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Missouri was added to the US as a slave state, because of the imbalance Maine was separated from Massachusetts to become a free state. The compromise is signed which makes the southern border of Missouri a line, all states below the line have slavery legal, all states above have slavery illegal. This upset many people in the South, so to appease them, they allowed for Slave owners to catch escaped slaves even if they were in the North of the Missouri line. -
It was a slave rebellion that had spread throughout the South, it ultimately failed, as 55 people had died on the rebels and Southern sides, and led to retaliation by the rebels After the rebellion ended, Slave owners had gotten angry about it, and began treating their slaves even worse. -
Texas was admitted to the US as the 28th state, as a Slave state, it was also payed $10,000,000 to give up the claims to New Mexico. However Texas was a huge state, so California was admitted as a free state to balance the Slave and Free states. Territories were also given the right to vote to be a Slave or Free state once applying for statehood, called Popular Sovereignty. The Fugitive Slave Act was also signed, making it a crime to help escaped slaves, even in the North, this upset many people -
A book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, showing the horrors of slavery, the book set off more outcry by the North as now they began to truly view slavery through the lenses of slaves. The South was upset, viewing it as propaganda. -
Nebraska would be divided into 2 territories, Kansas and Nebraska. Once they reached statehood they applied, which set off Popular Sovereignty, as voting was open, Southerns and Northerners began to move in to the new land to change the vote, because of the disagreement both sides began fighting, which led to more violence. The Democrats lost more support in the North, while the Republican party was started to combat the spread of slavery, which gained more popularity in the North. -
Dred Scott, a slave, sued to become a US citizen, the case reached the Supreme Court, who ruled that people of African ancestry were not US citizens and that they could not sue for freedom, as they were property. Adding insult to injury they ruled that the Missouri Compromise was not legal. This upset more Northerns, and they began to vote for the Republican party in 1860. -
John Brown, a wild abolishist (someone who wants to end slavery), led a raid on Harpers Ferry, a military fort, to capture weapons to give to slaves to begin a revolt, the raid failed and John Brown had been caught, he was hanged for treason and conspiracy against the US. -
After all that had happened, the North riled up for the Republican Party, who promised to end the spread of slavery, give free land in the west to settlers. At the head of the Republican party is Abraham Lincoln, most southern states also refused to put him on the ballot, however despite that, the Democrat vote was split between North and South, leading to the Republicans getting the majority and winning the election. States began to leave the US after the vote, Lincoln made secession illegal.