Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War facts for kids

The Battle of Gettysburg had the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War

The American Civil War was a huge conflict that divided the United States from 1861 to 1865. Many things led up to this war, some going all the way back to when the country was first formed. The U.S. Constitution didn't say much about slavery, leaving it mostly up to each state to decide.

Over time, the North and South grew very differently. Slavery slowly disappeared in the North but became a major part of life and the economy in the South. As new lands were added to the country, the question of whether these new areas would allow slavery caused big arguments between the North and South. This disagreement became a serious problem and eventually led several Southern states to leave the Union, which started the Civil War.

The Road to the Civil War

This timeline shows important events that led to the American Civil War.

Early Years: Slavery Begins

• 1619: The first Africans arrived in the Virginia Colony. They were bought by colonists as indentured servants, meaning they worked for a set time to pay off a debt.
• 1641: Slavery became legal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• 1660: Virginia also made slavery legal.
• 1663: The Maryland Colony changed its laws. Before, English law said slaves could become free if they became Christians. Maryland changed this to make slavery last for life, even if a person became Christian.
• 1667: Virginia followed Maryland. It changed its laws to make slavery last for life and stopped slaves from gaining freedom by becoming Christian.
• 1671: About 2,000 of the 40,000 people in colonial Virginia were enslaved. White indentured servants, who worked for five years, were more common and did a lot of the hard work.
• 1688: In February, Quakers in Pennsylvania wrote the first protest against slavery in the colonies. They argued that slavery, as it was practiced, was not Christian.

Growing Tensions: 1700s

• 1712: A slave uprising in New York caused a lot of damage. The rebels were severely punished or executed.
• 1719: Farmers in Virginia who didn't own slaves worried that slave labor hurt their ability to make a living. They asked the Virginia General Assembly to ban slavery or stop importing slaves. The assembly instead raised the tax on imported slaves.
• 1739: In South Carolina, the Stono Rebellion was the largest slave uprising in the British colonies. Many people, both white and black, were killed.
• 1741: Another slave uprising happened in New York City, causing more damage. Slaves involved were severely punished or executed.
• 1774: Quakers, led by James Pemberton and others like Benjamin Rush, started the first anti-slavery group in the colonies. It was called the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery.
• 1787: The U.S. Constitution was written. It included rules like counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for population counts. It also said the slave trade would end in 1808 and that runaway slaves had to be returned to their owners. The Northwest Ordinance was also passed, which banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.

Big Changes in the 1800s

• 1803: Ohio became the 17th state and joined as a free state, meaning slavery was not allowed there.
• 1804: New Jersey passed a law to slowly end slavery. Female slaves born after July 4, 1804, would be free at age 21, and males at age 25. However, some people found ways around this law to keep slave children working.
• 1807: Congress passed a law banning the import of new slaves into the United States. This law took effect on January 1, 1808.
• 1812: Louisiana became the 18th state and joined as a slave state.
• 1816: Ohio became the 19th state and joined as a free state.
• 1817: Mississippi became the 20th state and joined as a slave state.
• 1818: Illinois became the 21st state and joined as a free state.
• 1819: Alabama became the 22nd state and joined as a slave state.
• 1820: The Missouri Compromise was passed. This agreement tried to balance power between slave states and free states in Congress. It allowed Missouri to join as a slave state and Maine to join as a free state. It also banned slavery in new territories north of a certain line (36 degrees 30' north), except for Missouri itself.
• 1827: Slavery was completely ended in New York.
• 1834: Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire.
• 1836: The House of Representatives passed the first of several "gag rules." These rules automatically stopped any petitions or requests about slavery from being discussed.
• 1836: In June, Arkansas became the 25th state. Following the Missouri Compromise, it joined as a slave state.
• 1837: In January, Michigan became the 26th state and joined as a free state.
• 1844: The House of Representatives finally got rid of the "gag rules" about slavery issues on December 3.
• 1845: Frederick Douglass published his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, about his life as an enslaved person. In March, Florida became the 27th state and joined as a slave state. In December, Texas also joined as a slave state, becoming the 28th state.
• 1846: In December, Iowa became the 29th state and joined as a free state.
• 1848: Wisconsin became the 30th state and joined as a free state.
• 1849: Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in Maryland. She is famous for returning many times to help over 300 other enslaved people escape to freedom.

Final Steps to War

• 1850: The Compromise of 1850 tried to prevent a war between the North and South, but it didn't solve the main problems. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of this compromise. It forced people who didn't own slaves to help catch and return runaway slaves, which made many Northerners very angry.
• 1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published. It was one of the best-selling books of the 1800s in America. In the North, it showed many people the terrible realities of slavery. In the South, it was seen as unfair and untrue.
• 1854: The Kansas–Nebraska Act was passed. This law canceled the Missouri Compromise of 1820. It created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed the people living there to vote on whether slavery would be legal (this idea was called "popular sovereignty").
• 1854-1860: "Bleeding Kansas" was a direct result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. People who supported slavery and people who were against it rushed into Kansas to try to influence the vote. This led to a violent conflict, almost a small war, between these groups.
• 1857: The Supreme Court of the United States made a big decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. They ruled that African Americans, whether free or enslaved, were not citizens of the United States. This meant they couldn't sue in federal court. This ruling was a major setback for the anti-slavery movement and angered many in the North because it seemed to allow slavery everywhere.
• 1859: On October 16, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry took place. John Brown, an abolitionist, tried to start a slave rebellion by taking over a federal arsenal. He was captured two days later by U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee.
• 1860:
  • November 6: Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States.
  • November 10: Both U.S. Senators from South Carolina resigned from the Senate.
  • December 20: South Carolina declared that it was leaving the Union.
• 1861: On April 12, 1861, Confederate soldiers fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Union soldiers there, led by Major Robert Anderson, surrendered the fort 34 hours later. This event officially started the American Civil War.