Suzanne Jurmain - Murder on the Baltimore Express: The Plot to Keep Abraham Lincoln from Becoming President

1619

The first African slaves are sold in Virginia.

16201700s

The number of slaves grows rapidly in the South and much more slowly in the North.

1693

The first American pamphlet condemning slavery is published by a Pennsylvania Quaker. This officially begins the argument over whether or not slavery should exist in America.

1776

The Declaration of Independence frees the American colonies from England and declares all men are created equal and have a right to liberty. Some feel this means that there is no place for slavery in America and hope the practice will soon disappear.

1777

Some northern states, starting with Vermont, begin to ban slavery.

1788

Both northern and southern states accept the Constitution as the basic law of the land and join to form the United States of America. Because southerners are unwilling to join the new nation if they have to give up slavery, the Constitution does not ban it. Instead, each state is allowed to decide whether its citizens can legally own slaves.

1790smid-1800s

Cotton becomes the Souths most important product. Since this crop is grown by slaves, slavery becomes essential to southern prosperity.

1830s

Activists in the northern states launch a campaign to end slavery. They say the practice is evil and demand that the U.S. government free all slaves and ban the practice immediately.

1837

A prominent southern senator declares that slavery is a positive good. His opinion is shared by most other white southerners.

18401860

Slavery completely disappears in the North. More northerners decide slavery is a sin, and the movement to free all U.S. slaves grows rapidly in northern states.

18001860

As Americans move west, northerners and southerners fightsometimes violentlyover whether slavery should be allowed in each new state

NOV. 1860

Abraham Lincoln, a man who wants to end slavery, is elected U.S. president.

DEC. 1860FEB. 1861

Fearing Lincoln and northerners might eventually ban slavery, seven southern slaveholding states cut their ties to the United States. They form their own nationthe Confederate States of Americawith a constitution that declares slavery will never be banned.

FEB. 18, 1861

Former U.S. senator Jefferson Davis is sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America.

MAR. 4, 1861

Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as president of the United States. Because of slavery, America is now divided into two opposing nations. War between the North and South is predicted.

APR. 1861

Confederate soldiers attack Fort Sumter. Lincoln calls for troops to defend the Union, and the Civil War begins.

JAN. 1863

Lincoln strikes the first major blow against slavery by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which frees all slaves in the Confederate states.

NOV. 1864

Abraham Lincoln is reelected.

18641865

Abraham Lincoln urges Congress to permanently outlaw slavery in America by adding the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

APR. 1864

The U.S. Senate approves the Thirteenth Amendment.

JAN. 1865

The U.S. House of Representatives approves the Thirteenth Amendment.

APR. 9, 1865

The Civil War ends as Union forces defeat the Confederacy. The nation is reunited.

APR. 14, 1865

Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by a pro-slavery southerner.

DEC. 1865

The Thirteenth Amendment becomes law, and slavery is officially banned across the United States.