The document summarizes the key events in the 1850s that led to the secession of southern states and the start of the Civil War, including the Compromise of 1850, the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, and the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 which prompted southern states to begin seceding from the Union.

1. The 1850s: Road to Secession By: Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

2. Problems of Sectional Balance in 1850 California statehood. Southern “fire-eaters” threatening secession. Underground RR & fugitive slave issues: Personal liberty laws Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842)

3. Compromise of 1850

4. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 – 1896) So this is the lady who started the Civil War. -- Abraham Lincoln

5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Sold 300,000 copies in the first year. 2 million in a decade!

6. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852

7. The “Know-Nothings” [The American Party] Nativists. Anti-Catholics. Anti-immigrants. 1849  Secret Order of the Star-Spangled Banner created in NYC.

8. 1852 Presidential Election √ Franklin Pierce Gen. Winfield Scott John Parker Hale Democrat Whig Free Soil

9. 1852 Election Results

10. Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854

11. “ Bleeding Kansas” Border “Ruffians” (pro-slavery Missourians)

12. “ The Crime Against Kansas” Sen. Charles Sumner (R-MA) Congr. Preston Brooks (D-SC)

13. John Brown: Madman, Hero or Martyr? Mural in the Kansas Capitol building by John Steuart Curry (20 c )

14. Birth of the Republican Party, 1854 Northern Whigs. Northern Democrats. Free-Soilers. Know-Nothings. Other miscellaneous opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

15. 1856 Presidential Election √ James Buchanan John C. Frémont Millard Fillmore Democrat Republican Whig

16. 1856 Election Results

17. Dred Scott v. Sanford , 1857

18. What caused the Panic of 1857?? What were its affects on the nation?

19. The Lincoln-Douglas (Illinois Senate) Debates, 1858 A House divided against itself, cannot stand.

20. Stephen Douglas & the Freeport Doctrine Popular Sovereignty?

21. John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry, 1859

22. 1860 Presidential Election √ Abraham Lincoln Republican John Bell Constitutional Union Stephen A. Douglas Northern Democrat John C. Breckinridge Southern Democrat

23. Republican Party Platform in 1860 Non-extension of slavery [for the Free-Soilers. Protective tariff [for the No. Industrialists]. No abridgment of rights for immigrants [a disappointment for the “Know-Nothings”]. Government aid to build a Pacific RR [for the Northwest]. Internal improvements [for the West] at federal expense. Free homesteads for the public domain [for farmers].

24. 1860 Election: 3 “Outs” & 1 ”Run!”

25. 1860 Election: A Nation Coming Apart?!

26. 1860 Election Results

27. Crittenden Compromise: A Last Ditch Appeal to Sanity Senator John J. Crittenden (Know-Nothing-KY)

28. Secession!: SC  Dec. 20, 1860

29. Fort Sumter: April 12, 1861