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Missouri Compromise
Maine is admitted to the USA as a free state and Missouri is admitted to the USA as a slave state. An invisible line was drawn above the Arkansas territory through the Louisiana territory, and everything to the north of it would be free while everything to the south of it would be slave. Missouri was the only slave state above it. Congress also decided that escapees could be caught and brought back to the south from the north. -
Nat Turners Slave Rebellion
This rebellion spread fear through the southern USA and killed 60 people, resulting in harsh retaliation from slave owners. -
Compromise of 1850
After the Mexican Cession, California was admitted to the USA as a free state and all new states could vote whether they would be slave states or free states whenever they were given statehood. The slave trade ended in DC and it was made a crime to help runaway slaves, even in the north. Texas gave up its claims to New Mexico for $10,000,000. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe about how horrible life in slavery was. It was very popular and the south viewed it as propaganda. It widened the chasm between the north and the south. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Nebraska was divided into 2 states that could decide whether to become slave states or free states, but people from outside of those 2 states flocked there to vote in the elections. A period of harsh violence known as "Bleeding Kansas" occurred after this. Democrats lost popularity in the north and gained it in the south. The Republican party was created and gained popularity among those against slavery. -
Dredd Scott Decision
The Supreme Court ruled that African-Americans were not considered citizens and could not vote in elections. Slaves were to be considered property. They also ruled that the Missouri Compromise line was illegal, and that states should not be able to be told whether to be slave or free. This made anti-slavery voters vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1857. -
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
John Brown failed a raid on the United States' Federal Arsenal in attempt to arm a slave revolt in the south. This got him captured and killed for conspiracy and treason. -
Abraham Lincoln Is Elected
Republicans promised to end the spread of slavery and gave free land in the north to settlers. Southern states seceded to form the Confederate States of America, and Lincoln's first act was to make secession illegal. This caused shots to be fired at Fort Sumter, marking the start of the civil war.