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The expiration of the promise in the Constitution to not prohibit the importation of slaves. This event was political because it dealt with the Constitution, although its effects were also felt socially.
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Established Missouri as a slave state, created Maine as a free state, and outlawed slavery above the 36° 30' latitude line. This event was social and political, having to do with the underlying issue of slavery and maintaining good relations between the North and South.
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A controversial bill that Democrat David Wilmot conceived that aimed to ban slavery in the new lands acquired from Mexico. This event was political and had to do with the social structure of the West.
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An attempt at lessening the blow that admitting California as a free state would have had on the South. It was political, being signed into law in pieces and approved by President Millard Fillmore.
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A part of Senator Clay's compromise which stated that any African American could be deemed as a fugitive and sent to the South. This act was political, although it had a social impact.
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A book written by Harriet Bleecher Stow which exposed slavery and had a very strong effect on the North. This book was social, but affected the country on a political level due to its popularity.
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Created the slave territories of Kansas and Nebraska, undoing the Missouri Compromise. This act was political and dealt with the social structure of the West, similarly to the Wilmot Provision.
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A mini civil war within Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. It affected the United States on a social, political, and economical level.
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This event saw Preston Brooks cane Charles Sumner after he insulted his second cousin, South Carolina Senator Andrew P. Butler. A largely political occurrence that showed the sensitivity surrounding slavery.
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After Dred Scott, a slave, was temporarily taken to free land by his owner and sued for his freedom, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of slavery. This was a social event, the outcome of which was determined by political and economic interests.