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Missouri Compromise
Law passed by congress in 1820 that admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery in the Lousiana Territory North of 36 30. It increased sectional tensions and was only a short term solution that simply put off the issue of slavery. -
Wilmont Proviso
A bill proposed by represenative Divid Wilmot of Pennsyvania, to outlaw slavery in any territory taken from mexico. It led to the creation of the Free-Soil Party, a political party dedicated to stopping the expansion of slavery. The Free-Soil Party would increase sectional tensions between the North and the South. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a set of five laws that stated that California would be admitted a free state and that slave trade would be abolished in Washington D.C., both of which would appeal the North. To please the South, congress would not pass laws regarding slavery in the rest of the territories won from Mexico, and congress would pass a stronger law to help slaveholders capture runaway slaves. Like the Missouri Compromise the Compromise of 1850 was only a short fix. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe that dramatically prtrayed the moral issues of slavery. It increased the popularity of abolitionism. It helped lead to the civil war by increasing sectional tensions between the north and the south and by outraging northerners over slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A bill drafted by Stephen A. Douglas to organize the Nebraska Territory. It divided the territory into two territories: Nebraska and Kansas. In it, he also introduced Popular Sovreignty- a system in which voters decide whether slavery should be allowed or not. Popular Sovreignty in Kansas would lead to "Bleeding Kansas," which would spin-off into many other incidents including: the Sack of Lawrence, Pottawatomie Massacre, Harper's Ferry, and the beating of Charles Sumner. -
Sack of Lawrence
An attack on the town of Lawrence by a proslavery mob. It destroyed the antislavery territorial government. Most of the town was destroyed. To avenge the Sack of Lawrence, John Brown would commit the Pottawatomie Massacre and the raid on Harper's Ferry. He would ignite the fuse that would lead to the Civil War. -
Pottawatomie Massacre
The murder of 5 Proslavery settlers in Kansas by John Brown to avenge the Sack of Lawrence. The massacre was named after the creek where the bodies were found. This would cause more and more fighting in "Bleeding Kansas" and would ignite fighting in congress and lead to Preston Brooks beating Charles Sumner. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
A SCOTUS case in which a slave named Dredd Scott sued for his freedom by claiming since his owner took him to live in free states that he was a free man. SCOTUS ruled against Scott by stating that 1. Since he was a slave, he was not a citizen of the US and 2. That since he lived in Missouri, its slave codes applied to him. SCOTUS also ruled that congress couldn't ban slavery at all, and declared the Missouri Compromise Unconstitutional. This outraged northerners and pleased soultherners. -
Election of 1860
An election in which Abraham Lincoln-Republican beat John Breackinridge-S. Democrat, Stephen A Douglas-N. Democrat, and John Bell-Const. Union. The election of Lincoln caused the South to secede because they feared that Lincoln would abolish slavery. -
South Carolina Suceding from the Union
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the union. Mississipppi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennesee, and North Carolina followed suit. They formed the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as President. This would directly cause the civil war as the Union fought to regain the CSA.
