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Compromise of 1820
There were an equal number of slave states and free states in the Union. Howeveer, Missouri was trying to decide whether to be slave or free. What ever one they chose would upset the balance. Under the terms of the Missouri Compromise, however, both sides were temporarily appeased. Maine was granted entry as free state; Missouri was then admitted without restrictions on slavery. -
Free Soil Party
The conflict was intensified by the acquisition of new territories from Mexico and the ensuing argument whether or not slavery would be permitted into those territories. The party evolved from antislavery. Which upset the blance because there were more antisalvery parties then proslavery. -
Compromise of 1850
This plan was offered by Senator Henry Clay to solve the issue of sectional balance in Congress. California wanted to apply for statehood as a free state, but by doing so, it would create an imbalance of power in Congress. The plan called for California to enter as a free state, the territories Utah and New Mexico to enter and be governed by popular sovereignty, slave trade to be abolished in Washington DC, and and a law would be made to help slaveowners regain their runaway slaves. -
The Fugitive Slave Act
Compromise of 1850, under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, people were allowed to determine the fate of fugitives without the benefit of a jury trial or even testimony by the accused person. The law also prohibited local authorities from interfering with the capture of slaves and forced citizens to assist with captures when called upon by federal agents. Stiff fines and jail sentences were to be given to people who refused to follow the law. -
John Brown
John Brown, a radical abolitionist, led a group of 21 men to seize Harpers' Ferry, Virginia, to obtain a supply of weapons to arm slaves and lead them in revolts. Brown was placed on trial in the state of Virginia, and his men were all either killed or captured by a detachment of federal soldiers led by Colonel Robert E. Lee. Though he was found guilty and was hanged, the way he conducted himself with such poise and dignity earned him the respect of millions of abolitionists. -
The Wilmot Proviso
Ride on to to another bill, the Wilmot Proviso would ban slavery in all territories aqcuired by Mexico. It failed and was brought to attention a few years later. -
Bleeding Kansas
A compromise on the issue of slavery would not be possible due to the example of senseless killing through "Bleeding Kansas." "Bleeding Kansas" started over northerners and southerners trying to convince the other side of their opinion on slavery for popular sovereinity via attacking and killing. Pro-slavery Missourians, "Border Ruffians", crossed border to intimidate those voting for kansas to be a free state, and abolitionists brought their Breecher Bibles to even it out. -
Dred Scott Decision
Supreme Court ruling that all American born Africans were not protected by the Constitution, and didnt have any rights. Which made it seem as if the north did not matter, because they said it doesn't matter if he spend time in the north. -
The Kansas Nabraska Act
Senator Stephan A. Douglas of Illinois proposed a bill to establish territorial governments in the unorganized northern part of the Louisiana Purchase. This bill was the Kansas-Nebraska Act, passed by Congress in 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act created of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The question of slavery was to be resolved on the basis of popular sovereignty, thus nullifying the Missouri Compromise, which had abolished slavery in the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase. -
Lincoln- Douglas Debates
In the Illinois senatorial campaign of 1858, the Democratic candidate, Stephen A. Douglas, was opposed by Republican nominee, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, a young lawyer, challeneged Douglas, a leading political figure, to a series of debates that were vital issues of the day. Though Lincoln did not win the election, he became very famous through these debates. -
Election of 1860
Republican Abraham Lincoln became the nation's 16th president. Though he did not receive a single vote in 10 southern states, the North's superiority in population helped him carry the electoral college, beating his three opponents, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell. The split in the democratic party (Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell) aided Lincoln greatly. -
The South Seceds
Prior to the election of Lincoln as president, Southern leaders had threatened that they would secede from the Union if a Republican president was won the election. A state convention on December 20, 1860, declared that South Carolina was no longer part of the Union, and had seceded.
