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Texas Became a State
In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican American War in 1846. -
War with Mexico
It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a manifest destiny to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War. -
Franklin Peirce Re-elected
Pierce was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation. His polarizing actions in championing and signing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act failed to stem intersectional conflict, setting the stage for Southern secession. -
Charles Sumner is Attacked by Prestion On The Floor of The Senate
Three days after the speech was delivered Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina (a relative of Senator Butler) entered the nearly deserted Senate Chamber where he found Senator Sumner working at his desk. Declaring the speech a "libel on South Carolina" Brooks fiercely and repeatedly beat the senator on the head and shoulders with his cane, which finally broke into pieces from the strain. -
Scott vs. Emerson Case Was Tried
However, the judge called for a retrial, which was finally held in January 1850. This time, direct evidence was introduced that Emerson owned Scott, and the jury found for Scott's freedom. -
John Brown Raided Harper's Ferry
John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out en route to Harpers Ferry. Descending upon the town in the early hours of October 17th, Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal -
Lincoln Shot, Dies Next Day
while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre as the American Civil War was drawing to a close.[1] The assassination occurred five days after the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army of the Potomac. -
Lecompton Constitution Rejected
Boycotted by free-soilers, the referendum suffered from serious voting irregularities, with over half the 6,000 votes deemed fraudulent
