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The Missouri Crisis created a division over slavery that profoundly and ominously shaped sectional identities and rivalries as never before.
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Largest and deadliest slave uprising in U.S. history. Rebel slaves killed between 55 and 65 people, in Southampton County, VA.
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A series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Focused on slavery.
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Proposed an American law to ban slavery in territory by Mexico.
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One of the most controversial elements of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a "slave power conspiracy". It required that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in this law.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in reaction to recently tightened fugitive slave laws. The book had a major influence on the way the American public viewed slavery.