Harriet Breecher Stowe- Harriet grew up in Connecticut which was an anti-slavery state which impacted he outlook on slavery in the south, meaning that she was and abolitionist. At the age of 40 Harriet wrote the controversal book Uncle Tom's Cabin that was published in 1852. The book was a factor that helped start the war because in the book Harriet stated the horror an evil surrounded around slavery. This angered the south because the south did not agree with its accusations about slavery because the north didn't know much about the slave trade and Uncle Tom's Cabin showed the world what the real life of slave and what they had to go through.
Charles Sumner- Born in Boston in 1811 Charles grew up with the influence of non-slavery like Harriet B. Stowe. Sumner went to Harvard and Harvard Law and became an academic lawyer and became a skilled public speaker which allowed him to be in powerful positions. with his skills he bacame a leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts. Even though he worked to free the slaves he said that it would do them no good to free the slaves if they weren't treated equally after they have been freed, so he was also against segragation and wanted equality for all men white or black. He wanted to have more power and wanted to help fight the cause in the most ways that he could and in 1851 he became a Massachusetts State Senator.
John Brown- Born in 1800 John Brown was a very dedicated abolitionist who believed that the only way to overthrow slavery in the south was to use armed force and violence. With these views Brown made his first impression during the conflict Bleeding Kansas where he led forces in two battles between abolitionist and people for pro-slavery. His most important cause came in 1859 when he led 21 men into Harpers Ferry and tried to gain control of the town and hoped that slaves would help to join his cause, but they did not and Brown heavily out-gunned was captured and later tried for treason and hung.
Stephen Douglas- Growing up in Vermont during the early 1800's Stephen Douglas studied law in Illinois and helped the debate on slavery by thinking that it should be up to the public to decide what role slavery should have in their state. Douglas ran the Illinois state senator in 1847 which resulted in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates which was 7 debates that was about the topic of slavery. He also helped contribute to the Compromise of 1850 which was a debate between the North and South on how to divide the land from the Mexican-American War.
Abraham Lincoln- Born to a poor family from Kentucky in 1809 Lincoln played on of the most important parts in the entire civil war. As a boy Abe became self educated in law and became a lawyer, which seems to play an important part in polotics if you look back on other people like Charles Sumner and Lincoln's competitor Stephen Douglas. His most important accomplishment came when he won ythe presidential election became our 16th president. Lincoln was in office for 4 years until he was assasinated by John Wilkes Booth. During his presidency Lincoln helped in defeating the south which abolished states that he had control over. He also helped modernize the U.S. economy by helping set up products that could be built in large numbers by factories.
Jefferson Davis- Being born in Kentucky but growing up in Mississippi and Louisiana Davis was surrounded by slavery and plantation life. He was a very dedicated military leader after graduating from West Point he went on the fight in the Mexican-American War as a colonel. He also beame the Sentator of Mississippi in 1857 after the Civil War. During the Civil War Davis was the President of the Cnfederate states which many people followed and agreed with but others did not and said that Davis was impacient with those who he did not agree with which may have been a reason for him being so against the North, it was just that he did not agree with them and thought they had nothing good to say to him.
Ulysses S. Grant- Born in 1822 in the Northern State of Ohio Ulysses S. Grant, like Jefferson Davis, graduated from West Point and fought in the Mexican-American War. Because of his sucess in the Mexican -American War Abe Lincoln appointed him as the Commanding General of the Union during the Civil War. He helped to bring down the Confederate states and later became President of the United States and helped to protect African-American citizenship and to eliminate the Ku Klux Klan which was a white supremisses that still followed their Confederate beliefs on the seperation of whites and blacks.
Robert E. Lee- Born in Virginia in 1807 Robert E. Lee like a couple other of the men on this page went to a Military school where he learned many sucessful fighting strategies and was a top graduate of his class. He proved his skills during the Mexican American war where he was promoted to a general after the Battle of Cerro Gordo. During the Civil War Lee was very undecided after Lincoln Offered him a high ranking position for the Union Army, yet he said that he would never fight against the Union he ended up fighting for the Confederate States because he wanted to protect his home state of Virginia that was going to seced from the Union.
William Tecumseh Sherman- Sherman was born in the Union State of Ohio in 1820 and ended up fighting for the Union during the Civil War. Sherman was first commisioned as a Colonel for a volenteer group during the start of the war. After being injured The Battle of Bull Run Sherman was promoted by Abraham Lincoln to a Brigadier General over the volenteering troops. After the war he was recognized for his military tactics and stratagies that him and his displayed during the war. Unlike other Northern fighters that were fighting to free slaves and bring equallity between the two races Sherman was fighting more to unite the north and south since he didn't consider himself and abolitionist while fighting.