The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 effectively eased sectional tensions for the remainder of the decade.

In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court granted freedom to a slave named Dred Scott on the grounds that he’d lived in free territory.

In 1859, a radical abolitionist named John Brown attempted to take a federal arsenal in order to arm slaves near Harper’s Ferry, VA.

Because Abraham Lincoln was an abolitionist, all fifteen slave states seceded from the Union after he was elected president.

At the start of the Civil War, the North enjoyed advantages in manpower, industrial production, and transportation capability.

The Battle of Gettysburg was both the largest battle of the Civil War and its turning point.

The Emancipation Proclamation freed all 4.5 million slaves in the U.S.

President Lincoln intended to impose a lenient peace on the South after the war, but was followed by others who were more harsh.

After the Civil War, the government confiscated former plantations and distributed forty acres to each former slave family.

After the Civil War, the Constitution was amended to outlaw slavery and extend voting rights to African American men.

In 1877, the Republicans abandoned their incomplete Reconstruction plans in exchange for winning a disputed presidential election.