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Missouri Compromise
Compromise leading to Missouri becoming slave state and Maine a free state. Compromise said states north of 36 30 line were free while states south of line were allowed slaves.
"Southern people are complaining, but they ought not, for it has preserved peace dissipated angry feelings, and dispelled appearances which seemed dark and horrible and threatening to the interest and harmony of the nation." -
Wilmot Proviso
Piece of unofficial legislature that banned spread of slavery to any areas that were from Mexico. This was majorly supported by free Northern states, but South did not support it. This increased disputes about expanding slavery and further increased tensions between North and South. -
Mexican American War
War between America and Mexico over land of California and Texas. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo came about giving California and Texas to America as long as America paid some money assumed claims. -
Compromise of 1850
Compromise admitted California as free state and made Mexico and Utah decide by popular sovereignty. This ended the slave trade in DC and created the fugitive slave law. The compromise sort of delayed the secession of the South for a short while. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Law that enforced penalties to anyone who helped a slave escape and if a runaway slave was found, it must be brought back to its owner. This strengthened antislavery feelings in the North. -
Uncle Toms Cabin
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and it described the horrors of slavery. The North was horrified by the book and the South was furious and tried to deny everything written. The book escalated sectional conflict between the North and the South.
"While Stowe did not start the war, Uncle Tom's Cabin did increase the differences between the North and the South. Many Northerners realized how unjust slavery was for the first time. " -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Act said that slavery should be decided using popular sovereignty which went against the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise kept a balance between amount of slave and free states and sort of "held together" the Union, but now this was being changed. -
Bleeding Kansas
War fought in Kansas over the issue of having slavery in the territory. South tried to win as slave state unfairly and this angered North and the people living in the territory, so the war started. -
LeCompton Constitution
Constitution that was rigged to guarantee slavery in the territory. A bunch of proslavery people went to Kansas to vote in favor of having slaves which wasn't how it was supposed to work. This put tension between North and South because the South kept trying to get more slave states and ruin the balance. "Legally, only residents of Kansas Territory could vote in a territorial election... some people voted more than once, and many proslavery Missourians crossed the Missouri-Kansas border to vote" -
Dred Scott v Sanford
Ruled Congress did not have power to prohibit slavery in any territory. Also declared slaves, (known as property), were not citizens. This upset Northern abolitionists.
"..has no rights in which the white man was bound to respect...they are not citizens of the united states...and cannot become citizens of a state..." This upset many African Americans. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
Debates between Lincoln and Douglas during Senate race. Douglas won but Lincoln gained as national figure and became leading candidate for 1860 Republican nominee. -
John Browns Raid in Harpers Ferry
John Brown seized federal arsenal but ended up getting captured after killing 7 people. He was executed. The abolitionists saw him as courageous and they got more driven to end slavery. -
Election of 1860
In the election Abraham Lincoln won even though he did not receive popular majority. He won due to split ticket voting. This angered the South a lot. -
South Carolina Secedes from Union
Angered by Election of 1860 and with the government, South Carolina decided to be the first to secede from the Union. This led other states to secede and lead to the Confederacy. -
Crittenden Compromise
Amendments proposed to appeal to South. It said slavery north of 36 30 line was prohibited and South of that line it was given federal protection. Lincoln rejected the compromise though. -
Attack on Ft. Sumter
Lincoln decided to send reinforcements into the fort and knew South Carolinians would fight back. After 34 hours, no ones lives were taken and it was over. Initially this is what started the Civil War.
