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Missouri Compromise
In an effort to balance the power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. With the exception of Missouri, this law prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line. No state above this line could become slave states/ -
Wilmot Provisio
This was aimed at banning slavery within territory acquired as a result of the Mexican War. It was introduced on August 8, 1846, only a few months into the war, by Democratic representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania. It led to the creation of the free soil party. -
Compromise of 1820
California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state. In exchange, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Slavery was maintained in the nation's capital, but the slave trade was prohibited. Finally, and most controversially, a fugitive slave law was passed, requiring northerners to return runaway slaves to their owners under pe -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, is published. The novel sold 300,000 copies within three months.While living in Cincinnati, Stowe encountered fugitive slaves and the Underground Railroad. Later, she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in reaction to recently tightened fugitive slave laws. The book had a major influence on the way the American public viewed slavery. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery on the basis of popular sovereignty. This violated the Missouri Compromise, which had kept the Union from falling apart for the last thirty-four years. The long-standing compromise would have to be repealed. Ultimately the bill passed in May of 1854. Territory north of the 36°30' line was now open to popular sovereignty. The North was outraged. -
Sack of Lawrence
Lawrence was the center of Kansas's anti-slavery movement. Over 800 men from Kansas and Missouri rode to Lawrence to arrest members of the free state government. The citizens of Lawrence decided against resistance.The mob proceeded to destroy two newspaper offices as they threw the printing presses from the Free-Soil newspaper into the nearby river. They burned and looted homes and shops. They also aimed theor cannons towards them. -
Election of 1860
The Democrats could not agree on who to nominate. Northern Democrats wanted Douglas while Southern Democrats wanted John C. Breckenridge. To do that, the Republicans needed someone who could carry New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Abraham Lincoln was deemed as the best choice. John Bell was nominated by the Constitutional Union Party. Lincoln narrowly won, received only 40% of the popular vote and 180 electoral votes. -
South Carolina Secedes
A secession convention meeting was held in Charleston, South Carolina. It unanimously adopted an ordinance dissolving the connection between South Carolina and the United States of America. The convention had been called by the governor and legislature of South Carolina once Lincoln was elected. Delegates were elected on December 6, 1860, and the convention convened on December 17. Its action made South Carolina the first state to secede. Support for the Union was negligible, and a di
