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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a piece of legislation proposed by Henry Clay that would help resolve the issue of slavery and how it would expand westward. Congress eventually decided to make the cutoff Missouri's southern border, with every state above it being free and every state below it being slave. This furthered sectional tensions by making the South believe that the expansion of slavery was being compromised. -
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Second Great Awakening
A movement in led by Baptist and Methodist preachers in the early 1800's. It was a revival in religious practices and it grew rapidly in the 1820's. It was meant to remedy the evils of society through religion. -
Gag Resolution
One of the many legislations passed in the 1830's and 40's that did not allow the House or the Senate to hear any petitions about slavery, essentially "gagging" the abolition movement. -
Election of 1844
The 15th presidential election that was between Henry Clay and James Polk, with James Polk winning. Many of the issues debated between the two candidates were regarding the expansion of slavery in the West as well as the annexation of Texas. This election brought those issues to the surface, and Americans were divided in their opinions. -
Annexation of Texas
Texas was entered into the Union following its Independence from The Republic of Mexico. The main issue with its annexation was whether or not it would be a slave state, and this cause strong sectional tensions. -
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Mexican-American War
A war between Mexico and America over the disputed territories by the Rio Grande. After the US won, Mexico gave a lot of their land to the US including Texas, whose annexation was very controversial. -
Compromise of 1850
This Compromise was a set of 5 bills that dealt with how slavery would be handled in the expanding west. It admitted Texas into the Union as a slave state, and California as a free state. Most importantly, it left the issue of slavery up to popular sovereignty in many western territories, essentially nullifying the Missouri Compromise, upsetting many southerners and increasing sectional tensions. -
Creation of the Republican Party
The Whigs were quickly becoming obsolete, so many anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats joined with the anti-slavery freesoiler party to create what is now known as the Republican Party. There was now an major party against slavery and the country was more divided than ever. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
An act passed by Congress that dealt with the controversy of slavery in the Kansas and Nebraska territories. It allowed the states to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to have slavery. This is known as popular sovereignty. This angered pro-slavery activists because it again went against the line drawn by the Missouri Compromise. -
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Bleeding Kansas
A series of violent political confrontations after the Kansas Nebraska Act. It was mostly between pro and anti slavery activists, with the most notable event being John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry: a failed slave revolt that resulted in stricter slave laws. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
A landmark supreme court case that did not allow former slave Dred Scott to be free after living in a free state. The court also decided that no african american had the right to claim U.S. citizenship for themselves. -
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Lincoln/Douglass Debates
A series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglass. Lincoln claimed Douglass wasn't passionate about the issue of slavery, and didn't care if it was "voted up or down". Lincoln; however, was very passionate about it and eventually won the debates. -
Election of 1860
The Election of 1860 was the breaking point for the sectional crisis. When Abraham Lincoln beat Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, the South was so upset that many states immediately succeeded from the Union.
