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Compromise of 1850
A package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. -
California becomes 31st state
California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850
Californians sought statehood and, after heated debate in the U.S. Congress arising out of the slavery issue, California entered the Union as a free, non slavery state by the Compromise of 1850. -
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”-
An anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman. -
Election of 1852
The 17th presidential election between Democratic party, Franklin Pierce, and Whig party, Winfield Scott. Election held Tuesday, November 2, 1852. -
Gadsden Purchase
An agreement between the United States and Mexico, finalized in 1854, in which the United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
A series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery "Free-States" and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian", or "southern Yankees" elements in Kansas between 1854 and 1861, including "Bleeding Congress". -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed citizens in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to decide locally whether to allow slavery. -
Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks incident
On May 22, 1856 Representative Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner an abolitionist, with a walking cane in retaliation for a speech given by Sumner two days earlier in which he fiercely attacked slaveholders including a relative of Brooks. -
Dred Scott decision
A controversial ruling made by the Supreme Court in 1857, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. Dred Scott, a slave, sought to be declared a free man on the basis that he had lived for a time in a “free” territory with his master. -
Douglas/Lincoln debates
A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, when both were campaigning for election to the United States Senate from Illinois. Much of the debating concerned slavery and its extension into territories such as Kansas. -
John Brown Raid
An effort by white abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. -
Election of 1856
The 18th presidential election between Democratic party James Buchanan and Republican party, John C. Frémont and another candidate named Millard Fillmore. Election held Tuesday, November 4, 1856.
