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The Compromise of 1850
California admitted as a free state
Stronger Fugitive Slave Law enacted
Slave Trade banned in D.C -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel influenced public opinion in the North -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Repealed the Missouri Compromise
Allowed popular sovereignty in new territories, leading to conflict -
Bleeding Kansas
Violent conflict erupted over slavery in the Kansas territory -
Caning of Charles Sumner
Abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner was violently attacked in the Senate after giving a speech criticizing slavery. -
Dred Scott v. Standford
Supreme Court ruled that enslaved people were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Series of debates between Lincoln and Douglas focusing on slavery's expansion.
Lincoln opposed its spread but Douglas supported popular sovereignty -
Abraham Lincoln's "House Divided" Speech
Lincoln declared "A house divided against itself cannot stand"
He warned that the U.S. could not survive permanently half slave and half free.
This speech defined his position against the expansion of slavery and set the tone for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Lincoln won without support from Southern states.
His election led directly to Southern secession and the start of the Civil War.