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Missouri Compromise
A series of laws enacted in 1820 to maintain the balance of power between slave states and free states. Banned slavery form the Louisiana Territory north of the paallel 36 30', Missouri's southern border. The nation felt threatened by sectionalism. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the American Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future. Also it added additional sectional tension onto the Compromise of 1850. -
Compromise of 1850
A plan crafted by Henry Clay to balance the power of slave states and free states after California apiled for statehood. Many people on both sides felt they had to give up too much in this plan. Outraged Northerners; leading to events such as "bleedingKansas," violence in Congress, and the Repubilcan party. Created sectional tension. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. It was writen by Harriet Beecher Stowe in outrage of the Fugitive Slave Act. It opened Northereners e It is eyes even more so to slavery and helped fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A law that established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and gave their residents the right to decide whether to allow slavery. If this bill passed it would do away with the Missouri Compromise by allowing people to vote for slavery in terrritories where the MIssouri Compromise had banned it. Soon turned Kansas into a battle ground over slavery. Lead to violence in Congress and gave us the nicknam, Bleeding Kansas. -
Sack of Lawrence
The Sack of Lawrence referred to the vandalism and arson committed by a group of proslavery men in Lawrence, the free-state capital of Kansas Territory. Helped ratchet up the guerrilla war in Kansas Territory that became known as Bleeding Kansas. -
Pottawatomie Massacre
A small band of abolitionists led by John Brown murdered five pro-slavery men just north of here along Pottawatomie Creek. This massacre in "Bleeding Kansas" was one of the most famous events leading up to the American Civil War by raising sectional tension. Brown was later captured, tried and hanged for his unsuccessful raid on Harper's Ferry -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
In 1857, Dred Scott lost his case proving that he should be free because he had been held as a slave while living in a free state. The Court ruled that his petition could not be seen because he did not hold any property and wasnt a United States Citizen so had no right to a jury trial.This decision furthered the cause of abolitionists as they increased their efforts to fight against slavery. -
Election of 1860
Two different races for presidency in the north and south. Lincoln and Douglas in the North and Breckinridge and Bell in the South. the outcome of the election made it clear that the nation was tired of compromise. Because the North had more people in it than the South, Lincoln won the election. as a result, white Southerners saw the Republican victory as a threat to the Southern way of life. Set the stage for the civil war. -
South Carolina Seceding From the Union
South Carolina was the first of the south to secede from the union after Abraham Lincoln was elected as president. They seceded in fear Lincoln would go against his promise of not abolishing slavery in the South. Six states quickly followed, togethered they formed the Confederate States of America. Later leading to the attack on Fort Sumter.
