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compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). -
publication of uncle toms cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin first appeared as a 40-week serial in National Era, an abolitionist periodical, starting with the June 5, 1851, issue. Because of the story's popularity, the publisher John Jewett contacted Stowe about turning the serial into a book. While Stowe questioned if anyone would read Uncle Tom's Cabin in book form, she eventually consented to the request. -
kansas nebraska act
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory. -
brooks/summer affair
In May 1856, senator Charlse Sumner (he had a really strong opinion about slavery, hated it, and denounced anyone who favored salvery) He was beaten down by Congressman Preston Brooks because of a speech he made where many people considered how bad slavery was. Preston Brooks became a hero in the south because of the act of violence against Charles Sumner. -
dred scott decision
It was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves (or their descendants, whether or not they were slaves) were not protected by the Constitution and were not U.S. citizens. -
jjohn browns raid
a man who would not be deterred from his mission of abolishing slavery. On October 16, 1859, he led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal was thwarted, however, by local farmers, militiamen, and Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Within 36 hours of the attack, most of Brown's men had been killed or captured. -
election of 1860
The election of 1860 was a four-man race led by Lincoln of the Republican Party, John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party, John Breckinridge of the Southern Democratic Party and by Douglas of the National Democratic Party. At stake during this election was the policy of slavery -- Southerners wanted the slave codes to be preserved whereas Northerners hoped to contain it. The Constitutional Union Party was not explicit on this issue, claiming that all issues would be resolved by the Constituti
