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Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana Purchase is the purchase by the United States from France of the huge Louisiana Territory in 1803. Thomas Jefferson ordered the purchase negotiations, fearing that the French, then led by Napoleon, wanted to establish an empire in North America. This doubled the size of the United States. This increased tensions between the United States because there was more territory to decide whether or not slavery should exist or not. It raised debates on whether states should be free or slave. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri compromise was where Maine joined as a free state and Missouri joined as a slave state. Congress also made a line across the southern border of Missouri saying except for the state of Missouri, all states north of that line must be free states or states without slavery. This event increased tensions between the North and the South, as time went on, more states were added to the Union, causing tensions as the North and South disagreed on whether some states were free or slave states. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Nat Turner's rebellion was a 48 hour slave rebellion in which a group of slaves unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow and kill planter families. The rebellion killed 55 whites. Nat Turner was a black American slave who believed that he was destined from birth to make a difference and decided to start this rebellion because of this. This increased tensions between the north and the south as it made harsher slave laws in the south and really enforced the Fugitive Slave Act in the north. -
Mexican American War
It was a war with Mexico which began in 1846 when the U.S. annexed Texas and Mexico challenged the Border. Battles were fought in Texas, and Mexico was invaded from the Atlantic Ocean by General Winfield Scott. Scott attacked Mexico City and Chapultepec. The war ended with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. This increased tensions between the north and south as new territory was added to the states, raising the debate for slavery in these new territories. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was enacted by Congress in 1793 and 1850, these laws provided for the return of escaped slaves to their owners. The North was lax about enforcing the 1793 law, which irritated the South to no end. The 1850 law was tougher and was aimed at eliminating the underground railroad. This increased tensions between the north and the south as the north opposed slavery and didn't like the fact that they had to return slaves back to their masters. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was an event that stalled the Civil War by instating laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act, banning slave trade in DC, admitting California as a free state, splitting up the Texas territory, and instating popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession. These acts were meant to solve the dispute over slavery in the territories. This event increased tensions in the north and south as the new fugitive slave act forced northerners to turn in escaped slaves and made harsh slave laws. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It showed northerners and the world the horrors of slavery while southerners attack it as an exaggeration, contributed to the start of the Civil War. This increased tensions between the north and the south as the northerners realized how cruel and horrible slavery was to the southerners. The southerners then didn't agree on this as they thought it was fake. All of this had increased the tensions between the north and south. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
"Bleeding Kansas" is the mini civil-war between pro- and anti slavery people; in the end antislavery settlers would win the population race and vote Kansas as a free state in 1861. It happened in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise's use of latitude as the boundary between slave and free territory. It increased tensions between the north and the south as this crisis really pushed the North and South apart and had a great deal to do with causing the Civil War. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Fugitive-Slave Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory. This increased tensions between the north and south as it meant that the number of slave states and free states would be uneven, making the whole country favor one or the other. -
Brooks attacks Sumner
Charles Sumner made a speech about popular sovereignty. Brooks didn't agree with this so Brooks went to Sumner's office and beat him on the head with a cane until it broke. Sumner fell bleeding and unconscious. Sumner had serious head and nerve injuries became a political issue. This increased tensions between the north and south as the north didn't like the fact that a southern politician had beaten up a northern politician. They became more hostile to each other after this. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
It was a series of seven debates. The two argued the important issues of the day like popular sovereignty, the Lecompton Constitution and the Dred Scott decision. Douglas won these debates, but Lincoln's position in these debates helped him beat Douglas in the 1860 presidential election. This increased tensions between the north and south as it further separated the north politicians from the south politicians, further severing the two. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
In 1859, a small group of men attacked the small town of Harper's Ferry in Virginia. They were intent on seizing weapons to give to slaves to start a rebellion.10 of the men were killed and the leader, John Brown, was captured and tried for treason. He was sentenced to death and was hung. This increased tensions as the north and south had different view on the raid. The North viewed him as a martyr and rang the bells for him. The South viewed him as a terrorist and was outraged with the North. -
Election of 1860
The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln because he had fewer enemies than William Seward. Their platform had appeal for non-extension of slavery, a protective tariff, no abridgment of rights, a Pacific railroad, and free homesteads from the public domain. Lincoln won, as a sectional president and minority president. This election increased tensions between the north and south as the north had won the election, not the south, which meant less slavery.
