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The Missouri Compromise was made when the US expanded into the western Louisiana Territory. They did not know whether the new states should be slave or free, so Missouri was added as a slave state and Maine was added as a free state. They also drew a line on the 36º 30' parallel to say all states below would be slave and all states above would be free. This compromise started immense debates over which states should be free and which should be slave, which would eventually lead to the Civil War.
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The Compromise of 1850 added California as a free state, and created the Fugitive Slave Act to satisfy slave owners. The Fugitive Slave Act allowed slave owners to go to the North and say any free back person was their runaway slave. This caused separation between the North and the South, and angered the North more about slavery. This would lead to events like bleeding Kansas and the Civil War.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe's Novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was written in 1852. In the novel it explained the truth of slavery in the South and showed people what it was actually like. This novel solidified peoples disgusts to slavery, especially if they were unsure before. Sectionalism was greatly increased after the release of the novel and pushed people to try and end slavery. Movements like John Browns started to begin after Uncle Toms Cabin.
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The Kansas Nebraska Act passed Popular Sovereignty, which said new states could chose to be a slave or free state. This got rid of the 36º 30' line in the Missouri Compromise. There were some negative results to this which would lead up to the Civil War. People in the North wanted the new states to be free where people in the South wanted them to be slave, and this would lead to arguments over new states and voter fraud in elections. This tension would lead to events like Bleeding Kansas.
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From 1854 to 1859 "Bleeding Kansas" happened in Kansas. After popular sovereignty was established, Kansas had to chose if they would be slave or free. An election was held to vote, but you just had to be a white male to vote. Because of this, many people from out of Kansas came in voted many times and inflated the votes. Outrage occurred after the votes were counted and there was a re-vote. Many abolitionists came to Kansas and started riots, and what would be known as Bleeding Kansas.
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John Brown was an extreme abolitionist from the North who traveled down to the South to kill slave owners. He was appraised by the North and they felt he would help get rid of slavery. He went on a mission to free slaves but was captured and put on trial for murder and treason. He was found guilty and put to death. This outraged the North and they demanded he be let free, but he was not. John Brown motivated many to fight the South, which would lead to sectionalism between the two sides.
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After South Carolina seceded from the US, President Lincoln ordered his men to stay in Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The Confederates preceded to attack the island small fort on the island. They bombarded the fort for hours with canons until there was not much left. There were no men killed, but this was the first battle that would start the Civil War. After this attack, Lincoln ordered thousands of men to the South begin the Civil War.
