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Fugitive Slave Act
This Act stated that all fugitive slaves must be returned to their masters. Any person who was caught giving shelter, food, or protection, to a runaway slave could get up to six months in prison. The North felt this was a way of expanding the power and reach of slavery. -
Compromise of 1850
Texas was paid $10 million to scale back its land and claims in the West. Washington, D.C., was required to end the slave trade in the city, but slavery was still legal. California was admitted as a free state. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's book sells 300,000 copies in the first year and over 2 million copies in 5 years. The book was about an old slave that is treated horribly by his master. With this book, many joined the abolitionist movement after learning the harsh realities of life as a slave. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery on the basis of popular sovereignty, meaning the people would decide. Kansas with slavery would violate the Missouri Compromise. So "Bleeding Kansas" is violently torn in half for years between pro-slave and anti-slave. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott was property and not a citizen and had no right to sue. The ruling declared that the Missouri Compromise prohibiting slavery in the Northern territories was unconstitutional. -
Harper's Ferry
John Brown leads a group of men to attack the weapons arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The goal was to gain control of weapons and lead a slave revolt, but Brown gets captured and is hanged for treason. -
Lincoln's Election
Lincoln was the only candidate against slavery. He won, but the election showed that the country was divided. No southern states voted for him. His election pushed the nation to the brink of war. -
Attack on Ft. Sumter
Ft. Sumter was a federal fort in South Carolina. The South fired upon Ft. Sumter as the Union tried to resupply it.