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A law passed that admitted two states, Missouri and Maine, Maine being a free state and Missouri being a slave state. The US admitted two states to keep the balance of free and slave states. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 led to slavery only being allowed beneath the 36° 30' latitude line. -
Texas was known as the Republic of Texas. They declared their independence from the Spanish colonizers in 1836 -
The president at the time, President James K. Polk, signed a bill that annexed and admitted Texas into the Union. Texas was the 28th state to be admitted. The US tried in the past to annex Texas, but Congress repeatedly denied it because they feared tensions would rise in the west over slavery and cause a war. -
The Mexican American War started when Mexico refused to acknowledge Texas as an independent territory. Also, the US has just annexed Texas in December of 1845. America also wanted to expand westward (Manifest Destiny). -
David Wimot, a Democratic Congressmen from Pennsylvania, proposed a bill that would prohibit slavery in the territory the US gained from Mexico and the war. The bill never got passed because the senate could not agree on it. -
After 2 years, the Mexican American War ended. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war. Mexico's army was weaker compared to the US, which contributed to their lose. -
This compromise admitted California as a free state. Also added New Mexico and Utah. -
The Fugitive Slave Act allowed for slaves to be returned to their owners, no matter if they are in a free state. This caused controversy because slaves being in a free state should allow them to be free. -
A book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was written due to the recent Fugitive Slave Act. The book exposed how slaves were really, poorly. Many white southerners believed slavery was "moral" and stated how slaves were treated really well and they were being "Christianized". -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned the Missouri Compromise. It allowed for popular sovereignty and created two new territories. The big issue was should the new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, be slave or free states. -
A series of violent acts between pro- and anti-slavery people. This acts followed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Also a major cause that led to the Civil War. These acts lasted from 1854 to 1861. -
The Supreme Court determined that African American people were "not American citizens". The Supreme Court case is called Dred Scott V. Sandford. They ruled that Scott was someone's "property" and could not sue or bring his case to the Supreme Court.