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The Second Great Awakening
A religious revival in the early 19th century. Science and rationalism made room for religious revival through camp meetings and leaders. The U.S. united through religious movements. -
Missouri Compromise
Compromise created by Henry Clay. It regulated slavery in the western territories by prohibiting the practice in the Louisiana Territory north of parallel 36'30' north, except within Missouri. This eased sectional tensions by not abolishing slavery and setting an exact line. -
Rise of Abolitionism
The movement in opposition to slavery that often demanded a immediate, uncompensated emancipation of all slavery. Was a mainly northern movement as southerners supported slavery. -
Gag Resolution
Several resolutions passed in Congress in 1836-1844. This provided an effect that no petition against slavery should be received/heard in the House of Reps. This really separated the North/South because while the South had slavery and wanted it to be protected, the Northerners did not allow slavery and had no benefits to these. -
Election of 1844
Election that led to President James K. Polk being elected as president. It was a close race between him and Whig candidate Henry Clay. Polk helped unite the States by pushing for Texas and Oregon annexation. -
Annexation of Texas
Prior to the American Mexican War, Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico to negotiate an agreement that the Rio Grande would be the southern border of Texas. The United States annexed Texas and as a result the Mexican American War began. Many states were in favor of annexing Texas, with the only issue whether of not it would be a slave holding state or not. -
Mexican American War
An armed conflict between the U.S. and Mexico that went from 1846-1848. It followed the annexation of Texas in 1845, which Mexico considered part of its territory. Many people fought in this war uniting the country since both the North and South hoped to claim it as a free/slave state. -
Compromise of 1850
An agreement between the North and South dealing with the land gained from the Mexican American war. North receives California as a free state and the South gets a tighter Fugitive Slave Act. New Mexico and Utah territory is based on popular sovereignty. This was an effort to unite the states and not cause a dispute over which areas would have slaves vs be free. -
Creation of the Republican Party
A political party that still exists today. It was composed of Northerners from both major parties at the time, the Democrats and the Whigs, and a few No-Nothings as well. They were created because they did not favor the spread of slavery into the new territories. Southerners did not like this and felt very attacked as they felt they would be forced to give up slavery. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Ended the peace established between the North and the South by the Compromise of 1850. Repealed the Missouri Compromise and established that popular sovereignty would take place in new territories. This was opposed by Northern Democrats and Whigs. This led to Southerners rushing into the new territories to try to claim them as slave states. This angered the Northerners greatly, leading to violence. -
Bleeding Kansas
A sequence of violent events involving abolitionists and pro-slavery elements that took place in Kansas-Nebraska territory. This dispute further strained relations between the North and the South, making the civil war begin to approach rapidly. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
A Missouri slave sued for his freedom after staying in a free area of land for four years. He claimed the Missouri Compromise made him a free man. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he could not sue in federal court because he was property, not a citizen. This angered the North because they felt they did not have control over their territory. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
A series of debates that occurred between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858 when both were campaigning for election to the U.S. Senate from Illinois. Much of the debating involved key issues like slavery and its extension into territories such as Kansas. It split support between North and South. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln won the election because the Democratic party was divided over slavery. As a result, the South no longer felt like they had a voice in politics and a number of states seceded from the Union.