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In 1854, the Republican Party was established to fight against the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the expansion of slavery into western states. It opposed the pro-slavery agenda of the South and brought together abolitionists and free-soilers. Southern secession was accelerated by the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, in 1860.
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As a resultof the Mexican-American War, Congressman David Wilmot presented the Wilmot Proviso, which prohibited slavery in any area obtained from Mexico. Although the Proviso was not implemented, it prompted heated debate and exposed growing tensions over slavery's spread, notably between the free and slave states. (McPherson)
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The Mexican-American War resulted in the United States gaining enormous territory in the West, including California, Arizona, and New Mexico, sparking heated disputes about whether slavery should be permitted in these new regions. Slavery's spread into these territories became a significant issue, intensifying the rift between the North, which increasingly opposed its extension, and the South, which wished to extend it.( McPherson)
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The Compromise of 1850 aimed to settle slavery difficulties in new areas. It recognized California as a free state, permitted Utah and New Mexico to vote on slavery, and enacted a more stringent Fugitive Slave Act. While it momentarily relieved tensions, the Fugitive Slave Act infuriated Northern abolitionists and exacerbated differences. (McPherson)
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Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852, showed the horrors of slavery, bolstering abolitionist support in the North and infuriating the South, escalating regional conflict. The novel's great popularity elevated slavery to the forefront of American political issues. Its emotional impact emphasized the widening cultural and moral gulf between the two areas. (McPherson)
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Senator Stephen A. Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska Act gave residents in the Kansas and Nebraska territories the freedom to determine whether or not to legalize slavery, thereby abolishing the Missouri Compromise, which had forbidden slavery north of the line. The Act sparked violent strife in Kansas, dubbed "Bleeding Kansas," when pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups battled. This violent battle exacerbated the tensions between North and South. (108, McPherson)
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Bleeding Kansas was the term for the bloody conflicts over slavery in Kansas that were brought on by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The stark differences between forces that supported and opposed slavery were brought to light by incidents such as the Sack of Lawrence and John Brown's Pottawatomie Massacre. Civil war became more possible as a result of the bloodshed, which also heightened national tensions. ( 144, McPherson)
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The Supreme Court declared in the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford case that African Americans were not citizens and could not file a lawsuit in a federal court. Additionally, it ruled that Congress lacked the power to outlaw slavery in the territories, nullifying the Missouri Compromise. The decision exacerbated relations between the North and South, infuriated the North, and stoked the abolitionist movement. (174, McPherson)
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Abolitionist John Brown attempted to spark a slave revolt in 1859 by leading a botched attack on the Harpers Ferry arsenal. While the North saw him as a martyr, the South, which dreaded rebellions supported by the North, was disturbed by his capture and death. The attack increased tensions between the North and South and raised the prospect of a brutal war over slavery.
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The election of Abraham Lincoln was a turning point in American history. Despite opposing the spread of slavery, Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 without any Southern electoral votes, alarming the South. Fearing a threat to slavery and their way of life, Southern states seceded, forming the Confederacy, making Lincoln's election a direct trigger for the Civil War.