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Free-Soil party is organized
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California gold rush begins
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Congress passes the Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Pro-slavery mob jacks Lawrence;Kansas; John Potyawatomie Massacre in retaliation
Charles Summer of Massachusetts is caned and seriously injured by pro-slavery congressman in U.S. Senate -
U.S. Supreme Court issues the Dred Scott decision Lecompton Constitution declares that slavery will be allowed in Kansas
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Abraham Lincoln debates Stephen A. Douglas during the 1858 Illinois Senate race
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John Brown and followers staged a failed raid at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an attempt to incrite a slave insurrection
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South Carolina and six other southern states secede from the Union
Crittenden Compromise is proposed but fails -
Fort Sumter falls to Confederate forces, triggers Civil war
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Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated president
