Historical Time Line

1787 Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Passed in July 1787 the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was passed by Congress to create Northwest territory as the first organized territory of the US. It also prevented slavery from existing in the new federal territories. 1793 Invention of the Cotton Gin With the invention of the cotton gin the South became a one crop economy, cotton. With this the South began relying on cotton and thus also relying on slavery. The North was purchasing the raw cotton and turning it into finished goods. This change in life meant evolvement of society to encompass all races and cultures. 1820 Missouri Compromise After 2 years of petitioning for statehood, Missouri was allowed into the Union as a slave state and Maine was allowed into the Union as a free state, thus maintaining the balance of power between free and slave states. It also stipulated that all the Louisiana Purchase territory north of southern Missouri boundary would be free and below would be slave. (www.civilwar.bluegrass.net, 1998) 1848 The Mexican War The end of the Mexican War posed a problem as to how the newly acquired territories would be admitted into the Union, free or slave. 1850 Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 made California a free state and allowed Utah and New Mexico to choose. This ability to choose was known as popular Sovereignty. The Fugitive Slave Act was also a part of this. Federal Officials were forced arrest runaway slaves or be fined for not doing so. The result was an increase in abolitionist efforts and activity in the Underground Railroad. (americanhistory.about.com, 2011) 1852 Uncle Tom s Cabin Released One of the leading events to the Civil War, the release of Harriet Beecher Stowe s book impacted the northern view of slavery immensely and helped further the abolitionist cause. 1856 Bleeding Kansas Proslavery and antislavery forces fought over Kansas s future after the Kansas-Nebraska act gave them to right to choose whether to be free or slave. The violence that erupted was a precursor to what could be expected during the Civil War. 1857 Dred Scott Decision After being taken into a free state by his owner Dred Scott went to court to prove that he should be free. He lost the case, the court ruled that slaves are property of the owner and therefore he was still a slave no matter what state they were living in. This further fueled the fire for abolitionist. 1859 Harper s Ferry Raid John Brown was a radical abolitionist involved in the violence in Kansas. With seventeen others, including five black members, he led a raid on Harper s Ferry, Virginia hoping to start a slave uprising using the weapons captured from the arsenal. He and the others were eventually captured or killed by troops led by Robert E. Lee. Brown was tried and hanged for treason. 1860 Abraham Lincoln elected President With the election of Lincoln to the presidency, seven states seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. The believed that Lincoln was anti-slavery and favored the Northern interest, rather than theirs.