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John Brown and 4 of his sons rode into a small town and pulled 5 pro-slavery advocates. They then killed them. Many Northerners were shocked at this chain of events.
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A slave named Dred Scott tried to file a lawsuit for his freedom after his owner died. The court rules Dred Scott was property rather than a citizen and he lost the case. They also ruled congress could not ban slavery in any of the territories. This repealed the Missouri Compromise which meant slavery could spread into all territories.
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Douglass and Lincoln debated. Douglass believed slavery should spread by popular sovereignty while Lincoln believed slavery should not be allowed to spread in the territories.
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John Brown rode into Harpers Ferry with 5 blacks and 13 whites with the intention of raiding the arsenal and starting a slave revolt. However, no slaves rose to help and Johns group had been killed. John was then arrested, charged, and hung. Many Northerners believed he dies as a martyr.
