with or even support Southern interests. Henry Clay proposes the Compromise of 1850 Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...  to handle California's petition for admission to the union as a free state and Texas's demand for land in New Mexico. Clay proposes (1) admission of California, (2) prohibition of Texas expansion into New Mexico, (3) compensation of $10 million to Texas to finance its public debt, (4) permission to citizens of New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...  and Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...  to vote on whether slavery would be allowed in their territories (popular sovereignty), (5) a ban of the slave trade in the District of Columbia; slavery would still be allowed in the district and (6) a stronger fugitive slave law with more vigorous enforcement. Under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a slave owner could reclaim a runaway slave by establishing ownership before a commissioner rather than in a jury trial Jury trial A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge... . The commissioner would receive $10 if he held for the slave owner but only $5 if he did not. The commissioner could deputize and compel local citizens to become slave catchers. Clay's initial omnibus bill that included all these provisions failed. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois then established different coalitions that passed each provision separately. Southerners cease movement toward disunion but are angered by Northern resistance to enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. Northerners are upset about possible expansion of slavery in the Southwest and the stronger fugitive slave law that could require all U.S. citizens to assist in returning fugitive slaves. As events happen, California sends mostly pro-slavery Representatives and Senators to Congress until the outbreak of the Civil War. The Nashville Convention of nine Southern states discusses states' rights and slavery in June; in November, the convention talks about secession but adjourns due to the passage of the laws that constitute the Compromise of 1850. Utah is organized as a territory and adopts a slave code. Only 29 slaves are found in the territory in 1860. In October, a Boston "vigilance committee" frees two fugitive slaves, Ellen and William Craft, from jail and return to Georgia.
1851	Southern Unionists in several states defeat secession measures. Mississippi's History of Mississippi The state of Mississippi's history goes back beyond American statehood to ancient Native American times.-Native Americans:At the end of the last Ice Age Native American or Paleo-Indians appeared in what today is the South. Paleo Indians in the South were hunter-gatherers who pursued the mega fauna...  convention denies the existence of the right to secession. In February, a crowd of black men in Boston frees fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins Shadrach Minkins Shadrach Minkins was an African American fugitive slave. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he escaped from slavery in 1850 to settle in Boston, Massachusetts, where he became a waiter... , also known as Fred Wilkins, who was being held in the federal courthouse, and help him escape to Canada. In April, the government guards fugitive slave Thomas Sims with 300 soldiers to prevent local sympathizers from helping him with an escape attempt. Narciso Lopez is killed in another effort to invade Cuba and spark an uprising which was supposed to lead to U.S. annexation of the island. In September 1851, free blacks confront a slave owner, his son and their allies who are trying to capture two fugitive slaves at Christiana, Pennsylvania. In the gunfight that followed, three blacks and the slave owner are killed while his son is seriously wounded. In October 1851, black and white abolitionists free fugitive slave Jerry McHenry from the Syracuse, New York jail and allow his escape to Canada.
1852	A New York court frees eight slaves in transit from Virginia with their owner. After magazine publication, Uncle Tom's Cabin Uncle Tom's Cabin 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 "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman.... by Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...  is published in book form. The powerful novel depicts slave owner "Simon Legree" as deeply evil, and the slave "Uncle Tom" as the Christ-like hero; sells between 500,000 and 1,000,000 copies in U.S. and even more in Great Britain. Millions of people see the stage adaptation. By June 1852, Southerners move to suppress the book's publication in the South. April 30: A convention called by the legislature in South Carolina adopts "An Ordinance to Declare the Right of this State to Secede from the Federal Union." The Whig party Whig Party (United States) The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...  and its candidate for President, Winfield Scott Winfield Scott Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....  of Virginia, general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, are decisively defeated in the election and the party quickly fades away. Pro-South ("doughface") Democrat Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...  of New Hampshire is elected President.
1853	Democrats control state governments in all the states which will form the Confederate States. The United States adds a 29670 square miles (76,844.9 km²) region of present-day southern Arizona Arizona Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...  and southwestern New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...  to the United States through the Gadsden Purchase Gadsden Purchase The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...  of territory from Mexico. James Gadsden James Gadsden James Gadsden was an American diplomat, soldier and businessman and namesake of the Gadsden Purchase, in which the United States purchased from Mexico the land that became the southern portion of Arizona and New Mexico. James Gadsden served as Adjutant General of the U. S... , the American ambassador to Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... , signs the treaty on December 30, 1853. The U.S. Senate ratifies the treaty with some changes on April 25, 1854 and President Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...  signs it. Mexico gives its approval to the final version on June 8, 1854. The purposes of the Gadsden Purchase are the construction of a transcontinental railroad Transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...  along a deep southern route and the reconciliation of outstanding border issues following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican–American War. Many early settlers in the region are pro-slavery. Filibusterer William Walker and a few dozen men briefly take over Baja California Baja California Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...  in an effort to expand slave territory. When they are forced to retreat to California and put on trial for violating neutrality laws, they are acquitted by a jury that deliberated for only eight minutes.
1854	Democratic U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois proposes the Kansas-Nebraska Bill Kansas-Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...  to open good midwestern farmland to settlement and to encourage building of a transcontinental railroad with a terminus at Chicago. Whether slavery would be permitted in a territory would be determined by a vote of the people at the time a territory is organized. Congress enacts the Kansas-Nebraska Act Kansas-Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within... , providing that popular sovereignty, a vote of the people when a territory is organized, will decide "all questions pertaining to slavery" in the Kansas-Nebraska territories. This abrogates the Missouri Compromise prohibition of slavery north of the 36°30' line of latitude and increases Northerners' fears of a Slave Power Slave power The Slave Power was a term used in the Northern United States to characterize the political power of the slaveholding class of the South....  encroaching on the North. Both Northerners and Southerners rush to the Kansas Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....  and Nebraska territories to express their opinion in the voting. Especially in Kansas, many voters are pro-slavery Missouri residents who enter Kansas simply to vote. Opponents of slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act meet in Ripon, Wisconsin in February, and subsequently meet in other Northern states, to form the Republican Party History of the United States Republican Party The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous... . The party includes many former members of the Whig and Free Soil parties and some northern Democrats. Republicans win most of the Northern state seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the fall 1854 elections as 66 of 91 Northern state Democrats are defeated. Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...  emerges as a Republican leader in the West (Illinois). Eli Thayer Eli Thayer Eli Thayer was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. Thayer was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in 1848 founded Oread Institute, a school for young women in Worcester, Massachusetts...  forms the New England Emigrant Aid Society to encourage settlement of Kansas by persons opposed to slavery. Bitter fighting breaks out in Kansas Territory as pro-slavery men win a majority of seats in the legislature, expel anti-slavery legislators and adopt the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution Lecompton Constitution The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas . The document was written in response to the anti-slavery position of the 1855 Topeka Constitution of James H. Lane and other free-state advocates...  for the proposed state of Kansas. The Ostend Manifesto Ostend Manifesto The Ostend Manifesto was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain and implied the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. Cuba's annexation had long been a goal of U.S. expansionists, particularly as the U.S. set its sights... , a dispatch sent from France by the U.S. ministers to Britain, France and Spain after a meeting in Ostend, Belgium, describes the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba (a territory which had slavery) from Spain and implies the U.S. should declare war if Spain refuses to sell the island. Four months after the dispatch is drafted, it is published in full at the request of the U.S. House of Representatives. Northern states view the document as a Southern attempt to extend slavery. European nations consider it as a threat to Spain and to Imperial power. The U.S. government never acts upon the recommendations in the Ostend Manifesto. Anthony Burns Anthony Burns Anthony Burns was born a slave in Stafford County, Virginia. As a young man, he became a Baptist and a "slave preacher"... , a fugitive slave from Virginia, is arrested by federal agents in Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had... . Radical abolitionists attack the court house and kill a deputy marshal in an unsuccessful attempt to free Burns. The Knights of the Golden Circle Knights of the Golden Circle The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret society. Some researchers believe the objective of the KGC was to prepare the way for annexation of a golden circle of territories in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for inclusion in the United States as slave states... , a fraternal organization that wants to expand slavery to Mexico, Central America Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent... , the Caribbean Islands, including Cuba, and northern South America South America South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east... , is founded in Louisville, Kentucky. Former Mississippi Governor John A. Quitman John A. Quitman John Anthony Quitman was an American politician and soldier. He served as Governor of Mississippi from 1835 to 1836 as a Whig and again from 1850 to 1851 as a Democrat and one of the leading Fire-Eaters.-Early life:John A. Quitman studied Classics at Hartwick Seminary, graduating in 1816...  begins to raise money and volunteers to invade Cuba, but is slow to act and cancels the invasion plan in spring 1855 when President Pierce says he would enforce the neutrality laws. The Know-Nothing Party or American Party, which includes many nativist former Whigs, sweeps state and local elections in parts of some Northern states. The party demands ethnic purification, opposes Catholics (because of the presumed power of the Pope over them), and opposes corruption in local politics. The party soon fades away. George Fitzhugh George Fitzhugh George Fitzhugh was an American social theorist who published racial and slavery-based sociological theories in the antebellum era. He argued that "the negro is but a grown up child" who needs the economic and social protections of slavery... 's pro-slavery Sociology for the South is published.
1855	Violence by pro-slavery looters from Missouri known as Border Ruffians and anti-slavery groups known as Jayhawkers breaks out in "Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858... " as pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters try to organize the territory as slave or free. Many Ruffians vote illegally in Kansas. Estimates will show that the violence in Kansas resulted in about 200 persons killed and $2 million worth of property destroyed during the middle and late 1850s. Over 95 per cent of the pro-slavery votes in the election of a Kansas territorial legislature in 1855 were later determined to be fraudulent. Anti-slavery Kansans draft an anti-slavery constitution, the Topeka Constitution Topeka Constitution The Topeka Constitutional Convention was held in October 1855 in the town of Topeka, Kansas Territory. The convention was held in the town's Constitution Hall... , and elect a new legislature, which actually represent the majority of legal voters. Meanwhile, the initial fraudulently elected but legal Kansas legislature still exists.
1856	May 21: Missouri Ruffians and local pro-slavery men sack and burn the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County... . John Brown John Brown (abolitionist) John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the... , an abolitionist born in Connecticut, and his sons kill five pro-slavery men from Pottawatomie Creek in retaliation for the Lawrence massacre. May 22: Congressman Preston Brooks Preston Brooks Preston Smith Brooks was a Democratic Congressman from South Carolina. Brooks is primarily remembered for his severe beating of Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate with a gutta-percha cane, delivered in response to an anti-slavery speech in which Sumner compared Brooks'...  of South Carolina beats with a cane and incapacitates Senator Charles Sumner Charles Sumner Charles Sumner was an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction,...  of Massachusetts on the floor of the U.S. Senate. In a speech in the Senate chamber, The Crime Against Kansas, Sumner ridicules slaveowners--especially Brooks's cousin, U.S. Senator Andrew Butler Andrew Butler Andrew Pickens Butler was an United States Senator and one of the authors of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.-Biography:...  of South Carolina--as in love with a prostitute (slavery) and raping the virgin Kansas. Brooks is a hero in the South, Sumner a martyr in the North In the 1856 U.S. presidential election Republican John C. Frémont John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...  crusades against slavery. The Republican slogan is "Free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Frémont and victory!" Democrats History of the United States Democratic Party The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world....  counter that Fremont's election could lead to civil war. The Democrat Party candidate, James Buchanan James Buchanan James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century.... , who carries five northern and western states and all the southern states except Maryland, wins. Third–party candidate, former President Millard Fillmore, won in Maryland. Thomas Prentice Kettell, a New York Democrat, writes Southern Wealth and Northern Profits, a lengthy statistical pamphlet about the economies of the Northern and Southern regions of the country. The book receives wide acclaim among secessionists in the South and much derision from anti-slavery politicians in the North, even though some historians think Kettell intended it as an argument that the two regions are economically dependent upon each other. Filibusterer William Walker in alliance with local rebels overthrows the government of Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...  and proclaims himself president. He decrees the reintroduction of slavery. Many of Walker's men succumb to cholera and he and his remaining men have to be rescued by the U.S. Navy in May 1857.
1857	George Fitzhugh George Fitzhugh George Fitzhugh was an American social theorist who published racial and slavery-based sociological theories in the antebellum era. He argued that "the negro is but a grown up child" who needs the economic and social protections of slavery...  publishes Cannibals All! Or Slaves Without Masters, which defends slavery and ridicules free labor as "wage slavery.". Commercial conventions in the South call for the reopening of the African slave trade, thinking that a ready access to inexpensive slaves would spread slavery to the territories. Hinton Rowan Helper Hinton Rowan Helper Hinton Rowan Helper was a Southern US critic of slavery during the 1850s. In 1857, he published a book which he dedicated to the "nonslaveholding whites" of the South... , a North Carolinian, publishes The Impending Crisis of the South The Impending Crisis of the South The Impending Crisis of the South is a book written by a white male named Hinton Rowan Helper, which he self-published in 1857. It was a strong attack on slavery as inefficient and a barrier to the economic advancement of whites... , which argues that slavery was the main cause of the South's economic stagnation. This charge angers many Southerners. The U.S. Supreme Court Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...  reaches the Dred Scott v. Sandford Dred Scott v. Sandford Dred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...  decision, a 6 to 3 ruling that Congress lacks the power to exclude slavery from the territories, that slaves are property and have no rights as citizens and that slaves are not made free by living in free territory. Each justice wrote an opinion. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...  of Maryland, a former slave owner, concludes that the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional. If a court majority clearly agreed (which it did not in this decision), this conclusion would allow all territories to be open to slavery. Dred Scott and his family were purchased and freed by a supporter's children. Dred Scott died of tuberculosis Tuberculosis Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...  on September 17, 1858. Northerners vowed to oppose the decision as in violation of a "higher law." Antagonism between the sections of the country increases. Anti-slavery supporters in Kansas ignore a June election to a constitutional convention because less populous pro-slavery counties were given a majority of delegates. The convention adopts the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution. Meanwhile, anti-slavery representatives win control of the state legislature. In August, a short economic depression, the Panic of 1857 Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was... , arises, mainly in large northern cities, as a result of speculation in and inflated values of railroad stocks and real estate. Southerners tout the small effect in their section as support for their economic and labor system. Buchanan endorses the Lecompton constitution and breaks with Douglas, who regards the document as a mockery of popular sovereignty because its referendum provision does not offer a true free state option. A bitter feud begins inside the Democratic party History of the United States Democratic Party The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world.... . Douglas's opposition to the Lecompton constitution erodes his support from pro-slavery factions. The Tariff of 1857 Tariff of 1857 The Tariff of 1857 was a major tax reduction in the United States, creating a mid-century lowpoint for tariffs. It amended the Walker Tariff of 1846 by lowering rates to around 17% on average.... , authored primarily by R. M. T. Hunter Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter -References:* Patrick, Rembert W. . Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 90–101.-External links:* – A speech by R. M. T. Hunter before the U.S. House of Representatives, May 8th, 1846...  of Virginia, uses the Walker Tariff as a base and lowers rates.
1858	February: A fistfight among thirty Congressmen divided along sectional lines takes place on the floor of Congress during an all-night debate on the Lecompton constitution. The U.S. House of Representatives rejects the pro-slavery Lecompton constitution for Kansas on April 1. Congress passes the English Bill English Bill The English Bill was an offer made by the United States Congress to Kansas Territory. Kansas was offered some millions of acres of public lands in exchange for accepting the Lecompton Constitution.... , proposed by Representative William Hayden English William Hayden English William Hayden English was an American politician from Indiana.William English was most famous for his role in the passage of the infamous, pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution of Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1858...  of Indiana, which sends the Lecompton constitution back to the voters of Kansas. On August 2, Kansas voters reject the Lecompton constitution. The New School Presbyterians Old School-New School Controversy The Old School-New School Controversy was a schism of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America which began in 1837. Later, both the Old School and New School branches further split over the issue of slavery, into southern and northern churches...  split as the New Schoolers in the South who supported slavery split and formed the United Synod of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. In 1861 the Old School church split Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant Christian denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983...  along North-South lines. Lincoln gives his "House Divided" speech Lincoln's House Divided Speech The House Divided Speech was an address given by Abraham Lincoln on June 16, 1858, in Springfield, Illinois, upon accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination as that state's United States senator. The speech became the launching point for his unsuccessful campaign for the Senate seat...  on June 16, 1858. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 The Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for Senate in Illinois, and the incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. At the time, U.S. senators were elected by state legislatures; thus Lincoln and...  focus on issues and arguments that will dominate the Presidential election campaign of 1860. Pro-Douglas candidates win a small majority in the Illinois legislature in the general election and choose Douglas as U.S. Senator from Illinois for another term. However, Lincoln emerges as a nationally known moderate spokesman for Republicans and a moderate opponent of slavery. In a debate with Lincoln at Freeport, Illinois Freeport, Illinois Freeport is a city in and the county seat of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,443 at the 2000 census. The mayor of Freeport is George W... , Douglas expresses an opinion which becomes known as the "Freeport Doctrine Freeport Doctrine The Freeport Doctrine was articulated by Stephen A. Douglas at the second of the Lincoln-Douglas debates on August 27, 1858, in Freeport, Illinois. Lincoln tried to force Douglas to choose between the principle of popular sovereignty proposed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the majority decision of... ." Lincoln asks whether the people of a territory could lawfully exclude slavery before the territory became a state. In effect, this question asks Douglas to reconcile popular sovereignty with the Dred Scott decision. Douglas says they could do so by refusing to pass the type of police regulations needed to sustain slavery. This answer further alienates pro-slavery advocates from Douglas, contrary to Lincoln's apparent intention to show him as a supporter of slavery. In a speech in the U.S. Senate, Senator James Henry Hammond of South Carolina exclaims, "No, you dare not make war on cotton. No power on earth dares to make war upon it. Cotton is King; until lately the Bank of England was king; but she tried to put her screws, as usual...on the cotton crop, and was utterly vanquished", which seemingly means that even Europe was dependent on the cotton economy of the Southern states and would have to intervene in any U.S. conflict, even an internal threat, to protect its source of vital raw material, King Cotton King Cotton King Cotton was a slogan used by southerners to support secession from the United States by arguing cotton exports would make an independent Confederacy economically prosperous, and—more important—would force Great Britain and France to support the Confederacy because their industrial economy... . William Lowndes Yancey William Lowndes Yancey William Lowndes Yancey was a journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the most effective agitators for secession and rhetorical defenders of slavery. An early critic of...  and Edmund Ruffin Edmund Ruffin Edmund Ruffin was a farmer and slaveholder, a Confederate soldier, and an 1850s political activist. He advocated states' rights, secession, and slavery and was described by opponents as one of the Fire-Eaters. He was an ardent supporter of the Confederacy and a longstanding enemy of the North...  found the League of United Southerners. They advocate reopening the African slave trade and formation of a Southern confederacy. U.S. Senator William H. Seward says there is an "irrepressible conflict" between slavery and freedom. Although solid evidence of their guilt is presented, the crew of the illegal slave ship, The Wanderer The Wanderer (slave ship) The Wanderer is the last documented ship to bring a cargo of slaves from Africa to the United States . Stories of subsequent mass landings of slaves have been told, but are in dispute...  are acquitted of engaging in the African slave trade by a Savannah, Georgia Savannah, Georgia Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...  jury. Similarly, a Charleston, South Carolina jury acquits the crew of The Echo, another illegal slave ship which is caught with 320 Africans on board. The free state of Minnesota is admitted to the Union.
1859	Southerners block an increase in the low tariff rates of 1857. In February, U.S. Senator Albert G. Brown Albert G. Brown Albert Gallatin Brown was Governor of Mississippi from 1844 to 1848 and a United States Senator from Mississippi from 1854 through 1861. Brown attended Mississippi College. He was a Democrat....  of Mississippi says that if a territory requires a slave code in line with Douglas's Freeport Doctrine, the federal government must pass a slave code to protect slavery in the territories. If it does not, Brown says he will urge Mississippi to secede from the union. Oregon admitted as a free state. President Buchanan and Southern members of Congress, including Senator John Slidell John Slidell John Slidell was an American politician, lawyer and businessman. A native of New York, Slidell moved to Louisiana as a young man and became a staunch defender of southern rights as a U.S. Representative and Senator...  of Louisiana, make another attempt to buy Cuba from Spain. Douglas supports the proposed annexation of Cuba. Republicans block funding. Southern senators block a homestead act that would have given 160 acres of land in the West to settlers. The Southern Commercial Convention endorses reopening the African slave trade to reduce the price of slaves and widen slaveholding. Many members think this would lessen feelings that the slave trade was immoral and provide an incentive or tool for Southern nationalism. On October 4, Kansas voters adopt the anti-slavery Wyandotte Constitution Wyandotte Constitution The present Constitution of the State of Kansas was originally known as the Wyandotte Constitution to distinguish it from three proposed constitutions that preceded it...  by a 2 to 1 margin. On October 16, Kansas abolitionist John Brown attempts to spark a slave rebellion in Virginia through seizure of weapons from the federal armory Harpers Ferry Armory Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, was the second federal armory commissioned by the United States government located in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia , the first federal armory being the Springfield Armory located in Springfield,...  at Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe.... . Brown holds the arsenal for 36 hours. No slaves join him and no rebellion ensues but seventeen persons, including 10 of Brown's men, are killed. Brown and his remaining men are captured by U.S. Marines led by detached Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War.... . Brown is tried for treason Treason In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...  to the state of Virginia, found guilty and hanged on December 2 in Charles Town, Virginia (now Charlestown, West Virginia). Brown becomes a martyr to the North, but alarms the South as an example of a fanatical Yankee abolitionist trying to start a bloody race war. Secession sentiment grows in the South in response to Northern sympathy for Brown. New Mexico territory adopts a slave code, but no slaves are in the territory according to the 1860 census. Members of Congress which convenes in December insult, level charges at, threaten and denounce each other. Members come to the sessions armed. The House of Representatives requires eight weeks to choose a Speaker. This delays consideration of vitally important business.
1860	U.S. slave population in the 1860 United States Census: 3,954,174. The United States Census of 1860 concludes the U.S. population is 31,443,321, which is an increase of 35.4 percent over the 23,191,875 persons enumerated during the 1850 Census. The 1860 Census shows 26 percent of all Northerners but only 10 percent of Southerners live in towns or cities. The census also shows that 80 per cent of the Southern workforce but only 40 per cent of the Northern work force works in agriculture. Southern opposition kills the Pacific Railway Bill Pacific Railway Acts The Pacific Railroad Acts were a series of acts of Congress that promoted the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States through authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was the original act...  of 1860. President Buchanan vetoes a homestead act. February 27: Lincoln gives his Cooper Institute speech against the spread of slavery. Also in February, U.S. Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi presents a resolution stating the Southern position on slavery, including adoption of a Federal slave code for the territories. Knights of the Golden Circle reach maximum popularity and plan to invade Mexico to expand slave territory. April 23–May 3: The Democrat Party convention begins in Charleston, South Carolina. Southern radicals, or "fire-eaters", oppose front runner Stephen A. Douglas's bid for the party's Presidential nomination. The Democrats begin splitting North and South as many Southern delegates walk out. Douglas can not secure the two-thirds of the vote needed for the nomination. After 57 ballots, the convention adjourns to meet in Baltimore 6 weeks later. May 9: Former Whigs from the border states form the Constitutional Union Party Constitutional Union Party (United States) The Constitutional Union Party was a political party in the United States created in 1860. It was made up of conservative former Whigs who wanted to avoid disunion over the slavery issue...  and nominate former U.S. Senator John C. Bell John Bell (Tennessee politician) John Bell was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig...  of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett Edward Everett Edward Everett was an American politician and educator from Massachusetts. Everett, a Whig, served as U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State...  of Massachusetts for Vice-President on a one-issue platform of national unity. William H. Seward of New York, Salmon P. Chase Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...  of Ohio, and Simon Cameron Simon Cameron Simon Cameron was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War. After making his fortune in railways and banking, he turned to a life of politics. He became a U.S. senator in 1845 for the state of Pennsylvania,...  of Pennsylvania are leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, along with more moderate Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, when the Republican convention convenes in Chicago on May 16. Lincoln supporters from Illinois skillfully gain commitments for Lincoln. On May 18, Lincoln wins the Republican Party nomination for President. The Republicans adopt a concrete, precise and moderately worded platform which includes the exclusion of slavery from the territories but the affirmation of the right of states to order and control their own "domestic institutions." June 18: The main group of Democrats meeting in Baltimore, bolstered by some new Douglas Democrat delegates from Southern states who were seated to the exclusion of the Southern delegates from the previous session of the convention, nominate Douglas for President. June 28: Southern Democrats nominate Vice President John C. Breckinridge John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky and was the 14th Vice President of the United States , to date the youngest vice president in U.S...  of Kentucky for President. Their platform endorses a national slave code. Honduran Honduras Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...  militia stop another filibuster effort by William Walker. They capture and execute him before a firing squad on September 12, 1860.

1860 election, November 6, 1860 to fall of Fort Sumter, April 14, 1861

1860	...The most significant, but not quite all, notable events related to government, secession of states, actions of key individuals and initiation of the American Civil War that occurred between November 6, 1860 and April 15, 1861 follow... November 6: Abraham Lincoln wins the 1860 presidential election United States presidential election, 1860 The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...  on a platform that includes the prohibition of slavery in new states and territories. Lincoln wins all of the electoral votes in all of the free states except New Jersey where he wins 4 votes and Douglas wins 3. The official count of electoral votes occurs February 13, 1861. November 7, 9: Charleston, South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...  authorities arrest a Federal officer. The officer attempted to move supplies to Fort Moultrie from Charleston Arsenal Charleston Arsenal The Charleston Arsenal was a United States Army arsenal facility in Charleston, South Carolina seized by state militia at the outbreak of the American Civil War.... . Two days later, the Palmetto Flag of South Carolina is raised over the Charleston harbor batteries. November 10: The South Carolina legislature calls a convention to consider whether the State should secede from the Union for December 17. U.S. Senators James Chesnut, Jr. James Chesnut, Jr. James Chesnut, Jr. of Camden, South Carolina, was a planter, lawyer, United States Senator, a signatory of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, and a Confederate States Army general...  and James Henry Hammond of South Carolina resign from the U.S. Senate. November 14: Congressman Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... , later Vice President of the Confederate States of America Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S... , speaks to the Georgia legislature in opposition to secession. November 15: Major Robert Anderson of the First United States Artillery, a 55-year old career army officer from Kentucky, was ordered to take command of Fort Moultrie and the defenses in Charleston Harbor, including Fort Sumter Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :... . November 15: United States Navy United States Navy The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...  Lieutenant Tunis Craven Tunis Craven Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven was an officer in the United States Navy. His career included service in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.-Early Life:...  informs authorities in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....  that he is proceeding to take moves to protect Fort Taylor at Key West Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba.... , Florida and Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands, located at the end of the Florida Keys, USA, about west of Key West, and west of the Marquesas Keys, the closest islands. Still further west is the Tortugas Bank, which is completely submerged. The first Europeans to discover the islands were the... , Florida. Craven rightly suspects Southern States will try to seize federal property and military supplies. November 20: Lincoln says that his administration will permit states to control their own internal affairs. November 23: Major Anderson requests reinforcements for his small force at Charleston. December 4: President Buchanan condemns Northern interference with slave policies of Southern states but also says states have no right to secede from the Union. December 8, 1860–January 8, 1861: Buchanan administration cabinet members from the South resign. Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb Howell Cobb Howell Cobb was an American political figure. A Southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851...  of Georgia resigns on December 8. On December 23, President Buchanan asks for the resignation of Secretary of War John B. Floyd John B. Floyd John Buchanan Floyd was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson.-Early life:... , a former governor of Virginia Governor of Virginia The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia.... , whose actions appear to favor the Southern secessionists. He arranged to shift weapons from Pittsburgh and other locations to the South. The War Department stops the transfer of weapons from Pittsburgh on January 3. Floyd resigns on December 29. United States Secretary of the Interior United States Secretary of the Interior The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...  Jacob Thompson Jacob Thompson Jacob Thompson was a lawyer and politician who served as United States Secretary of the Interior from 1857 to 1861.-Biography:...  of Mississippi resigns on January 8, 1861. December 10: South Carolina delegates meet with Buchanan and believe he agrees not to change military situation at Charleston. December 11: Major Don Carlos Buell Don Carlos Buell Don Carlos Buell was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. Buell led Union armies in two great Civil War battles—Shiloh and Perryville. The nation was angry at his failure to defeat the outnumbered...  delivers a message to Major Anderson from Secretary of War Floyd. Anderson is authorized to put his command in any of the forts at Charleston to resist their seizure. Later in the month Floyd says Anderson violated the President's pledge to keep the status quo pending further discussions and the garrison should be removed from Charleston. Floyd soon will join the Confederacy. December 12: Secretary of State United States Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...  Lewis Cass Lewis Cass Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...  of Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....  resigns. He believes President Buchanan should reinforce the Charleston forts and is unhappy about Buchanan's lack of action. December 17, 20, 24: The South Carolina Secession Convention begins on December 17. On December 20, Secession begins when the convention declares "that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states under the name of the 'United States of America' is hereby dissolved." The convention published a Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union in explanation and support of their position. The document cites "encroachments on the reserved rights of the states" and "an increasing hostility of the non-slaveholding states to the institution of slavery" and "the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery" as among the causes. On December 24, South Carolina Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens Francis Wilkinson Pickens Francis Wilkinson Pickens was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Governor of South Carolina when the state seceded from the United States during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...  declares the act of secession in effect. December 18, 1860–January 15, 1861: Senator John J. Crittenden John J. Crittenden John Jordan Crittenden was a politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison and Millard Fillmore...  of Kentucky proposes the "Crittenden Compromise Crittenden Compromise The Crittenden Compromise was an unsuccessful proposal introduced by Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden on December 18, 1860. It aimed to resolve the U.S... ". Its main features are a constitutional amendment that would reinstate the Missouri Compromise line between free and slave territory and retention of the fugitive slave law and slavery where it existed, including in the District of Columbia. On January 16, 1861, the Crittenden Compromise is effectively defeated in the United States Senate. December 20: Vice President Vice President of the United States The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...  John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, unsuccessful candidate of the Southern Democrats for President and later Confederate general and Secretary of War, appoints a Committee of Thirteen U.S. Senators of differing views, including Jefferson Davis, Robert Toombs, William Seward and Stephen A. Douglas, to consider the state of the nation and to propose solutions to the crisis. On December 31, the Committee reports they are unable to agree on a compromise proposal. December 21, 24: The four United States Congressmen from South Carolina withdraw from the U.S. House of Representatives, but on December 24 the House refuses their resignations. December 26, 27, 30: Under cover of darkness, Major Anderson moves the Federal garrison at Charleston, South Carolina from Fort Moultrie, which is indefensible from the landward side, to the unfinished Fort Sumter, which is located on an island in Charleston harbor. He spikes the guns of Fort Moultrie. Secessionists react angrily and feel betrayed because they thought President Buchanan would maintain the status quo. The next day South Carolina troops occupy the abandoned Fort Moultrie and another fortification, Castle Pinckney Castle Pinckney Castle Pinckney was a small masonry fortification constructed by the United States government by 1810 in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina... , which had been occupied only by an ordnance sergeant. On December 30, South Carolina troops seize the Charleston Arsenal. December 28: Buchanan meets with South Carolina commissioners as "private gentlemen." They demand removal of federal troops from Charleston. Buchanan states he needs more time to consider the situation. On December 31, Buchanan says Congress must define the relations between the Federal government and South Carolina and that he will not withdraw the troops from Charleston. December 30, 1860–March 28, 1861: Brevet Brevet (military) In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...  Lieutenant General Lieutenant General (United States) In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...  Winfield Scott, general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, asks permission from President Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Fort Sumter but receives no reply. On March 3, 1861, Scott will tell Secretary of State–designate William Seward that Fort Sumter can not be relieved. On March 5, he will tell President Lincoln that he agrees with Major Anderson's assessment that the situation at Charleston could only be saved for the Union with 20,000 reinforcements. On March 6, Scott says the U.S. Army can do no more to relieve Fort Sumter and only the U.S. Navy could aid the fort's garrison. On March 11, he again advises President Lincoln that it would take many months for the army to be able to reinforce Fort Sumter. On March 28, Scott recommends to the President that Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida Pensacola, Florida Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...  be evacuated.
1861	January 2: South Carolina troops take control of dormant Fort Jackson in Charleston harbor. January 2: Colonel Charles Stone begins to organize the District of Columbia militia. January 3, 24, 26: Georgia state troops take Fort Pulaski at the mouth of the Savannah River Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...  on January 3, the United States Arsenal at Augusta, Georgia Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...  on January 24, and Oglethorpe Barracks Oglethorpe Barracks Oglethorpe Barracks usually refers to a 19th century United States Army post in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia. Some sources use the title to refer to Fort James Jackson or Fort Wayne , both near Savannah...  and Fort Jackson Fort Jackson Fort Jackson can refer to several places or things:*Fort Jackson , also called Fort Toulouse, a War of 1812 fort*Fort Jackson , a frontier trading post located near present-day Ione, Colorado...  at Savannah, Georgia Savannah, Georgia Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...  on January 26. January 3: Delaware legislators reject secession proposals. January 4, 5, 30: Alabama seizes the Mount Vernon, Alabama Mount Vernon, Alabama Mount Vernon is a town in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. It is included in the Mobile metropolitan statistical area. At the 2000 census the population was 844.-Geography:Mount Vernon is located at .According to the U.S...  United States Arsenal on January 4, Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines at the entrance to Mobile Bay Mobile Bay Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...  on January 5 and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Lewis Cass at Mobile, Alabama Mobile, Alabama Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...  on January 30. January 5: The unarmed merchant vessel Star of the West Star of the West The Star of the West was a civilian steamship hired by the United States government to transport military supplies and reinforcements to the garrison of Fort Sumter, but was fired on by Confederates in its effort to do so at the dawning of the American Civil War... , which is under contract to the War Department, heads for Fort Sumter from New York with 250 reinforcements and supplies. January 5: U.S. Senators from seven deep South states meet and advise their states to secede. January 6–12: Florida troops seize Apalachicola, Florida Apalachicola, Florida Apalachicola is a city in Franklin County, Florida, on US 98 about southwest of Tallahassee. The population was 2,334 at the 2000 census. The 2005 census estimated the city's population at 2,340...  Arsenal on January 6 and Fort Marion at Saint Augustine on January 7. On January 8, Federal troops at Fort Barrancas Fort Barrancas Fort Barrancas or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas is a historic United States military fort in the Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically on Naval Air Station Pensacola....  or Barrancas Barracks at Pensacola, Florida fire on about 20 men who approach the fort at night. The men flee. After the Federal troops move from Fort Barrancas to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, Florida Santa Rosa Island, Florida Santa Rosa Island[p] is a 40-mile barrier island located in the U.S. state of Florida, thirty miles east of the Alabama state border...  in Pensacola Harbor on January 10, Florida forces seize Barrancas Barracks, Fort McRae and the Pensacola Navy Yard on January 12. January 9: Mississippi secedes from the Union. January 9: South Carolina state troops at Charleston fire upon the merchant ship Star of the West and prevent it from landing reinforcements and relief supplies for Fort Sumter. After being struck twice, the ship heads back to New York. January 10: Florida secedes from the Union. January–February: Louisiana state troops seize the United States Arsenal and Barracks at Baton Rouge and Fort Jackson Fort Jackson Fort Jackson can refer to several places or things:*Fort Jackson , also called Fort Toulouse, a War of 1812 fort*Fort Jackson , a frontier trading post located near present-day Ione, Colorado...  and Fort St. Philip Fort St. Philip Fort St. Philip is a decommissioned masonry fort located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, about up river from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana...  near the mouth of the Mississippi River Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...  on January 10, the United States Marine Hospital south of New Orleans on January 11, Fort Pike Fort Pike Fort Pike is a decommissioned 19th century fort, named after Brigadier General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, which formerly guarded the Rigolets pass in Louisiana. It was near the community of Petite Coquille, Louisiana, and now within the city limits of New Orleans, and was long a tourist attraction... , near New Orleans, on January 14, Fort Macomb Fort Macomb Fort Macomb is a 19th century fortress in Louisiana, on the western shore of Chef Menteur Pass. The fort is adjacent to the Venetian Isles community, now legally within the city limits of New Orleans, Louisiana, although some miles distant from the city when first built and still a considerable... , near New Orleans, on January 28, the U. S. Revenue Cutter Robert McClelland at New Orleans on January 29, the United States Branch Mint and Customs House at New Orleans and the U.S. Revenue Schooner Washington on January 31 and the U.S. Paymaster's office at New Orleans on February 19. January 11: Alabama secedes. January 12: Mississippi representatives to the U.S. Congress resign. January 14, 18: Federal troops occupy Fort Taylor Fort Zachary Taylor The Fort Zachary Taylor State Historic Site, better known simply as Fort Taylor, , is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida....  at Key West, Florida Key West, Florida Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key... . This became an important base of supply, including coal, for blockaders and other vessels on January 14. A U.S. force also garrisons Fort Jefferson Fort Jefferson, Florida Fort Jefferson is an unincorporated community and ghost town in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located on Garden Key in the lower Florida Keys within the Dry Tortugas National Park, about west of the island of Key West....  on the Dry Tortugas, Florida on January 18. January 19: Georgia secedes from the Union. January 20: Mississippi troops seize Fort Massachusetts Fort Massachusetts (Mississippi) Fort Massachusetts is a fort on West Ship Island along the Mississippi Gulf Coast of the United States. It was built following the War of 1812, with brick walls during 1859-1866, and remained in use until 1903. Currently, it is a historical tourist attraction within the Gulf Islands National Seashore...  and other installations on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico. January 21: U.S. Senators Clement C. Clay, Jr. and Benjamin Fitzpatrick Benjamin Fitzpatrick Benjamin Fitzpatrick was an American politician, who served as the 11th Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama and as United States Senator from Alabama as a Democrat....  from Alabama, David L. Yulee and Stephen R. Mallory from Florida and Jefferson Davis Jefferson Davis Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...  from Mississippi withdraw from the U.S. Senate. January 26: Louisiana secedes from the Union. January 29: Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...  is admitted to the Union. The 34th state is a free state under the Wyandotte Constitution. February 1: The Texas convention approves secession and but provides for a popular vote on February 23. On February 11, the Texas convention approves formation of a Southern Confederacy. Seven Texas delegates to the Montgomery convention are elected. On February 23, Texans vote for secession by a 3 to 1 margin. February 4, 8, 9, 10: Secessionists meet in convention in Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...  to provide a government for the seceded States beginning on February 4. They act as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America. On February 8, the convention drafts a Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States of America Provisional Confederate States Constitution The Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States of America was an interim constitution adopted by the Confederacy and in force from February 8, 1861 to March 11, 1861. On March 11 it was superseded by the more permanent Constitution of the Confederate States of America... . The Confederate States of America Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...  (the "Confederacy") is not recognized by the United States government or any foreign government. Border states initially refuse to join Confederacy. On February 9, the convention chooses Jefferson Davis Jefferson Davis Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...  as Provisional President and Alexander Stephens as Provisional Vice President of the Confederate States. On February 10, Davis is surprised to learn of his election as Provisional President of the Confederacy but he accepts the position. February 4: U.S. Senators Judah Benjamin and John Slidell of Louisiana leave the U.S. Senate. February 4–27: Peace conference or peace convention Peace conference of 1861 The Peace Conference of 1861 was a meeting of more than 100 of the leading politicians of the antebellum United States held in Washington, D.C., in February 1861 that was meant to prevent what ultimately became the Civil War. The success of President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party in the...  called by Virginia meets in Washington. None of the seceded States are represented. Five Northern States also do not attend. On February 27, after much bickering, the convention sends recommendations for six Constitutional amendments along the lines of the Crittenden Compromise to Congress and adjourns. The U.S. Senate rejects the Peace Convention proposals on March 2. February 5: President Buchanan tells South Carolina commissioners that Fort Sumter will not be surrendered. February 7: The Choctaw Nation Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a semi-autonomous Native American homeland comprising twelve tribal districts. The Choctaw Nation maintains a special relationship with both the United States and Oklahoma governments...  aligns with the Southern States. February 8, 12: Arkansas troops seize the United States Arsenal at Little Rock and force the Federal garrison to withdraw on February 8. They seize the United States ordnance stores at Napoleon, Arkansas Napoleon, Arkansas Napoleon is a ghost town in Desha County, Arkansas, United States, near the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. Once the county seat of Desha County, Napoleon was flooded when the banks of the Mississippi River burst through and destroyed the once-thriving river port town.The town...  on February 12. February 9: Tennessee voters vote against calling a secession convention. February 9: U.S.S. Brooklyn arrives with reinforcements for Fort Pickens but does not land because of a local agreement of both sides not to alter the military situation. February 12: The Provisional Confederate Congress Provisional Confederate Congress The Provisional Confederate Congress, for a time the legislative branch of the Confederate States of America, was the body which drafted the Confederate Constitution, elected Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy, and designed the first Confederate flag...  chosen by the Montgomery convention approves a Peace Commission to the United States. The group assumes authority to deal with the issue of disputed forts. February 13: A Virginia convention meets at Richmond to consider whether Virginia should approve secession. February 16: Texas forces seize the United States Arsenal and Barracks at San Antonio. February 18: U.S. Brigadier General and Brevet Major General David E. Twiggs David E. Twiggs David Emanuel Twiggs was a United States soldier during the War of 1812 and Mexican-American War and a general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...  surrenders U. S. military posts in the Department of Texas to the state and effectively surrenders the one-fourth of the United States Army United States Army The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...  which is stationed in Texas. Twiggs tells authorities in Washington he acted under threat of force but they consider his actions to be treason. On March 1, U. S. Secretary of War Joseph Holt Joseph Holt General Joseph Holt was a leading member of the Buchanan administration and was Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, most notably during the Lincoln assassination trials.-Early life:...  orders Brigadier General Twiggs dismissed from the U. S. Army "for his treachery to the flag of his country" in his surrender of military posts and Federal property in Texas to state authorities. Twiggs soon joins the Confederate States Army Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the... . February 18: Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as President of the Confederacy. February 19–April 13: Colonel Carlos A. Waite at Camp Verde, Texas took over nominal command of U.S. posts in the state but the camps and forts would soon fall to state forces following General Twiggs's surrender on the previous day. Texas forces seize United States property at Brazos Santiago on February 19 and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Henry Dodge at Galveston, Texas Galveston, Texas Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...  on March 2. Federal garrisons abandon Camp Cooper, Texas on February 21, Camp Colorado, Texas on February 26, Ringgold Barracks and Camp Verde, Texas on March 7, Fort McIntosh, Texas on March 12, Camp Wood, Texas on March 15, Camp Hudson, Texas on March 17, Fort Clark Fort Clark, Texas Fort Clark was a frontier fort that later became the headquarters for the 2nd Cavalry Division.-Founding:The land that became Fort Clark was owned by Samuel A. Maverick at the time its potential for military development was recognized by William H.C. Whiting and William F. Smith in 1849... , Fort Inge Fort Inge Fort Inge was a frontier fort in Uvalde County, Texas established as Camp Leona on March 13, 1849. The fort served as a base for United States Army troops assigned to protect the southern overland mail route along the San Antonio-El Paso Road from Indian raids. The camp was renamed Fort Inge in...  and Fort Lancaster Fort Lancaster Fort Lancaster, one in a series of forts erected along the western Texas frontier, is located in the Pecos River Valley in Crockett County, Texas, United States. The fort was established by Captain Stephen Decatur Carpenter on August 20, 1855, to guard the military supplies, commercial shipments,... , Texas on March 19, Fort Brown Fort Brown Fort Brown was a military post of the United States Army in Texas during the later half of 19th century and the early part of the 20th century.-Early years:...  and Fort Duncan Fort Duncan Fort Duncan was a U.S. Army post, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas.Fort Duncan was established on March 27, 1849, when Captain Sidney Burbank occupied the site with companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry... , Texas on March 20, Fort Chadbourne Fort Chadbourne Fort Chadbourne was a fort established by the United States Army on October 28, 1852, in what is now Coke County, Texas, to protect the western frontier and the Butterfield Overland Mail route. It was manned by the 8th U.S. Infantry... , Texas on March 23, Fort Bliss Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the... , Texas on March 31, Fort Quitman Fort Quitman Fort Quitman was a United States Army installation on the Rio Grande in Texas, south of present-day Sierra Blanca, twenty miles southeast of McNary in southern Hudspeth County. The fort was named for Mississippi Governor John A... , Texas on April 5 and Fort Davis Fort Davis, Texas Fort Davis is a census-designated place in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,050 at the 2000 census and 1,041 according to a 2007 estimate. It is the county seat of Jeff Davis County... , Texas on April 13. February 27: President Davis appoints three commissioners to attempt negotiations between the Confederacy and the Federal government. February, March–October: A Missouri State Convention meets in Jefferson City to consider secession. Unionists led by Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Francis Preston Blair, Jr. was an American politician and Union Army general during the American Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President in 1868.-Early life and career:Blair was born in...  prevent secession. The Missouri legislature condemns secession on March 7. On March 9, a Missouri state convention is held in St. Louis and Unionists again thwart secessionists. On March 22, a Missouri convention again rejects secession contrary to the position of pro-Confederate Governor Claiborne Jackson. This will not end the dispute over secession in Missouri. Eventually, on October 31, 1861, under the protection of Confederate troops, secessionist members of the Missouri legislature meeting at Neosho, Missouri Neosho, Missouri Neosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....  adopt a resolution of secession. The Confederate Congress seats Missouri representatives but Missouri remains in the Union and at least twice as many Missouri men fight for the Union as fight for the Confederacy. February 28: North Carolina voters reject a call for a state convention to consider secession by 651 votes out of over 93,000. February 28: Colorado Territory is organized. March 1: The Confederate States take over the military at Charleston, South Carolina. Confederate President Davis appoints P. G. T. Beauregard P. G. T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was a Louisiana-born American military officer, politician, inventor, writer, civil servant, and the first prominent general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Today he is commonly referred to as P. G. T. Beauregard, but he rarely used...  as brigadier general and assigns him to command Confederate forces in the area. Beauregard assumes command of Confederate troops at Charleston on March 3. March 1: Major Anderson warns Washington authorities that little time remains to make a decision whether to evacuate or reinforce Fort Sumter. Local authorities had been allowing the fort to receive some provisions but Confederates were training and constructing works around Charleston harbor. March 2: The Provisional Confederate Congress admits Texas to the Confederacy. March 2: Congress approved by joint resolution Joint resolution In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his/her approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill....  a proposed Constitutional amendment that would prohibit a further Constitutional amendment to permit Congress to abolish or interfere with a domestic institution of a state, including slavery. It is too late to be of practical importance. March 2: Nevada and Dakota territories are organized. March 4: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as 16th President of the United States President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... . He states his intentions not to interfere with slavery where it exists and to preserve the Union. March 8, 13: The Confederate commissioners present their terms to avoid war and try to reach Secretary of State Seward through pro-Confederate U.S. Supreme Court Justice John A. Campbell John Archibald Campbell John Archibald Campbell was an American jurist.Campbell was born near Washington, Georgia, to Col. Duncan Greene Campbell... . President Lincoln will not meet with the Confederate commissioners because it would appear to recognize the seceded states were out of the union. March 11, 13, 16, 21, 23, 29, April 3, 22: The Confederate Congress adopts a permanent Constitution of the Confederate States Confederate States Constitution The Constitution of the Confederate States of America was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America, as adopted on March 11, 1861 and in effect through the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Confederacy also operated under a Provisional Constitution from February 8, 1861 to March...  on March 11. The then seceded states ratify this constitution on March 13 (Alabama), March 16 (Georgia), March 21 (Louisiana), March 23 (Texas), March 29 (Mississippi), April 3 (South Carolina) and April 22 (Florida). March 15: Lincoln asks his Cabinet members for their written advice on how to handle Fort Sumter situation. For various reasons, over the next two weeks, members advise the President not to attempt to relieve Fort Sumter. Seward gives lengthy advice on how to run the government and handle the crisis. On April 1, President Lincoln tactfully apprises Secretary Seward that he, not Seward, is President and rejects Seward's proposal that Lincoln grant him broad powers in foreign affairs and dealing with the Confederacy. Seward becomes a loyal supporter of Lincoln. March 16: President Davis names three commissioners to Britain Britain in the American Civil War The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was officially neutral throughout the American Civil War, 1861-65. The Confederate strategy for securing independence was largely based on British and French military intervention, which never happened; intervention would have meant war with the... ; they will not be officially received by the British government. March 16: Pro-Confederates declare Arizona part of the CSA. March 18: Governor Sam Houston Sam Houston Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...  of Texas refuses to take oath of allegiance to Confederacy and is deposed. Houston said: "You may, after the sacrifice of countless millions of treasures and hundreds of thousands of precious lives, as a bare possibility, win Southern independence...but I doubt it." March 18: Confederate Brigadier General Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...  forbids the garrison at Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida to receive more supplies. March 18: An Arkansas convention rejects secession by 4 votes but provides for a popular vote on the issue in August. March 20: Confederate forces at Mobile, Alabama seize the U.S.S. Isabella, which is carrying supplies for Fort Pickens. March 21: President Lincoln's representative, former naval commander Gustavus Vasa Fox, visits Charleston and Fort Sumter and talks both to Major Anderson and the Confederates. Fox thinks that ships still can relieve the fort. March 21: Speaking at Savannah, Georgia, Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens acknowledges that black slavery is the "cornerstone" Cornerstone Speech The Cornerstone Speech was delivered extemporaneously by Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens in Savannah, Georgia on March 21, 1861.The speech explained what the differences were between the constitution of the Confederate Republic and that of the United States, laid out the Confederate...  of the Confederate government. March 25: Federal Colonel Ward Hill Lamon Ward Hill Lamon Ward Hill Lamon was a personal friend and self-appointed bodyguard of the American President Abraham Lincoln. Lamon was famously absent the night Lincoln was assassinated, having been sent by Lincoln to Richmond, Virginia....  and Stephen A. Hurlbut Stephen A. Hurlbut Stephen Augustus Hurlbut , was a politician, diplomat, and commander of the U.S. Army of the Gulf in the American Civil War.-Biography:...  confer with Confederate Brigadier General Beauregard and South Carolina Governor Pickens. March 29: President Lincoln orders relief expeditions for Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens to be prepared to depart for the forts by April 6. On March 31, he orders the relief expedition to Fort Pickens to proceed. April 3: President Lincoln sends Allan B. Magruder Allan B. Magruder Allan Bowie Magruder was a United States Senator from Louisiana. Born in Kentucky in 1775, he attended the common schools, pursued an academic course, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1796 and practiced in Lexington, Kentucky. He moved to Louisiana to practice law...  to Richmond to attempt to arrange talks with Virginia unionists. April 3: A Confederate battery on Morris Island Morris Island Morris Island is an 840 acre uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War.-History:...  in Charleston harbor shoots at the American vessel Rhoda H. Shannon. April 4: A Virginia State Convention rejects a motion to pass an ordinance of session. April 4: President Lincoln advises Gustavus V. Fox that Fort Sumter will be relieved. He drafts a letter for Secretary of War Cameron to send to Major Anderson. April 5: Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles Gideon Welles Gideon Welles was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869. His buildup of the Navy to successfully execute blockades of Southern ports was a key component of Northern victory of the Civil War...  orders four ships to supply Fort Sumter, but one, USS Powhatan had already left for Fort Pickens under President Lincoln's previous order. April 6: President Lincoln informs South Carolina that an attempt will be made to resupply Fort Sumter but only with provisions. April 6: Since an earlier order was not carried out, orders were sent from Washington to reinforce Fort Pickens with Regular Army troops. April 7: Confederate Secretary of War Leroy Pope Walker LeRoy Pope Walker LeRoy Pope Walker was the first Confederate States Secretary of War.-Early life and career:Walker was born near Huntsville, Alabama in 1817, the son of John Williams Walker and Matilda Pope, and a grandson of LeRoy Pope. He was educated by private tutors, then attended universities in Alabama and...  tells Brigadier General Braxton Bragg to resist Union reinforcement of Fort Pickens. April 7: Confederate Brigadier General Beauregard tells Major Anderson that no further commerce or communication between Fort Sumter and the City of Charleston will be permitted. April 8: United States State Department clerk Robert S. Chew and United States War Department Captain Talbot give President Lincoln's message to Governor Pickens. April 8: The U. S. Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane leaves New York with supplies for Fort Sumter. April 8: Confederate Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposes using force against Fort Sumter but President Jefferson Davis says that the Confederate States had created a nation and he had a duty as its executive to use force if necessary. April 9: The steamer Baltic with Gustavus V. Fox as Lincoln's agent aboard sails from New York for relief of the Charleston garrison. April 10: USS Pawnee USS Pawnee (1859) The first USS Pawnee was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Pawnee Indian tribe....  leaves Norfolk for Fort Sumter. April 11: Confederates demand surrender of Fort Sumter. After discussing the matter with his officers, Anderson refuses but mentions the garrison will be starved out in a few days without relief. April 12, 13: Federal troops land on Santa Rosa Island, Florida and reinforce Fort Pickens Fort Pickens Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947... . Because of the fort's location, Confederates are unable to prevent the landings. On April 13, U.S. Navy Lieutenant John L. Worden, who had carried the orders to land the reinforcements at Fort Pickens to the U. S. Navy at Pensacola, is arrested by Confederate authorities near Montgomery, Alabama. April 12, 13, 14: Major Anderson tells Confederate representatives that he must evacuate the fort if not reinforced and resupplied by April 15. The Confederates know relief is coming and has almost arrived so they open fire on the fort at 4:30 a.m. on April 12. Confederates bombard Fort Sumter all day. Federal forces return fire starting at 7:30 a.m. but the garrison is too small to man all guns, which are not all in working order in any event. After a 34-hour bombardment, on April 13, Major Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to the Confederates since his supplies and ammunition are nearly exhausted and the fort is disintegrating under the Confederate cannon fire. Relief ships arrive but can not complete their mission due to the bombardment. Four thousand shells had been fired at the fort but only a few minor injuries were sustained by the garrison. On April 14, Fort Sumter is formally surrendered to the Confederates. One Federal soldier, Private Daniel Hough, is killed, another, Private Edward Galloway, is mortally wounded and four are hurt by an exploding cannon or exploding ammunition or gunpowder from a spark. The cannon was being fired during a salute to the U.S. flag at the surrender ceremony. The garrison is evacuated by the U.S. Navy vessels. April 15: President Lincoln calls on the states to provide seventy-five thousand militia soldiers to recapture Federal property and to suppress the rebellion.

Aftermath 1861: Further secessions and divisions

1861

Additional events related to secession and initiation of the war follow; most other events after April 15 are not listed. Several small skirmishes and battles as well as bloody riots in St. Louis and Baltimore took place in the early months of the war. The Battle of First Bull Run or Battle of First Manassas, the first major battle of the war, occurred on July 21, 1861. After that, it became clear that there could be no compromise between the union and the seceding states and that a long and bloody war could not be avoided. All hope of a settlement short of a catastrophic war was lost. April 15, 16: Kentucky and North Carolina immediately refuse to provide troops in response to Lincoln's call. Tension and anger increase in the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. North Carolina troops seize Fort Caswell and Fort Johnston Fort Johnston (North Carolina) Fort Johnston was a United States Army post in Brunswick County, North Carolina on Moore Street near Southport, North Carolina. It stands on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, four miles above its mouth.-Colonial:... . On April 16, Virginia refuses to provide militia to suppress the rebellion. On April 17, Missouri and Tennessee also refuse to meet the President's request for volunteers. April 17, 19, May 7, 23: On April 17, a Virginia Convention votes for secession and provides for a referendum on May 23, although the secession issue was already effectively decided by the convention and subsequent State actions. Strong pro-Union sentiment remains in the western counties of the state. On April 19, the Virginia General Assembly passes an ordinance of session, schedules a vote for May 23. On May 7, before the vote of the people, Virginia joins the Confederacy and Virginia troops become Confederate troops. They occupy Arlington Heights, Virginia and the Custis-Lee plantation home of Robert E. Lee. On May 23, Virginia citizens approve secession. In western Virginia, which would become West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...  in 1863, the vote was overwhelmingly against secession. April 18: Five companies of Pennsylvania volunteers arrive in Washington, becoming the first troops to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers. April 18–19: Federal troops are only partially successful in destroying the armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, which, along with valuable machinery, are seized by Confederate troops as the Federals flee. April 19, 27: President Lincoln declares a blockade Blockade A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...  of the Confederate States. Baltimore riots as Union troops, the 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, pass through on their way to Washington, D.C. On April 27, Lincoln adds Virginia and North Carolina ports to the blockade. April 20: Federal forces abandon and attempt to destroy the Gosport Navy Yard near Norfolk, Virginia as well as five vessels with no crews present but Confederates save much equipment, material, artillery and parts of four ships, including U.S.S. Merrimack CSS Virginia CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy, built during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the raised and cut down original lower hull and steam engines of the scuttled . Virginia was one of the... , as the Federals flee. April 25: The 7th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment arrives in Washington, D.C. April 29: The Maryland House of Delegates votes against secession 53 to 13. May 1, 6, 16: On May 1, the Tennessee legislature authorizes the governor to appoint commissioners to enter an alliance with the Confederacy. On May 6, the Tennessee legislature votes for secession and to submit the question to a vote on June 8. Before the vote is even taken, on May 16, Tennessee is admitted to the Confederacy. May 1, 17, 20: The North Carolina legislature votes in favor of a state convention to consider the issue of secession. North Carolina is admitted to the Confederacy on May 17, even before May 20 when the North Carolina convention votes for secession. The North Carolina delegates decide not to submit the question to a vote of the people. May 6, 18: The Arkansas legislature votes to secede. On May 18, Arkansas is admitted to the Confederacy. May 6: The Confederate Congress recognizes that a state of war exists between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America. May 6: Britain Britain in the American Civil War The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was officially neutral throughout the American Civil War, 1861-65. The Confederate strategy for securing independence was largely based on British and French military intervention, which never happened; intervention would have meant war with the...  recognizes the Confederate States as belligerents but not as a nation. On May 13, Queen Victoria announces Britain's position. May 16, 20, September 3, 11, November 18: On May 16, a Kentucky legislative committee recommends the state remain neutral. On May 20, Governor Beriah Magoffin Beriah Magoffin Beriah Magoffin was the 21st Governor of Kentucky, serving during the early part of the Civil War. Personally, Magoffin adhered to a states' rights position, including the right of a state to secede from the Union, and he sympathized with the Confederate cause...  of Kentucky declares Kentucky to be neutral and forbids both movement of troops of either side on its soil and hostile demonstrations by Kentucky citizens. Kentucky effectively sides with the Union in September. On September 11, the Kentucky legislature called for Confederate troops, which had entered the state on September 3, to leave but did not ask that Union forces leave. Rather they asked the Union forces to drive out the Confederates. On November 18, Confederate Army Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...  soldiers in Kentucky adopt an ordinance of secession and create a Confederate government for the divided state. Officially, Kentucky remains in the Union and a majority support and fight for the Union. June 8: Tennessee votes for secession by 69% YES, 31% NO; a majority in eastern Tennessee vote for Union.

See also

• American Civil War
  American Civil War
  The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
  
  
• Issues of the American Civil War
  Issues of the American Civil War
  Issues of the American Civil War include questions about the name of the war, the tariff, states' rights and the nature of Lincoln's war goals. The name of the war is a result of popular use, even though the term "United States Civil War" would be more precise. Nevertheless, the phrase "American...
  
  
• Origins of the American Civil War
  Origins of the American Civil War
  The main explanation for the origins of the American Civil War is slavery, especially Southern anger at the attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories...
  
  
• Slavery in the United States
• Timeline of the African-American Civil Rights Movement
• North & South – The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society