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Wilmot Proviso
Durning the the war, Representative David Wilmot proposed a plan kown as the Wilmot Proviso. It stated that "neither slavery nor involuntary seritude shall ever exist in any part of the territory." -
Free-Soil Party
The Free-Soilers endoresed the Wimot Proviso and chose former president Martin Van Buren of New York as thier candidate. -
The California Question
After the election, James K.Polk announced that gold had been discovered in California. The resulting gold rush rapidly increased California's popultion, allowing it to be bypass the territorial stage and apply directly for admission to the Union. -
The Compromise of 1850
The same man who helped settle the Missouri crisis of 1819-20 and the nullifaction crsis of 1832-22 now stepped forward withanother plan of compromise. Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky addressed each issue of sectional disagreement. -
Fugitive Slave Act
One element of the Compromise of 1850 kept the slavery issue very much on Americans' minds. The Fugitive Slave Act made it a federal crime to assist runaway slaves and allowed them to be arrested even in areas where slavery was illegal. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852, the main character is a kindly old slave named Tom, who is taken from hos wife and sold "down the river' in Louisiana. There Tom becomes the slave of avicious cotton planter who, in a fit of rage, has Tom beaten to death. The novel sparked outrage in the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This was a plan that would divide the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase into two territories- Kansas and Nebraska. In each territory, popular sovereignty would dicide the question of slavery. -
Republican Party
The main issue had once again been brought into the national spotlight by the Kansas-Nabraska Act. The political unrest led some Whgs, Democrats, Free Soilers, and abolitionists to join together and form the Republican Party. -
Bleeding Kansas
By early 1856 Kansas had two governments and a hostile popuation that was divivded into two armed camps. Many of the oro-slaver setters had brought gunswiththem to the new territory. The free-soilers- that is, antislavery settlers- had meanwhile requested shipments of weapons from thier friends in the East. -
Lincoln Douglas debates
Douglas was well known for the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In an attempt to take advantage of his opponent's popularity, Lincon challenged Douglas to a siries of debates throughout the ststae. Thousands of people attended the seven Lincoln Douglas debates, each lasting about three hours. The debates would talk about the issue of slavery and what would happen in the futur of the West. -
John Brown's Raid
On the noght of October 16, 1859, John Brown's raid began as Barown and his men entered Haepers Ferry, Virginia, a town on the Potomac River about 50 miles northwest of Washington. After seizing the federal arsenal there, Brown sent several of his men into the countryside to urge slaves to come to Harpers Ferry. -
Constitutional Union Party
In early May some northerners and southerners many of them former Whigs formed a new political party. They called it the Constitutional Union Party, it's platform was simplee: it recognized "no political principle other than the Constitution of the country, the Union of the statesand eforecement of the laws.". -
Confederate States of America
By February 1, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had followed South Carolina's lead and seceded from the Union. This did not mean that everyone in these states supported seccession, however. Some piblic figures tried to slow or stop the march toward disunion and promptily suffered the consequences of opposing the public will.