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Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a temporary solution at best delaying the inevitable, Civil War. It also allowed the United States to expand its territory by accepting California as a state. -
Fugitive Slave Law
The Fugitive Slave Law made slavery a national institution. Even though the northern states could abolish slavery, they still had to enforce the slave laws of the southern states -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin publication
Uncle Tom's Cabin gave readers a glimpse of what it was like to be a slave in the United States. The book freely debated the causes of slavery, the Fugitive Slave Law, the future of freed people, what an individual could do, and racism. -
Birth of Republican Party
Founded by anti-slavery activists after f the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed. They worked to abolish slavery, which later occured. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
This act had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory.The result was that pro- and anti-slavery activists flooded Kansas with the goal of voting slavery up or down, leading to Bleeding Kansas. -
Brooks attacks Sumner in Senate
Brooks was a fervent advocate of slavery. He attacked an abolitionist, with a cane on the floor of the United States Senate. This action was applauded by many Southerners, and abhorred in the North. He immediately resigned his seat following this. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
This case declared that slaves were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in Federal courts. In addition, this decision declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and that Congress did not have the authority to prohibit slavery in the territories -
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
Although the raid was a failure it increased sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown's raid helped make any further compromise between North and South nearly impossible and thus became an important precursor of the Civil War. -
Election of 1860
This election was especially important because in many people's eyes it was what was going to decide whether slavery was abolished or not. Lincoln won the election and slavery was eventually abolished. -
Shots fired at Fort Sumter, SC
This is when the shots that started the American Civil War were fired. It led to a 4 year long war which eventually led to the ablolition of slavery.
