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Missouri Compromise
Kept the number of free and slave states equal. It kept tension low until the American- Mexican War brought in new land. -
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Mexican War
This war brought in new land that both the North and South wanted to influence. This cause more tension because this was a chance for Southerners to create more slave states. -
Wilmot Proviso
All land won from Mexico is FREE. Southerners blocked the bill Tension raised, upsetting the Northerners. -
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California Gold Rush
Thousands of miners travel to Northern California after news reports of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill had spread around the world. This caused Californians to apply for statehood in 1849. This raised tension because this upset the free/slave balance. -
Compromise of 1850
This determined the status of the land from the Mexican Cession, including California. The Compromise of 1850 eased tension because it gave both the North and South some benefits. -
Compromise of 1850
This determined the status of the land from the Mexican Cession, including California. The Compromise of 1850 eased tension because it gave both the North and South some benefits. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Most controversial part of the Compromise of 1850. It forced Northerners to aid slave catchers and blacks were falsely identified as runaways, denied jury trials, and kidnapped to the South as slaves. This caused tension to increase because the North and South became more divided. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is published
Harriet B. Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book about slavery. The book was graphic and made slavery look terrible. Northerners who had been indifferent toward slavery began to hate slavery. Southerners banned the book, calling it propaganda and full of lies. Tension raised because the North and South became more divided over slavery. -
Republican Party Forms
By February 1854, anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the upper mid-western states to discuss the formation of a new party. One such meeting is generally remembered as the founding meeting of the Republican Party. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Tension raised because the act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude. -
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"Bleeding Kansas"
A series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery "Free-Staters" and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian", or "southern yankees" elements in Kansas. -
Charles Sumner caned in the Senate
Preston Brooks came into the Senate with his cane and started beating Charles Sumner until he was unconscience. This was the first type of violence shown about sectionalism. This increased tension because other people probably felt that thaey could do the same. -
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
The Supreme Court ruled that Americans of African descent, whether free or slave, were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. The Court also ruled that Congress lacked power to ban slavery in the U.S. territories. This angered Northerners so tension increased. -
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John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry
The militant abolitionist, John Brown, seized the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry. He planned to end slavery by massacring slave owners and freeing their slaves. He was captured and executed. -
Abraham Lincoln elected President
Lincoln won the party's presidential nomination. In the November 1860 election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the Northern faction of a heavily divided Democratic Party, as well as Breckinridge and Bell. -
Southern States begin to secede
When Abraham Lincoln was elected as president in 1860. Southerners thought the government was becoming too strong. ... South Carolina was the first to leave the Union and form a new nation called the Confederate States of America. Four months later, six other states seceded. -
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Battle at Fort Sumter
The first major land battle of the Civil War. Tension increased because Northerners wanted revenge.
