Key Events Leading to the American Civil War

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Sectionalism

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Loyalty to regional interests (North/South), major cause of Civil War

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Missouri Compromise (1820)

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Missouri slave state, Maine free state, banned slavery north of 36°30'

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Compromise of 1850

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California free, stricter Fugitive Slave Law, popular sovereignty in Utah/NM

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Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

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Repealed Missouri Compromise, allowed popular sovereignty, led to Bleeding Kansas

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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

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Enslaved people not citizens, Congress can't ban slavery in territories

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John Brown's Raid (1859)

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Failed attempt to incite a slave rebellion at Harper's Ferry

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Election of 1860

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Lincoln wins; South views him as threat; leads to secession

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Secession

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Withdrawal of states from the Union, starting with South Carolina.