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This series of laws attempted to balance free and slave state interest. California was admitted as a free state, while the territories of Utah and New Mexico could decide on slavery through popular sovereignty. It also included the Fugitive Slave Act, which favored the South, and banned slave trade in Washington, D.C., which favored the North. -
Part of the Compromise of 1850, this law forced citizens to help capture runaway slaves and denied enslaved people the right to a trial by jury. It outraged Northerners, who saw it as proof that slavery was spreading its influence even into free states. It also strengthened the South's control over the institution of slavery. -
This novel exposed the brutal realities of slavery and stirred strong anti-slavery feelings in the North. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies and is credited with turning many Northerners into abolitionists, further dividing the nation. -
Douglass's powerful speech criticized America for celebrating freedom and independence while millions remained enslaved. It became one of the most famous abolitionist speeches in history and inspired both free Blacks and white allies to intensify the push for abolition. -
This act, proposed by Senator Stephen Douglas, allowed settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide whether to allow slavery. It effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise and led to violent conflicts known as "Bleeding Kansas." The South viewed it as a victory, while the North saw it as a betrayal. -
Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers flooded into Kansas to influence the vote on slavery, resulting in bloody violence. This showed how deep the divide between North and South had become and foreshadowed the coming Civil War. Ranged from 1854-1858 -
The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no power to ban slavery in the territories. This decision invalidated decades of compromise and angered the North, strengthening the South's legal defense of slavery. -
Abolitionist John Brown led an armed raid on a federal arsenal in Virginia, intending to start a slave uprising. The raid failed, but Brown's bravery turned him into a martyr for the anti-slavery cause, while the South saw it as proof that the North wanted to incite rebellion. -
Lincoln's victory, without any Southern electoral votes, showed how divided the country had become. His opposition to the spread of slavery into new territories alarmed the South and convinced many Southern states that secession was their only option. -
Following Lincoln's election, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. This event triggered a wave of secession across the South, as states prepared to form their own government. -
Delegates from seceded Southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to create the CSA. Jefferson Davis was chosen as President, marking the official formation of a separate government and escalating tensions with the North. -
Confederate forces fired on the U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, officially starting the Civil War. The South celebrated an early victory, but it United the North under Lincoln's call to preserve the Union.