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Wilmot Proviso
This bill aimed to outlaw slavery in tettitories taken from Mexico. The bill passed in the House of Representatives but was defeated in the Senate thus causing a divison in Congress. Although, not a success it led to the formation of the Free Soil Party. -
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The Nation Breaking Apart (1846-1861)
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Compromise of 1850
Some people celebrated the compromise, believing that it had saved the Union. But the compromise did not bring peace. By 1850, the compromise became law. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
As Douglas hoped, Southerners applauded the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and supported the bill. Even though the bill angered opponents of slavery it passed. It became known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
This event was about proslavery and people and antislavery people. At the time of the election in March 1855, there were many proslavery settlers. Five thousand Missourians came and voted in the election illegally as if they were part of proslavery. -
Caning of Sumner
On May 22, 1856 in the United States Congress, representatives Preston Brooks attacked Charles Sumner with his walking cane. The beating nearly killed Sumner. It drew a sharply polarized response from the American public. -
Dread Schott V. Sandford
The split in the country was made worse by the Supreme Court decision in the case of Dread Scott. Scott had been a slave in Misourri. After his owner's death, Scott sued for his freedom, arguing he was a free man. -
Attack on Harpers Ferry
In 1859, John Brown, who had murdered proslavery kansas three years before, added to the sectional tensions. Brown wanted to inspire slaves to fight for thier freedom. To do this, he planned to capture the weapons in the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virgina. -
Election of 1860
The election of 1860 turned into two different races for 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 completed for Southern votes.