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Missouri Compromise
According to the deal thought of by Henry Clay, if the southern states agreed to the admission of Maine as a free state, Missouri would be admitted as a slave state. In addition, all lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase north of 36° 30′ N latitude would be free. -
Wilmot Proviso
The passage of the Wilmot Proviso, which prevented the introduction of slavery into lands acquired after the Mexican-American War, further polarized northern and southern politicians on the issue of slavery. -
Dred Scott Decison
In a landmark ruling, the United States Supreme Court ruled in essence that slaves had no rights as United States citizens, even if they had previously lived in free states. -
Compromise of 1850/Fugitive Slave Law
The Compromise of 1850, authored by Henry Clay, was a compromise in the true sense of the word. California became a free state, other territories would vote on the issue, and the Fugitive Slave Law was strengthened. -
Uncle toms Cabin
Uncle Toms cabin was a novel writen by Harriet Beecher. A lot the south got really angry because they felt as if the north was giving them a bad name. Harriet explained how the slaves really got treated. -
Kansas and Newbraska Act
As the nation pushed close to war over the issues of states rights and slavery, the Kansas Nebraska Act resulted in mass violence in what came to be known as “Bleeding Kansas.”North and South. -
The Slavery Issue
The practice of slavery threatened to destroy the United States. Northern voices called slavery barbaric, while Southern voices claimed slavery an economic necessity. -
John Brown Rebellion
John Brown was a radical abolitionist who tried to start a slave rebellion by seizing a federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia -
Elections of Abraham Lincoln
The “straw that broke the camel’s back” was undoubtedly the election of the Northern, Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. Southern states were virtually assured he would eventually abolish slavery. -
secession
In response the election of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president, 11 Southern states seceded from the Union to form their own nation called The Confederate States of America. Lincoln would assume the unenviable task of trying to restore the Union.
