At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries open fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, launching more than 4,000 rounds over 34 hours at the Union garrison commanded by Major Robert Anderson. The fort, which Anderson’s forces had occupied since December 26, 1860, …
Confederate States of AmericaJefferson DavisRobert AndersonAbraham LincolnJames Buchananfort-sumtercivil-warconfederacymilitary-conflictwar-profiteering
South Carolina adopts an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860, becoming the first state to withdraw from the United States following Abraham Lincoln’s election. The state’s authorities immediately demand that the U.S. Army abandon federal facilities in Charleston Harbor, …
Jefferson DavisAlexander StephensSouth CarolinaConfederate States of AmericaJames Buchanansecessionconfederacyslaveryconstitutional-crisistreason+1 more
John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on October 16, 1859, seizing the facility with 21 followers in an attempt to spark a slave uprising by capturing weapons and distributing them to enslaved people in the region. The raid exposed how thoroughly the Slave Power had …
John BrownRobert E. LeeJames BuchananU.S. MarinesVirginia Militiaslave-powerinstitutional-capturepolitical-violencedemocratic-erosionfederal-military
Kansas voters rejected the fraudulent Lecompton Constitution by an overwhelming margin of 10,226 to 138 on January 4, 1858, in a referendum that exposed the pro-slavery document’s lack of popular support. The constitution had been drafted by a pro-slavery territorial legislature that consisted …
James BuchananStephen A. DouglasKansas votersLecompton Conventioninstitutional-captureslave-powerelectoral-fraudsystematic-corruptiondemocratic-erosion
A fraudulent referendum on the Lecompton Constitution occurs in Kansas Territory, with pro-slavery forces manipulating the process to attempt forcing slavery on Kansas despite the Free-State majority. Free-State settlers refuse to participate in the June 1857 election for constitutional convention …
James BuchananStephen A. DouglasPro-slavery delegatesBorder RuffiansFree-State settlerslecompton-constitutionelectoral-fraudslavery-expansionbleeding-kansasinstitutional-corruption+1 more
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivers the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruling that African Americans “are not and could not be citizens” of the United States and therefore have no standing to sue in federal court, and that Congress lacks authority to …
Roger B. TaneyJames BuchananJohn CatronRobert Cooper GrierU.S. Supreme Court+1 moredred-scottjudicial-corruptionslave-powersupreme-courtconstitutional-crisis+1 more