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Wilmot Proviso
David Wilmot proposed to keep all areas ceded by Mexico, as a result of the war, free states. It was met with strong sectional breaks. -
Election of 1848
Taylor- Whig- Neutral Cass- Democrat- Popular Sovereignty Van Buren- Free-Soil- Against
Issue- Slavery -
Free-Soil Party
Organized in 1848, they persuaded Van Buren to run for them in the presidential election. They wanted to eliminate slavery in all new territories and eventually evolved into the Repunlican party. -
California seeks Admission
California hosts a constitutional convention and seeks admission into the Union as a free state. -
Compromise of 1850
Proposed to allow California to enter the U.S as a free state, and the rest of the Mexican secession slave/neutral. Henry Clay provided the basis. -
Election of 1852
Pierce- Democrat Scott- Whig Hale- Free-Soil
No main issue, parties try to revive old issues. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it told of story of a slave who was torn away from his family, and affected even the Southerners. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act sought to allow popular sovereignty in those areas, and angered basically everyone but the Deep South. It caused even more sectional issues and led to the dissolve of the Whigs and the rise of the Republicans. -
Founding of the Republican Party
The Republican Party comes back into the picture, evolving from the Free-Soil party, Republicans were fully anti-Democratics who believed that slavery wore down the liberty and equality in America. -
Whig Party Dissolves
The Kansas-Nebraska Act finished off the Whigs, who had split into the other parties because of sectional disputes. -
Ostend Manifesto
American ministers met to decide on obtaining Cuba. They wanted to take it from Spain by whatever means necessary, including by force. This outraged Northerners who believed this was the Souths scheme to extend slavery throught the Caribbean. -
Rise of the Know-Nothing Party
The Know-Nothing Party was developed primarily to battle immigrants coming into the U.S They wanted to extend the naturalization period, because of their anti-catholic mindsets and for fear of their jobs. -
Election of 1856
Buchanan- Democrat Freemont- Republican Fillmore- Know-Nothing
Issue- Slavery
Outcome- Buchanan -
Bleeding Sumner
Brooks, a Southern delegate, attacked Sumner after he had put his thought into a heated discussion over the issue of slavery. He badly injured the man, beating him with his cane, making it impossible for him to return to court for 3 years. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott sued for his freedom because he had lived for many years in a "free" state. He was denied because he wasn't considered a citizen and because the Missouri Compromise which he based his points on was ruled unconstitutional. -
Slavery Debate
Lincoln and Douglas debate over the issue of slavery in Freeport, leading to Douglas' Freeport Doctrine that the legislature could easily keep out slavery if they felt the desire. -
Kansas became Free
Kansas is converted back into a free territory which calmed sectional arguments a bit. -
Brown raids Harpers Ferry
Led 18 men from across the Potomac River and seized a government arsenal in Harper's Ferry. He wanted to create a guerilla war that would extend into the Deep South but won little support and was captured and hung. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln- Republican Breckinridge- S.Democrat Douglas- N.Democrat Bell- Constitutional Union
Issue- Slavery
Outcome- Lincoln -
Democratic Party Splits
The Democrats were unable to decide on a candidate, so they split into into Northern and Southern factions, each with their own canadidate for the election.
