Road to War

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

• Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe• She wanted to bring the plight of slave families

to public attention• One of the most influential novels ever written• It was banned by State government in the

South

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Kansas Nebraska Act

• Proposed by Stephen Douglas• Applied popular sovereignty to the territories

of Kansas and Nebraska.• People rushed to the territories so they could

vote

Stephen Douglas

Bleeding Kansas

• A series of three events that brought national attention to Kansas.

1. Sack of Lawrence

• A group of pro-slavery attacked Lawrence, Kansas which was an anti-slavery town.

2. Sumner-Brooks Episode

• Happened in Washington DC• Senator Charles Sumner delivered an angry

speech about the fighting in Kansas• In his speech he attacked South Carolina

senator• A different South Carolina representative

Preston Brooks beat Sumner with a cane

Sumner Brooks

3. Pottawatomie Creek Massacre

• John Brown and four of his sons attacked slavery families on the Creek.

• Killed 5 men• Escaped persecution

John Brown 1856

Dred Scott Decision

• Dred Scott was suing for his freedom because he and his master lived for a time in Illinois, which was a free territory.

• Roger Taney, chief justice of the Supreme Court, ruled that Scott was not a citizen and had no right to sue.

Dred Scott

Roger Taney

John Brown

• He wanted to incite a slave revolt in the South• He wanted to establish a state for free slaves

Harpers Ferry, Virginia

• Brown and 21 men attacked the federal arsenal on October 16, 1859

• He hoped to provide weapons for his slave revolt

• Robert E Lee was dispatched to retake the arsenal and capture Brown

John Brown’s Fort

Inside John Brown’s Fort

John Brown 1859

• Brown was convicted of murder and treason• Hanged on December 2, 1859