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The Missouri Compromise established the boundaries in the United States in America regarding slavery. The compromise created the 36’ 30’ line, or the Southern border of Missouri, and declared that slavery was illegal in all land above that line. This compromise also split Massachuestts into two states, adding Maine. This is important because it kept the balance of pro slavery and anti slavery states. This caused massive tension between the North and South, and also separated them into two sides.
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Nat Turner was a slave who started a rebellion of the enslaved. This led to a mass killing of them, and harsher restrictions on enslaved privileges. After this rebellion, new laws were passed prohibiting the education, movement, and assembly of enslaved people. During this rebellion, Turner was able to kill the family that he was enslaved under, as well as 55 other white people. This rebellion was important because it deteriorated the relationships between slave owners and free soilers.
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Martin Van Buren (Democrat) won the election of 1836, against William Henry Harrison (Whig), and Hugh L. White (Whig). At the time Nat Turner's rebellion was still on people's minds, and they wanted to know what was going to be done about the slavery problem.
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William Henry Harrison (Whig) won the election of 1840, against Martin Van Buren (Democrat) This election saw a complete party power shift in the office, meaning a completely different view on the slavery problem. The US was also in an economic depression, called the Panic of 1837, which likely led to Harrison being elected. However, Harrison died after just a month in office, and John Tyler (Whig) took over.
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Before its annexation in 1845, Texas was kind of a part of Mexico, but had lived as its own country for nine years. The annexation of Texas largely led to the Mexican-American War, which lasted from 1846-1848. This war was mostly about Mexico's true northern border, the Nueces river or the Rio Grande. The Mexican-American war was largely supported in the South, but opposed in the North, which further causes this divide of America.
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Zachary Taylor (Whig) won the election of 1848, against Lewis Cass (Democratic) and Martin Van Buren who was now a free soil party member. The largest concern in this election was the massive land acquired from the annexation of Texas. There was much debate over how the Missouri Compromise Line would work, because that was so much land for slave states. But Taylor died in office, and Millard Fillmore (Know Nothing) became president.
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The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt to solve some of the issues regarding slavery and prevent dissolution of the Union. This issue arose when California requested to be a part of the Union which would throw off the balance of slave and free states. Henry Clay came up with a plan that attempted to satisfy all parties. The idea was to have popular sovereignty decide whether it was a slave or free state, but then people demanded the same for the Kansas territory, leading to Bleeding Kansas.
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Franklin Pierce (Democrat) won the election of 1852 against Winfield Scott (Whig). The Compromise of 1850 was still being judged about it’s effectiveness at the time, and the tension between the North and South were the highest it had ever been.
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher, who was a former slave and very influential figure in the slave war. This book was so popular that Stowe met Abraham Lincoln, and she was called “the little lady who made this big war” The book itself is about a slave named Tom, and vividly describes the treatment and experience of being enslaved. This book changed the public view pf slavery, and had many people questioning the morality of it.
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Bleeding Kansas was the fighting between the pro and anti abolitionists that lived in Kansas. When the Kansas territory was emitted into America, it was given the power to decide whether or not it was a slave free state. Because of this both pro and anti slavery settlers flooded to Kansas, hoping to influence the decision. This was significant due to the clear fighting between the pro and anti slavery settlers, trying to get the Kansas territory on their side.
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Fredrick Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska act in hope of creating a transcontinental railroad built along a northern route.. In order for this bill to be passed, Douglass knew he needed to get support from pro slavery states, so he added an amendment into the bill that removed the Missouri compromise and created the Kansas and Nebraska territories. He proposed that these states should decide whether or not they should allow slavery through popular sovereignty which led to Bleeding Kansas
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James Buchanan (Democrat) won the election of 1856 against John Fremont (Republican) and Millard Filmore (Know Nothing). This election was very important because of the Kansas-Nebraska act, which added two new states to the Union. Kansas immediately became very contested and violent, pro and anti abolitionists were trying to win it over.
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After the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed, Kansas became a center of violence and tension. At its peak, Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist, visited to talk about the issue. He attacked Andrew Butler over his control of the state, even though he wasn't there. Because of this Butlers cousin, Preston Brooks, took it upon himself to defend him and beat Sumner viciously with a cane. This was important because it was a direct attack on Congress, who sent Sumner to hopefully mellow out the state.
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Dred Scott vs Sandford was a Supreme Court case in 1857 about whether or not slave Dred Scott was free or not. This case questioned the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise, and decided whether or not African Americans could be free citizens in America. It was decided that African Americans cannot be citizens of the US, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. This decision clearly showed the government's view on slavery, undoing one of the first acts that limited it.
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The Lecompton Constitution was the second of four attempts to admit Kansas into the US as a slave state. It contained clauses that protected slavery and had a bill of rights excluding free blacks. It was originally drafted in September of 1857, and was voted on in 1858, where it was rejected. This was important because it was one most notable attempt to admit Kansas into the union as a slave state.
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These were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, talking about slavery expansion. Since these debaters took opposite sides of the biggest issue in America, these debates had a much larger impact than anticipated. Douglas framed Lincoln as a radical abolitionist who was going to destroy the Union. Lincoln brought up what Douglass had caused in Kansas. These debates aligned perfectly with the election of 1860 where Douglas and Lincoln would run against each other.
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The Fugitive Slave Act was a bill that was a part of the Compromise of 1850. This bill forced citizens to help capture escaped slaves, and escort these slaves back to their owner. The bill also forced the federal government to find, return and try escaped slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act caused abolitionists to take further acts in assisting runaways and other states began to try and nullify the law.
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John Brown’s raid was an attempt to start a massive slave uprising in Maryland. Brown gathered an army of 22 men, including three of his sons and took over Harpers Ferry. This only lasted for one day, before U.S. marines came and quickly overwhelmed Brown's small force. Brown was tried for treason and murder, and was sentenced to an execution. The raid on Harpers Ferry sparked uproar across America, and eliminated any possibility of peace in America without violence.
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Abraham Lincoln (Republican) won the election of 1860 Stephan Douglass (Democrat) and John Breckenridge (Democrat). This was possibly one of the most important elections that had ever taken place at the time. The Southern states had threatened to secede from the Union if Lincoln won, and when he did, the Lower Southern state immediately left. A month after Lincoln was inaugurated, the Civil War started, and the Upper South states also seceded.
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The Southern states had threatened secede from the Union many times before 1860, but it was used as a threat, and was never really done. This was until a convention was held in South Carolina, in 1860. Here seven states officially seceded from the Union, forming their own country, called the Confederate States of America. This was huge because it was the first instance of states seceding from America, and it was almost guaranteed that the Upper South would secede soon after.
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About a month after Lincoln was inaugurated, the Confederacy opened fire on Fort Sumter, and the Civil War began. This forced the Upper Southern states to quickly decide what side they were on. They had the choice between seceding from the Union and joining the Confederates, or staying and fighting against them. They chose to secede, which made them the division between the North and South.
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After Abraham Lincoln was elected president, seven states left the Union. The southern states were worried about having a republican president, so they left to form the Confederate States of America. This inauguration caused more tension between the Southern and Northern states, as Lincoln declared he still intended to enforce federal laws on the seceded states.
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The attack on Fort Sumter was the first battle of the Civil War. Although Fort Sumter was seen as useless in this war to the North, it had great value to the South, as a symbol of the Union. The Confederates opened fire on the fort on APril 12th, and the next afternoon, the Union surrendered. This battle not only served as the start of the American CIvil War, but also was a hint at what the war was to become.
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