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The Wilmot Proviso was a bill to ban slavery in ant territory that the United States acquired from the War with Mexico. The Southerners opposed it, the northerners supported it. The bill passed the House of Representatives but never passed the senate.
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The Free-Soil was a political party dedicated to stop the expansion of slavery. The party’s slogan expressed its ideals – “Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men.” The party made slavery a key issue in national politics.
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Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky offered a bill to settle the conflict with California. To please the north, it was proposed to admit California as a free state, for the South, it included a strong law to help slaveholders recapture runaway slaves. This law would also let some territories decide for themselves about slavery. This plan became known as the Compromise of 1850
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The fugitive slave act was a law that helped slave holders recapture runaway slaves. This also included that people accused of being Fugitives could be arrested without a warrant. Fugitives had no right to a jury trial; instead a federal official heard the case. The official was paid $5 dollars for releasing the fugitive; He was paid $10 if he turned in the fugitive to a slave holder. This law also required that runaway slaves be returned to their masters.
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Zachery Taylor was the 12th President of the United States he lasted one year In office. He played a huge part in the war with Mexico. President Taylor Gave a long speech caught a cold and died 5 days later.
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The 1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an antislavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The novel dealt with the moral issues of slavery. It described the slavery as cruel and immoral. The book was popular in the North, but white southerners believed it falsely criticized the South and slavery.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act was a law that split the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska and allowed people to vote on slavery in these territories. In 1854 Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska act. Popular Sovereignty would decide whether slavery is allowed in these areas.
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Violence was not limited to Kansas. It also spread to the nation’s capital. In May 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts delivered a speech against the proslavery forces in Kansas. During the speech, Sumner insulted Senator A.P. Butler From South Carolina. The speech offended Preston Brooks, a relative of Butler. Brooks came to the defense of Butler and South. He attacked Sumner with a came as Sumner sat at his desk.
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John C. Fremont was a Republican Party candidate in the 1856 presidential election. The Republicans supported because he was in favor of admitting California and Kansas as free states. But the Republican Position on slavery was very unpopular in the South.
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James Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States. The Democrats nominated James Buchanan for the presidency in 1856. He said little about slavery; He said his goal was to keep the Union together. Southerners supported him; some northerners also supported him because they were afraid that the nation would split apart if Fremont were elected.
