Notes

Since the Constitution was first written there had been arguments about how much power the states should have versus how much power the federal government should have. The southern states felt that the federal government was taking away their rights and powers.
As the United States continued to expand westward, each new state added to the country shifted the power between the North and the South. Southern states began to fear they would lose so much power that they would lose all their rights. Each new state became a battleground between the two sides for power.
As the United States continued to expand westward, each new state added to the country shifted the power between the North and the South. Southern states began to fear they would lose so much power that they would lose all their rights. Each new state became a battleground between the two sides for power.
The final straw for the South was election of Abraham Lincoln to President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was a member of the new anti-slavery Republican Party. He managed to get elected without even being on the ballot in ten of the southern states. The southern states felt that Lincoln was against slavery and also against the South.
When Lincoln was elected, many of the southern states decided they no longer wanted to be a part of the United States. They felt that they had every right to leave. Starting with South Carolina, eleven states would eventually leave the United States and form a new country called the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln said they did not have the right to leave the United States and sent in troops to stop the South from leaving. The Civil War had begun.
The major events in the civil war were the underground railroad, Harper's Ferry raid, the confederation secedes, the Union Blockade, The Submarines and the H.L. Hunley, Emancipation Proclamation, Robert E. Lee surrenders, and President Lincoln's assassination.
The underground railroad was a trail when Harriet Tubman would lead slaves to free states. Harriet Tubman was also a slave. She followed the Big Dipper. She took 19 trips back and forth.
In 1859, abolitionist John Brown tried to lead a slave uprising in Virginia. His efforts cost him his life, but his cause lived on when the slaves were set free six years later. John Brown tried to sneak into Harper