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Wilmot Proviso
To prevent free and slave states being balanced, Representative David Wilmot of Pennsylvania proposed a bill known as the Wilmot Proviso. This bill outlawed slavery in any territory the United States might acquire from the war with Mexico. Pictured: Wilmot Proviso -
Compromise Of 1850
Most Californians wanted California to be a free state which would put the balance on the North. Southeners wanted to split California in half and have one half be a free state and the other half be a slave state. In 1850, California was a free state and Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act which will make it easier for slave owners to catch escaping slaves.
Pictured: Map of Compromise Of 1850 -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was a bill that was part of the Compromise of 1850. Southerners backed this law because they considered slaves as their property. For Northerners however, it required them to help recapture runaway slaves and also placed penalties on people who would not cooperate with this law. This law drew many people to the abolisionist cause and many decided to defy the act (even though it meant breaking the law).
Pictured: Flyer of Fugitive slave act -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book published in 1852. It was an anti-slavery book which inspired the North to hate slavery more then ever. White Southeners argued that the book presented a false picture of the South and slavery. Pictured: Cover of Uncle Tom's Cabin -
Formation of Republican Party
The Whig Party began to tear apart because Southern Whigs supported it while Northern Whigs opposed it so the Whig Party split into two. The Southern Whigs joined the Democratic Party and the Northern Whigs joined the Republican Party which was both antislavery and a sectional party. Pictured: Republican Party Logo -
Kansas- Nebraska Act
Senator Douglas proposed a bill in 1854 to organize Nebraska territory. It was known as the Kansas- Nebraska Act and divided the territory into to two parts- Nebraska and Kansas. The states were north of the line drawn in the Missouri Compromise so they would have to be free states. Douglas had an idea to throw out the Missouri Compromise and make a new deal called the Kansas- Nebraska Act and Nebraska would be in the North and Kansas would be in the South. Shown: Kansas- Nebraska Act (map) -
Caning Of Charles Sumner
Senator Charles Sumner spoke against the proslavery forces in Kansas and he insulted a senator from South Carolina (A.P. Butler). One of Butler's relatives (Preston Brooks) heard about the speech and attacked Sumner with a cane. Southeners cheered for Brooks while Northeners were shocked. Antislavery forces untied to make their own political organization called the Republican Party.
Pictured: Charles Sumner -
Bleeding Kansas
There were more proslavery than antislavery in the Kansas Territory. Antislavery settlers rejected the elected government. There was an attack by a proslavery in Lawrence, Kansas which would be called The Sack Of Lawrence. Later, John Brown led an attack called Potawatomic Massacre and a civil war broke out in Kansas.
Pictured: Bleeding Kansas Fight -
Dred Scott Case
After Scott's owner died, he argued that he was a free slave because he lived in a territory where slavery was illegal. Scott's case was called Dred Scott v. Sanford which reached the Surpreme Court in 1856. In 1857, the Court ruled against Scott saying that he wasn't a U.S. citizen so he couldn't sue in U.S. Courts. Pictured: Dred Scott -
Attack on Harper's Ferry
John Brown planned to capture weapons in the U.S arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia because Brown wanted to provoke a slave uprising. They waited for slaves to come to Harpers Ferry, take the weapons, and start freeing people all in the South. Pictured: John Brown Painting -
Election of 1860
In the Election of 1860, it was mostly two different elections with one for the North and the other for the South. In the North, Abraham Lincoln went against Stephen Douglas while in the South, John Breckinridge and John Bell battled against each other. Lincoln won the election and got most of his votes from the North and West. Pictured: map of election of 1860 -
Secession
Since Lincoln was elected president, states started to secede from the Union. South Carlolina was the first state to secede and more Southern states followed shortly after. The states met together and joined the Confederate States Of America. The attempts at a compromise had failed and the issue of slavery was tearing the nation apart.
Pictured: Abraham Lincoln
