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The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills passed by the U.S. Congress in September 1850 that admitted California as a free state, established popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico territories, abolished the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and enacted a stricter Fugitive Slave Act. These measures temporarily eased tensions but ultimately failed to resolve the fundamental conflicts over slavery and contributed to the eventual outbreak of the Civil War.
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a law that required the return of escaped enslaved people to their enslavers, mandating that citizens assist in their capture and imposing penalties for those who hindered it. The law's strict provisions and enforcement methods, which allowed private citizens to be deputized, led to widespread opposition and increased tensions between the North and South
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Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852, that depicted the brutal realities of slavery and is credited with fueling the abolitionist movement in the United States. The story follows the devout and noble Uncle Tom, who is sold away from his family, and his suffering under a cruel owner, Simon Legree, while other characters like Eliza flee to freedom.
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"What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" is not a book but a famous and powerful antislavery speech delivered by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852. The speech exposes the hypocrisy of American celebrations of liberty, given the ongoing enslavement of millions, and is widely published in book or pamphlet form today.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise, creating the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowing residents to decide the issue of slavery through "popular sovereignty". This led to a rush of pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers into Kansas, resulting in violence known as "Bleeding Kansas," which intensified sectional divisions and contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
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Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in the Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas.
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The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision was a landmark 1857 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared African Americans were not U.S. citizens and therefore had no right to sue in federal court. The decision also held that Congress could not ban slavery in U.S. territories, effectively making the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. This ruling intensified sectional tensions and played a significant role in the lead-up to the American Civil War.
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John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry was an October 1859 attempt by abolitionist John Brown to incite a slave revolt by seizing the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan failed when local militias and U.S. Marines, led by Colonel Robert E. Lee, surrounded and captured him and his men after a two-day standoff. The event heightened tensions between the North and South, with Brown's subsequent execution further polarizing the nation and contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War.
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Abraham Lincoln was first elected president on November 6, 1860, as the candidate for the Republican Party. He won a decisive victory in the Electoral College, though he received only 40% of the popular vote, beating three other candidates: John C. Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas. His election led directly to the secession of several Southern states and the beginning of the Civil War.
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South Carolina seceded from the United States on December 20, 1860, in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln and the perceived threat to the institution of slavery. The state's government issued a "Declaration of Secession" to formally declare its withdrawal and list the reasons for its decision, including the North's hostility to slavery and the disregard of states' rights under the Constitution. Following South Carolina, other Southern states also seceded to form the Confederacy.
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The Confederate States of America (CSA) was a short-lived country formed by eleven southern states that seceded from the United States between 1860 and 1861, primarily over the issues of slavery and states' rights. Led by President Jefferson Davis, it fought and lost the Civil War to the Union, officially dissolving in May 1865. The eleven states were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
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The Battle of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War, fought in April 1861 in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina