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The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was passed as an omnibus bill such that California would enter the Union as a free state only if Utah and New Mexico would be open to popular sovereignty. The compromise also created a new fugitive slave clause. It states that the federal government will pay for the enforcement of the act, a fugitive can be arrested at anytime and brought to a federal court, and that a federal judge will receive $10 to rule the fugitive as a slave and only $5 to rule them as free. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book written in 1852 by a woman named Harriet Beecher Stowe. It sold around 300,000 copies in one year and two million in ten years. The book showed the American people what slavery was really like and is said to have sparked the Civil war. When Stowe met with president Lincoln he said to her "So you're the little lady who started this war". The south was so outraged by the book that they outlawed it in all southern states. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, or Bloody Kansas, is the term used to describe the period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory from 1854 and 1861. At the time, Kansas was a state that was open to popular sovereignty which was when the residents of the state would decree whether it was a free or slave state. Abolitionists would pay people to move there so Kansas will become a free state and pro-slavery groups paid people to move there so it would become a slave state. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was proposed by Stephen Douglass in 1854. It raised the 36-30 line which was the boundary between slave and non-slave states created in the Missouri Compromise. It also said that Kansas and Nebraska would become open to popular sovereignty. The North was upset because slavery was useless in those territories due to not having the right type of soil and they claimed that the south was only trying to increase their legislation votes. -
The Crime Against Kansas
In 1856, in the senate chamber, senator Charles Sumner gave his anti-slavery argument named "The Crime Against Kansas". In this he claimed that slave supporters are only trying to gain power in legislation. Sumner also made many accusations about southern senator, Preston Brooks' family and personal life that angered Brooks. As a result of Brooks' infuriation, he beat Charles Sumner with his cane so much that it put Sumner in a coma. Brooks was expelled from congress... -
The Panic of 1857
The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic that resulted in a rapid downturn in America's economy. It was caused by poor investments, free labor, the production of manufactured goods, and the inflation of currency from the gold rush. The panic did lots of damage to the north and west parts of the country, but did not really affect the south because they have a slave based system. This led to rising tensions and the country divided more. -
The Election of 1860
The election of 1860 was between Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglass, John Bell, and John Breckenridge. Lincoln won, however he was quite unpopular with only 37 percent of the popular vote. The country was on the verge of falling apart as sectionalism continued to increase. Lincoln promised the non-expansion of slavery, more protective tariffs, internal improvements in the west, and to use government aid to build a railroad to the pacific...