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Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin and the book becomes America's first bestselling book. Uncle Tom's Cabin also causes tensions between the North and South to rise further.
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The Republicans Political Party is founded to gain power in the government to stop slavery from spreading.
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Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act to divide some of the new territory that was part of the United States. The act addresses slavery in Kansas and Nebraska by imposing popular sovereignty as the deciding factor.
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After the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska act, Anti-slave and Pro-slave advocates began flooding into Kansas and Nebraska. The situation in Kansas quickly deteriorated into violence as both sides began fighting each other to tilt the state to either Slavery or Free.
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The election of 1856 was the first presidential election where the Republicans elected a candidate to run for president.
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Senator Charles Sumner delivered a speech against slavery in congress. This angered Preston Brooks who, out of spite, walked into the Senate House and brutally beat Charles with a walking cane.
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The ruling of the Dred Scott v. Sandford caused further division between North and South and it declared the Missouri compromise as unconstitutional.
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Abraham Lincoln delivers a speech where he addresses the issue that the Dred v. Sandford case ruling caused it to be possible for slavery to become legal in all northern/free states.
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The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of multiple debates over Illinois seats. During one of these debates, Lincoln asks Douglas whether slavery can be prevented in light of the Dred Scott ruling. This question backs Douglas into a corner.
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The Lecompton Constitution was a document written by Pro-slavery advocates in Kansas. The document defended slavery, which increased tensions with the North.
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On October 16th of 1859, a man named John Brown led a group of slaves to raid Harper's Ferry in order to acquire weapons. Brown's plan was to create a slave revolt by arming the slaves with weapons.
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John Brown was executed by hanging after trial. The court found him guilty of inciting a raid on Harper's Ferry. Brown was notably seen as a martyr by the northern states and seen as a crazed zealot by the Southern states.
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The Election of 1860 was very significant as it was the first presidential election won by the Republican party, and it was won by Abraham Lincoln.
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President Lincoln delivers his First Inaugural Address, where he states that he is not going to take away the slavery of the Southern states. This was mainly said in an attempt to hold together the Union of the US, as the North and South were so divided that succession was inevitable.
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The Southern States begin succeeding from the US, South Carolina being the first to succeed.