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Wilmot Proviso
A bill that was going to outlaw slavery in any territory that the United States might acquire from the War with Mexico.
Caption: The Wilmot Proviso was one of the major events that lead to the Civil War. -
Compromise of 1850
By 1848, the nation's leaders began to debate how to deal with slasvery in the lands gained from th War with Mexico. The proposed addition of the new states threatened the balance of power in Congress between North and South.
Caption: The map is what it looked like for balance between North and South. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Under this law,accused fugitives could be held without an arrest warrant. They had no right to a jury trial. Instead, a federal commissioner ruled on each case.
Caption: Runaway slaves were usually captured unless they fled the country. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anger inspired her to write Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852. The novel presented the cruelty and immorality of slavery. It described the escape of a slave named Eliza and her baby across the Ohio River.
Caption: this book angered southerners because northerners were frustrated with them. -
Formation of Republican party
Some of the Southern Whigs joined the Democratic Party. Others looked for leaders who supported slavery and the Union.The Northern Whigs, however, joined with other rivals and formed the Republican Party.
Caption: The logo for the Republican Party is an Elephant. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
In 1854m Senator Douglas drafted a bill to organize the Nebraska Territory. This bill became known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. It proposed to divide the territory into two parts-Nebraska and Kansas.
Caption: This is a picture of Senator Douglas. -
Bleeding Kansas
During the election of March 1855, there were more proslavery thean antislavery settlers in the Kansas Territory. After five thousand residents of neighboring Missouri came and voted illegally, the Kansas legislature was filled with proslavery representatives.
Caption: This is a painting of killing the family that raised dogs to capture slaves. -
Caning of Charles Sumner
In May 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts spoke against the proslavery forces in Kansas. In his speech, Sumner insulted A.P.Butler, a senator from South Carolina. He was beaten unconscious with a cane.
Caption: this is a picture of Charles Sumner. -
Dred Scott Case
Scott had been an enslaved person in Missouri. However, he had lived for a time in free territories before being taken back to Missouri. After his owner's death, Dred Scott argued that he was a free man because he had lived in territories where slavery was illegal. Scott's wife and their twodaughters also sued in court for their freedom. Scott's case reached the Supreme court. Scott lost.
Caption: This is a picture of Dred Scott. -
Attack on Harpers Ferry
In 1859, John Brown, who had murdered proslavery Kansans three years before, added to the sectional tensions. Brown wanted to provoke a slave uprising. To do this, he planned to capture the weapons in th U.S arsenal a Harpers Ferry, VA. No slaves joined the fight and the marines attacked Brown at Harpers Ferry. Brown and six others were captured and killed.
Caption: this is a picture of John Brown. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 turned into two different races for the presidency-one in the North and one in the South. Lincoln and Douglas were the only candidates with much support in the North. Breckinridge and Bell competed for the Southern votes.
Caption: This is a picture of Lincoln's campaign flyer. -
Secession
Southerners bassed their arguments on states' rights, the idea that states have certain rights that the federal government cannot overrule. They argued that since the states had voluntarily joined that they could voluntarily leave.
Caption: Confederate states of America
