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War with Mexico - Wilmot Proviso
Proposed by David Wilmot and Pennsylvania congress was a bill amended in order to forbid slavery in any of the new territories acquired from Mexico -
War with Mexico - Treaty of Gaudalupe
Provided by Nicholas Trist; Rio Grande becomes the US-Mexico border, US gains CA and NM for $15M and assumes responsibility for any claims of American citizens against Mexico -
Compromise of 1850
Proposed by Henry Clay due to Southern “fire-eaters”/radicals’ talk of succession due to President Taylor’s admission of California and New Mexico as free states.
Admit California as free to state
Divide rest of Mexican cession into Utah and New Mexico; use popular sovereignty to decide over slavery
Land between TX and NM to new territories and federal government assumes TX’s debt of $10M
No slave trade in D.C but allows whites to hold slaves as before
Fugitive Slave Law -
Fugitive Slave Law
Track down runaway slaves, capture them, and return to Southern owners. Warrants could be used to arrest fugitives, those who helped hide slaves were subject to heavy penalties -
Underground Railroad
Loose network of Northern free blacks and courageous ex-slaves who helped slaves escape to freedom; Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass -
Pro and Con Literature of the 1850's
Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe; portrayed slave owners as cruel and inhuman Impending Crisis of the South 1857 by Hinton R Helper; used statistics to prove that slavery weakened the South’s economy Sociology for the South (1854) & Cannibals All! (1857) by George Fitzhugh; bold pro-slavery author. Many of them compared Northern factory working conditions to that of Southern plantations -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Proposed by Senator Stephen Douglas; gained Southern approval by splitting Nebraska into Nebraska and Kansas, both north of the 36 30’ line and both states would use popular sovereignty to decide over slavery. President Pierce signed. -
Republican Party Est.
Founded in Wisconsin because of KS-NE Act, it's purpose was to stop spread of slavery into new territories, but not to abolish it completely. Second largest party but was isolated in the North -
Bleeding Kansas
Fights broke out between anti-slavery farmers (who created The New England Emigrant Aid Company which paid for abolitionists to settle in Kansas) from the North and Missourians (border ruffians) that settled in eastern Kansas in order to claim land for the South -
Sumner-Brooks Incident
Charles Sumner (anti-slavery) verbally attacked Andrew Butler (pro-slavery), whose nephew Preston Brooks went into Sumner’s office and hit him over the head with a cane. This outraged the North, and the South sent canes to Brooks in order to replace the one he broke. This was a sign of growing passion on both sides. -
Panic of 1857
Prices dropped rapidly, Northern unemployment skyrocketed, South was less affected because cotton prices remained steady; this led to the superiority of the South and the belief that they could survive without the North -
Lecompton Constitution
Missourian settlers of Lecompton, KS submitted a proslavery constitution, in which President Buchanan asked Congress to pass. This was rejected, as the majority of Kansas were Republican abolitionists -
Dred Scott vs Sanford
Supreme court case in which former slave Dred Scott sued for freedom as he returned to Missouri, where he was a slave. Court ruled that African Americans could not sue in court and that slavery could not be excluded in any territory. This delighted Southern Democrats and infuriated Northern Republicans. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) and Stephen Douglas (Democratic) run for Illinois Senator, debating over the issues of slavery, popular sovereignty, and the Dred Scott decision. Douglas was elected, but lost Southern support. Lincoln became a national figure as a result of the debates. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown, his four sons, and some former slaves attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Robert E. Lee and troops capture the group, hanging Brown and six of his followers in Virginia. This attack confirmed the South’s worst fear of radical abolitionism. -
Election of 1860
Candidates included President Buchanan, Stephen Douglas, John C Breckinridge of Kentucky, representing the South, and Lincoln, representing the North and appealing to the West as well, and John Bell of Tennessee. He was form the Constitutional Union Party whose main purpose was to preserve the Union, as Southerners warned secession if Lincoln were to be elected. Lincoln’s victory caused great havoc, as the South called for disunion.
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