-
Comprompise of 1850
Compromise created by Henry Clay that made California a free state, and made stricter fugitive slave laws. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Passed under the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act made it easier for runaway slaves to be captured. It prevented authorities from interfering with the capture of a slave. In addition, somebody would face large fines or time in prison for assisting an escaped slave. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel about the horrors of slavery. The book inspired Northern abolitionists to increase protests against the Fugitive Slave Act, while Southerners criticized the book as an attack on their way of life. -
Republican Party Formed
The Republican Party was created in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which made slavery possible in the territories. The premise of the party became the opposition of slavery expansion There were few members in the South, but they had the majority in the North. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act is put into law, which made Nebraska and Kansas into seperate territories. The act also allowed them to decide on slavery through popular sovereignty. These territories would be free under the Missouri Compromise, but now they had the possibility of becoming slave states. -
Brooks Beats Sumner
Senator Charles Sumner is beaten with a cane by Congressman Preston Brooks. This is done after Sumner gave a speech criticizing Southerners who sympathized with and supported pro-slavery violence in "Bleeding Kansas." Brooks became a hero in the South, while Sumner recovered for three years. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott, a slave, was taken into free territory by his master. Scott sued, saying that he was free since he was in free territory. The case made its way all the way to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that being in free territory did not make a slave free. He also ruled that slaves wrere property, and weren't citizens, nor could they ever become citizens. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The was the first of seven presidential debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Slavery was the main issue in all seven of the debates. Both candidates were against the expansion of slavery, but disagreed on how it should be done. Douglas supported popular sovereignty, allowing each state to decide. Lincoln was the first politian to publicy say that slavery was immoral. He said that slavery was based soley on greed, and should be outlawed. -
Harpers Ferry Raid
John Brown, a strong anti-slavery advocate, attempts to organize a raid of an armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in ordere to arm slaves and start a slave rebellion. The raid failed, very few of the slaves asked to come had shown up. John Brown killed five people before being captured. He was then hanged on December 2, 1859. -
Lincoln Wins Election
Abraham Lincoln is elected president, which is the pivotal moment of Southern secession. Lincoln was going to prevent the expansion of slavery, and then try to abolish it. The Southern states did not want this to happen. South Carolina was teh first to seceed, followed by 10 other states throughout the next year. This was one of the last major events before the start of the Civil War.
