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During this time the Compromise of 1850 was enacted which admitted California as a free state, included a stronger fugitive slave law, and delayed the slave status of New Mexico and Utah. The Fugitive Slave Act was also enacted in 1850 which gave the federal government the authority to decide what to do in cases of runaway slaves.
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In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published and discussed topics on slavery. Stowe wrote about its negative effects and it caused an uprising to those who were slave owners at the time.
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In 1853, Franklin Pierce was elected as the 14th president
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In 1854, Stephen A. Douglas sponsored the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed the territories to vote and decide whether they wanted slavery or not. During this time the Whig Party ultimately collapsed and came back together as the Republican Party.
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In 1857, James Buchanan was elected as the 15th president
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A couple of days after the inauguration of Buchanan The Dred Scott v. Sandford case happened. Scott was a slave in Illinois, where it had been prohibited by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. He was suing for his freedom because he claimed residing on free soil made him free. He wanted them to prohibit slavery. In the end, they ruled that they could not prohibit slavery because it violated the 5th amendment right of slaveholders and a black person was not a citizen.
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In 1858, the Lincoln-Douglas debates were held 7 different times and attended by thousands of listeners each time. Lincoln argued that freedom meant to abolish slavery while Douglas argued freedom lay in self-government.
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South Carolina declared its secession from the Union in December 1860. They were the first slave state to secede from the United States. As time went by, more states started to join them.
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In 1861, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president. He held very strong anti-slavery opinions which had the south weary. After his inauguration, more states such as Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded. With conflicts happening between the North and South, War was on the edge of happening.
