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Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to enter the US as a slave state, which would offset the balance of free states and slave states. To fix this, Maine entered as a free state. Also declared that any future state north of the 36° 30' parallel would enter as a free state, and any state below it could enter as a slave state. -
Mexican-American War
James Polk requested that war be declared on Mexico, but many Northern Whigs opposed. A large majority in both houses approved, and the US went to war. Most of the war was fought on Mexican soil by small armies. Stephen Kearny took Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Southern California. John C. Friedmont took northern CA in June 1846, and claimed it as an independent republic. General Taylor's forces won at Buena Vista in February 1847. In September 1847, Winfield Scott's army captured Mexico City. -
Wilmot Proviso
US entry into Mexico sparked controversy, as northerners believed that this war was simply just a way for the south to spread slavery. Pennsylvanian congressman David Wilmot proposed an appropriations bill be amended to forbid slavery in any new territories acquired from Mexico. It passed the House twice, but was defeated in the Senate. -
Mexican-American War (Causes)
After Texas was annexed and joined the US, its southern border with Mexico was disputed. The US claimed it was along the Rio Grande, but Mexico claimed it was farther up, along the Nueces River. President Polk sent John Slidell to compromise, and ordered Zachary Taylor to lead a group of soldiers across the Rio Grande. The group was captured by the Mexican army, and 11 were killed. Polk used this to justify his request for Congress to declare war. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Slave Dred Scott had lived in the free state of Wisconsin for two years with his master before returning to his home state of Missouri in 1846. He sued, saying that his residence on free soil made him a free citizen. The case made its way to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that Scott had no right to sue, as the Framers did not intend African Americans to be citizens, Congress could not deprive a person of their property, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
Mexican-American War (Consequences)
After General Taylor defeated Mexico at Buena Vista, US diplomat Nicholas Trist negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Higo with Mexico: first, the southern border of Texas would be the Rio Grande, and second, the US would take possession of California and New Mexico, along with paying $15m to Mexico and assumption of the territories' debts. It was opposed by Whigs due to being seen as an expansion of slavery, and by southern Democrats because they wanted to expand even further into Mexico. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Included in the Compromise of 1850 was the creation of a more strictly enforced Fugitive Slave Act. The act stated that any runaway slaves found in the North would be forcibly returned to their master. Fugitive slave cases were placed under exclusive jurisdiction of the federal gov't, and special US commissioners could issue special warrants to arrest fugitives. Even those who claimed to be free were not allowed a trial by jury, and anyone who attempted to protect fugitives were punished. -
Compromise of 1850
In 1849, CA wrote a state constitution that banned slavery. President Taylor supported this decision, along with banning slavery in NM. This sparked talks of secession from radical southerners. Henry Clay proposed a compromise: admit CA as a free state, divide the remainder of the Mexican Cession into two new territories and allow them to vote for slavery, give a disputed land between TX and NM to new territories, ban the slave trade in DC, and write a new Fugitive Slave Act. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
An anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. This was the most influential book of its day, depicting the conflict between the enslaved man Tom and his harsh master Simon Legree. The book moved a generation of Northerners and Europeans to believe that all slave owners were cruel, inhuman beings. Southerners condemned the "untruths" of the book, and saw it as proof of the North's incurable prejudice of the South. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
After Franklin Pierce won the election of 1852, the Democratic Party was in control of Congress and the White House. Senator Stephen A. Douglass devised a plan of building a transcontinental railroad to promote Western business. However, he needed to win Southern approval. He introduced a bill that would divide the Nebraska territory into Kansas and Nebraska territories. Slavery in these regions would be determined by popular sovereignty, despite being above the 36° 30' line. -
Bleeding Kansas
With popular sovereignty deciding Kansas's fate as a slave or free state, fighting broke out between pro-slavery and antislavery citizens. Proslavery Missourians crossed into Kansas to create a proslavery legislature in Lecompton. An antislavery legislature was set up in Topeka. In 1856, proslavery forces attacked the antislavery town of Lawrence. Two days later, abolitionist John Brown retaliated with his sons, killing 5 settlers at the proslavery Pottawatomie Creek. -
Charles Sumner Attacked
The Pierce administration ignored the conflict in Kansas, as the fighting worse. In 1856, Mass. Senator Charles Sumner attacked the Democratic administration in a harsh speech. His remarks included personal charges against SC senator Andrew Butler. Butler's nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks, defended his uncle's honor by walking into the Senate and beating Sumner over the head with a cane. Brooks actions were applauded by the South, but the North was outraged, and voted to censure him. -
Lecompton Constitution
One of James Buchanan's, the Democratic candidate who won the 1856 election, first challenges was whether or not to accept Kansas's state constitution, submitted by the proslavery Lecompton legislature. The constitution did not have the support of the majority of settlers, but Congress was asked to accept the constitution. It was rejected, as many Democrats had joined the new antislavery Republican party. In 1858, the constitution was rejected by Kansas settlers, who were also mainly Republican. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates
Senator Stephen Douglas’s re-election was the nation’s focus. Former member of Illinois legislature Abraham Lincoln challenged him. Lincoln was an unknown compared to Douglas. Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but spoke about the moral issues of slavery, and used attacked Doiglas’s seeming indifference to it during debates in Illinois. In Freeport, Douglas states that slavery could not be maintaied without slave codes. He won re-election, but Lincoln won the republican presidential nomination. -
John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown attempted to start a slave uprising in Virginia in Oct. 1859. His plan was to attack the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and arm the slaves. An army led by Robert E. Lee captured Brown’s group and they were hanged. Moderate northerners condemned the group’s actions, but southerners believed that the North was trying to abolish slavery with revolts. -
Election of 1860
At the start of 1860, Democrats were split on who to nominate. Stephen Douglas was the leading candidate, but was blocked by angry southerners and supprters of President Buchanan. They held a second convention in Baltimore, where slave states walked out, allowing Douglas to be nominated, and the others group to nominate VP Breckinridge. This election gave rise to the Republican Party, who nominated Abraham Lincoln and expected and easy victory over the divided Democrats. -
SC secedes from the Union
The Republican Party only controlled the White House after the 1860 election, but southern secessionists felt that Lincoln’s election was enough to call for immediate disunion. In Dec. 1860, SC seceded from the Union. In the next 6 weeks, GA, FL, Miss., LO, and TX followed, and together they created the Confederate States of America. -
Crittiden Compromise
Lame duck president Buchanan did nothing to prevent to South from seceding. Congress, however was much more active. Senator John Crittiden proposed an amendment that would allow slavery south of the 36°30’paralell. It was rejected by Lincoln for violating the Republican Party’s goal to prevent the spread of slavery. -
Attack on Ft. Sumter
After the South seceded from the Union, Lincoln attempted to avoid conflict, but would not surrender. When he tried to resupply a federal fort at Sumter, Confederate forces attacked. The Union army surrendered, and the Civil War started.
