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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850 and forced the return of escaped slaves to their owners without any legal actions. It required federal marshals and local folks to help catch runaway slaves. This law took away essential rights from those accused, like the right to a jury trial and the chance to defend themselves. It also imposed harsh penalties on anyone who tried to help escapees, which sparked a lot of anger in the North and deepened the divide over slavery.
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(McPherson 130) This political movement, rooted in nativism, emerged as a reaction to the arrival of Irish and German immigrants. It was marked by anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic attitudes. The party promoted stricter immigration regulations. While it achieved considerable political power, especially in Northern regions, its influence declined rapidly after 1856, primarily due to internal conflicts and the rise of the Republican Party.
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(Varon 236) Shadrach Minkins was the first person to be arrested in Massachusetts under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Having escaped from slavery in Norfolk, Virginia, he was caught by U.S. marshals while working as a waiter at the Cornhill Coffee House in Boston. His arrest ignited a strong backlash from abolitionists, with a group led by Lewis Hayden bursting into the courthouse to free Minkins from federal authorities, helping him flee to Canada through the Underground Railroad.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act, which became law on May 30, 1854, was a legislative move by Senator Stephen Douglas to organize the Kansas and Nebraska territories. It introduced the idea that settlers in these areas could decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. This effectively overturned the Missouri Compromise, which had banned slavery north of the 36°30' line. The act sparked clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups and heightened the national tensions that led to a war.
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(Varon 262) An oli- garchy of 350,000 slaveholders scarcely more than 1 percent of the U.S. population-had imposed its proslavery agenda on 25 million nonslavehold- ing whites."
The Slave Power Conspiracy was a belief among many Northerners that Southern slaveholders and their Northern allies conspired to expand and protect slavery. Ultimately, it contributed to the nation's "separation" and played a significant role in the lead-up to the American Civil War. -
(Varon 266) Henry Mayer has noted, the territory turned into a "contested zone of sporadic violence." The escalating mayhem culminated in the sack of Lawrence on May 21, 1856."
Pro-slavery forces, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones, attacked the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, Kansas. Attackers looted and destroyed buildings, including two newspaper offices and the Free State Hotel, marking a significant escalation in the violent conflict known as Bleeding Kansas -
The Canning of Summer 1856 is related to the brutal attack on Charles Sumner, a well-known anti-slavery senator from Massachusetts. On May 22, 1856, he was assaulted by Congressman Preston Brooks from South Carolina right on the Senate floor. This event happened just after the Sacking of Lawrence and was part of the growing violence over the slavery debate in Kansas.
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(Varon 281) "Lincoln could present himself as a "soul maddened by the wrong" of human bondage, and fired by the moral enormities of slavery as well as its policy implications".
The convention aimed to unite anti-Nebraska factions opposed to the expansion of slavery, and it featured a speech by Lincoln, which has become known as Lincoln's Lost Speech due to the lack of reporters present. The convention adopted resolutions, support the Union, and immediate admission of Kansas as a free state -
(McPherson 45) An event during which approximately 120 emigrants from Arkansas were killed by local Mormon militia and some Native Americans in Utah. Initially, the blame was on Native Americans; however, investigations revealed that the incident was rooted in religious conflict and paranoia. "When the next president, Abraham Lincoln, was asked what he intended to do about the Mormons, he replied that since they were the least of his problems “I propose to let them alone.”"
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John Brown's Raid took place from October 16 to 18, 1859. Where Abolitionist John Brown and 21 followers tried to take control of the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown's goal was to spark a slave uprising by arming enslaved individuals and creating a refuge for freed slaves. They managed to capture the armory at first, but things quickly went south when local militia and U.S. Marines surrounded them. This led to Brown's capture and trial, ultimately facing execution.