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The Wilmot Proviso
California and territories of Utah and New Mexico would be closed to slavery forever. This caused the South to think the North was tipping the scales in Congress. -
Free-Soil Party
Opposed the extension of slavery into the territories. -
Underground Railroad/Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was a conductor in this system of escape routes. She helped slaves escape from their masters and get to freedom. -
Compromise of 1850
Created a series of resolutions in hopes to settle controversy between free and slave states. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Under the law, alleged fugitives were not entitled to a trial by jury. For a slave to return, the slaveowner was required to describe the escapee. -
Popular Sovereignty
Gave the residents of a territory the right to vote for or against slavery. This provision appealed to both the North and the South. -
Stephen A. Douglas
Picked up the pro-compromise reigns after Clay resigned. Decided to reintroduce the provisions of the Compromise one at a time to make them more likely to pass. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin/Harriet Beecher Stowe
The novel was popular among the North and the South. It told of how slavery was not just a politial battle, but how it was a great struggle. -
Presidency of Franklin Pierce
He won because Winfield Scott didn't show full support of the Compromise of 1850. This destroyed the Whig Party completely and caused the North and the South to look for different parties to join. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Repealed the Missouri Compromise and used popular sovereignty in it's place. -
Know-Nothing Party
A group of nativists who were afraid of Papal Power. Believed that Catholics would overthrow the government. -
Republican Party
Wanted to keep slavery out of the territories and also opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. -
John Brown
Abolitionist who believed God told him to fight against slavery. He was part of the reason for the beginning of "Bleeding Kansas." -
Bleeding Kansas
Kansas became known by this when massacres happened throughout the state between proslavery and antislavery voters. -
Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner
Southern congressman Preston Brooks beat Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane because Sumner's speech offended Brooks, South Carolina, and his uncle. This divided the North and South even more. -
Presidency of James Buchanan
Nominated Democrat. He was neutral over the Kansas-Nebraska Act which won his presidency because he didn't have an opinion. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott wanted to sue his owner because they lived on free land. but he could not sue in federal court because he could never be a citizen. This caused the issue of slavery to come up again. -
Freeport Doctrine
The response Douglas gave to Lincoln's question if slavery could be voted out before a territory became a state. It proved that there was a way around the Dred Scott decision. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
John Brown led black and white men into Harpers' arsenal to arm slaves so they could rise against their masters. The uprising didn't happen and Brown's men and himself were killed. The North and South reacted very differently to the news of his hanging. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln.
Because Lincoln was elected seven states were outta here (they seceded). -
Formation of the Confederate States of America
The new government was very much like the United States' with a few changes, specifically the acceptance of slavery. Each state was also sovereign and independent which hurt the unification of the South. -
Presidency of Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis became the president of the Confederate States and declared that the time for compromise was over.
