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Wilmot Proviso
This bill aimed to outlaw slavery in territories taken forom Mexico. The bill passed in the House of Representatives but was defeated in the Senate thus causing a division in Congress.Although, not a success it led to the formation of the Free Soil Party. -
The Compromise of 1850
California was admitted as a free state and salve trade was abolished in Washington D.C. No laws would abolish slavery in territories won from Mexico. Congress would also pass stronger laws for slave owners to capture runaway slaves. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Stephen A. Douglas created a bill to govern the Nebraska Territory. He split the territory into two, naming the territories, Nebraska and Kansas. He did this to balance out slavery issues. -
Bleeding Kansas
Proslavery and antislavery settlers enter Kansas.Antislavery settlers start boycotting the government and start forming their own government while Proslavery settlers start attacking Laurence Texas. This causes a civil war to break out in the Kansas Territory. -
Election of 1856
James Buchanan appeals to most Southerners. He appeals to them because he wants to maintain the Union. Eventually he wins the election. -
The Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott is taken to a territory where slavery is illegal but then returns to Missouri, a slave state. When he sues for freedom, the judge rejects it because he is not a U.S. citizen and he is currently bound by Missouri's slave code. The case resulted in the permission for slavery to spread anywhere in the U.S and free African Americans couldn't become citizens. -
Election of 1860
This election turns into a 'race' between the North and the South. Lincoln appeals to the north while Breckenridge wins in the South. Since Lincoln recieves the most popular and electoral votes, he wins the election. -
Secession
Some of the Southern states secede from the U.S. They argue that since they had the right to enter the Union, they also have the right to leave the Union. They form the Confederate States of America.