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The legislation allowed Missouri and Maine to be slave states simultaneously, maintaining the balance between slave and free states, and outlawed slavery in the Louisiana Territory. -
Turner and his followers killed his master's family and marched throughout Southampton County, Virginia, killing 55 people before white authorities crushed the revolt, avoiding capture for nearly two months. -
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was a conflict between the United States and Mexico, arising from the annexation of Texas and the dispute over its endpoint.
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The Wilmot Proviso, an 1846 Congress proposal to ban slavery in Mexican-American War territory, was a significant conflict leading to the American Civil War. -
The California gold rush (1848-1855) began with gold discovery by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, attracting 300,000 people from the US and abroad.
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Harriet Tubman, a renowned Underground Railroad conductor, escorted over 300 slaves to freedom in 19 trips over ten years, ensuring no passenger loss.
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The acts aimed to grant California a "free state," establish a territorial government for Utah and New Mexico, establish a border between Texas and the US, abolish the slave trade.
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, part of the Compromise of 1850, mandated the federal government to find, return, and try escaped slaves, even in free states.
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Uncle Tom's Cabin tells the story of a saintly, dignified, noble, and steadfast enslaved man who saves the life of Little Eva, who is later purchased by his grateful father.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act, passed in 1854, abolished the Missouri Compromise, established new territories, and granted popular sovereignty, leading to the violent "Bleeding Kansas" uprising.
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Kansas was occupied by pro-slavery, Free-Staters, and abolitionist groups, leading to violence until 1861 when Kansas became a free state, a period known as Bleeding Kansas.
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that enslaved individuals were not US citizens and therefore, could not expect federal government or court protection.
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Lincoln-Douglas debates, lasting three hours, pitted Lincoln against Douglas, highlighting radical radicalism and slavery's immorality. Douglas secured Senate seat, but alienated Democrats, losing influential party leadership position.
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On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his supporters attacked Harpers Ferry, capturing prominent citizens and seizing the federal armory and arsenal.
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The Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin, won a national popular plurality, a popular majority in the North where slavery had been abolished, and a national electoral majority.
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South Carolina voted to remove itself from the United States of America after Abraham Lincoln's election as president, citing a perceived threat to slavery.