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Period: to
causes of Civil War
Antebellum Era -
Missouri Compromise
legislation passed by Congress in 1820 by which Maine entered the Union as a free state, Missouri entered the Union as a slave state, and slavery was prohibited north of the southern border which is the same as north of 36°20' latitude. -
Nullification
Some southerners believed so strongly in states' rights that they argued states have the power of nullification - the right to determine if a law passed by Congress is constitutional or not. (If a state believs that a federal law violates the U.S. Constitution, then it can declare such law "null and void" within that state. -
Compromise of 1850
legislation passed by Congress by which California entered the Union as a free state, slave trading was ended in the District of Columbia, Texas gave up its claims to New Mexico in exchange for money, residents of the territories of New Mexico and Utah would be able to determine whether they wanted slavery, and a stronger Fugitive Slave Act was enacted. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
legislation that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and that contained a clause on popular sovereignty that negated the Compromise of 1850. (most people in the new territories belonge to one of two groups: proslavery or free soil) -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott, a slave from Missouri, was taken to the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin then back to Missouri where he filed a lawsuit cliaming he was free since he had lied in a free state but when the Supreme Court ruled on the case, the justices said Scott could not sure because he was a slave and slaves were not citizens. (The court also said Congress had no right to stop slavery in territories. The Dred Scott decision further divided the North and South and pushed them closer to war.) -
Election of 1860
The supporters of Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois wanted to campaign on the issue of popular sovereignty while southern Democrats did not agree and believed slavery should be allowed in all the territories and then thetwo groups split over the issue. (At the same time, the Republicans met in Chicago, where they nominated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.The Republican party and its presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln, appeard to be against everything southerners wanted but Lincoln was elected)
