| Description | Event | Date |
|---|
| Senator Henry Clay submits this series of laws to the US Congress in order to avoid conflict over the role of slavery in Western Expansion. | |
| This state, the first carved from the Mexican cession of 1848, is admitted into the Union; it is the 31st state. | |
| This law, the second of its kind, forced Northern citizens to assist in the recapture of escaped slaves; it was one of the laws included in Answer #1. | |
| This newspaper, considered to be generally anti-slavery, is founded; it will go on to be the most celebrated newspaper in American history. | |
| Uncle Tom's Cabin is published; it was written by this woman, the daughter of a famed preacher and temperance leader. | |
| This abolitionist delivers a famous speech in which he uses the themes of the Fourth of July to indict slavery as un-American. | |
| Franklin Pierce is elected President of the United States, to date the only President from this state. | |
| This small land purchase is agreed upon with Mexico: it is the last major territorial acquisition in the contiguous United States. | |
| Stephen Douglas, a Senator from Illinois, creates an act regulating the status of slavery in these two territories, which would become the 34th and 37th states, respectively. | |
| This political party, formed in response to a perceived bias in favor of slave states in American politics, holds its first convention in Jackson, Michigan. | |
| This college, in Lewiston, ME, is founded by a group of abolitionists. | |
| Anti-slavery settlers hold a constitutional convention in this Kansas city, one of the pivotal events leading to large scale violence in that territory. | |
| The American Party, also called the Know-Nothings, nominate this former President as their candidate in the 1856 presidential election. | |
| | Description | Event | Date |
|---|
| After a speech against pro-slavery attacks on Free Soilers in Kansas Territory, this senator is beaten with a cane wielded by Senator Preston Brooks oin the floor of the Senate. | |
| This abolitionist leads a raid on pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Kansas, killing 5 in cold blood. | |
| James Buchanan defeats Answer #15 and this man, the nominee of the Party in answer #11, to become the 15th President of the United States. | |
| The Supreme Court rules against this slave in a decision that denies Blacks citizenship and refutes the idea that the federal government can declare any territory slave-free. | |
| A series of debates between Stephen Douglas and a young former Congressman for the office of Senator begins in this state. | |
| John Brown begins a raid on this town, which houses a Federal armory; his goal is to begin a massive slave uprising which will wipe away slavery. | |
| This man, most recently a lawyer after serving a term as a Congressman from Illinois, is nominated for President by the party in question #11. | |
| After the candidate in #22 is elected president, this southern state officially secedes from the United States, the first to do so. | |
| Five more states join the state in #23 and secede; together they form this new country. | |
| This man is elected President of Answer #24. | |
| Alexander Stephens, the new Vice President of the country in #24, gives this famous speech which declares that slavery is the basis of the new nation. | |
| This fort, in Charleston Harbor, is bombarded by rebel troops; the event marks the opening of the American Civil War. | |
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US Presidents
Original 13 Colonies
20th Century by Image
