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Wilmot Proviso
A proposed law designed to eliminate slavery in the newly acquired in Mexican Cession. This attempt to control slavery angered the South greatly, causing a lager divison between the North and South. -
Compromise of 1850
This solved the issue of having slavery or not in the Mexican Cession land: California was admitted as a free state and the Utah/Nevada areas were left with popular sovereignty to decide. The south was pacified as a law was passed making it easier to recover fugitive slaves. -
Fugitive Slave Act
As a revised version of the 1793 slave act, this act harshened the punishment for those found harboring slaves. The South approved of these actions while the North found them appalling. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, this fictional story gave many northerners a glimpse of what a slaves' life was like. The message in this book was so powerful that is was outlawed in the South (it became illegal to own or sell copies of this book). -
Bleeding Kansas
A direct result of the Kansas/Nebraska Act, this period of violence was were the pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates fought for control of Kansas, trying to determine if slavery would be allowed or not. This historic event continued through until 1861, and is a direct cause of the civil war. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The bill that mandated popular sovereignty to determine weather or not slavery would be practiced, tore Kansas apart. The pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates went head-to-head leading to Bleeding Kansas. -
Dred Scott vs. Stanford
In this acclaimed court case, the controversial topic of slave freedom was debated. Scott claimed that since he lived in free state with his owner, he should receive emancipation after their return to the slave state of Missouri. The Supreme Court ruled that no black person, freed or not, could have U.S. citizenship. This decision caused outrage among abolitionist and only tighten North-South tensions. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Not just a single debate, this event consisted of 7 debates between Lincoln and Douglas as they were campaigning for a Senate seat. The debates discussed issues that played a curtail roll to sectional conflict and the growing Northern-Southern tension. -
Harper's Ferry
In this event, John Brown and his fellow abolitionist attempted to raid the U.S. arsenal base located at Harper's Ferry. Although they were unsuccessful, the South still feared slave rebellions, causing the growing tension to be pulled tighter than before. -
Election of 1860
By this time, tensions between the North and South had reached an astounding level, a result of Harper's Ferry. The election of Lincoln finally broke the dam, and South Carolina seceded shortly following the election. This set the other southern states on the path of secession and the North began to prepare for war. -
Fort Sumter
The beginning of the Civil War, "this exchange" lasted until 1865. After the 34 hour siege, the Union surrendered the fort and it was occupied by Confederate troops until after the war. While there, they fended off several Union attacks. After the war, it was restored and is open for public viewing.
