Final answer:
Important events leading to the American Civil War include failed compromises, the creation of the CSA, state secessions, the Baltimore Riots, Lincoln's call for troops, and the crucial attack on Fort Sumter, which marked the start of open warfare.
Step-by-step explanation:
Listing seven events that led to the American Civil War from least to most important is a challenging task due to the complexity of historical causes. However, based on their implications and outcomes, one could suggest the following order:
- Senator Crittenden's Compromise and the Corwin amendment—last-minute but unsuccessful attempts to prevent secession and war.
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act—raised tensions over the spread of slavery into new territories.
- The establishment of the Confederate States of America (CSA)—symbolized secession but didn't immediately trigger war.
- Secession of the first seven Deep South states—indicative of the deep divide but still without armed conflict.
- Baltimore Riots and Virginia's secession—escalated the tension and geographic divide between the Union and Confederacy.
- President Lincoln's call for 75,000 militiamen—Lincoln's response to the Confederate threat, solidifying the North's stance against secession.
- Confederate attack on Fort Sumter—the event that moved the secession crisis into open war.
The election of Abraham Lincoln can also be considered a catalyst for these events, as it heightened tensions between the proslavery South and the antislavery North, leading to the secession of Southern states. It is, however, the act of aggression at Fort Sumter that made the American Civil War inevitable.