-
Period: to
Mexican-American War
An armed conflict between the U.S. and Mexico over land. Mexico believed the land belonged to them and the U.S. desired the land and wanted more. The land is what we know as Texas today. It resulted in the U.S. gaining the territory and other lands as well. -
Compromise of 1850
A collection of bills passed in late 1850. It kept the promises of the Missouri Compromise alive, which was over the subject of slavery. The results of this were new states being admitted as free states and allowing other states to decide for themselves. It ended up worsening the sectional crisis. -
Fugitive Slave Law
This law empowered the federal government allowing them to deputize regular citizens in arresting runaway slaves. Meaning they could capture and return runaway slaves within their territory. This law trumped Pennsylvania's personal liberties law. As a result, many free blacks were captured and sold into slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Douglas proposed a plan to take a large portion of Nebraska and use it to create the Kansas territory. The Kansas-Nebraska act was the act of deciding if Kansas would be a slave or free state. As a result, they held an election to determine the issue. This causes many migrants to come and pitch their votes to defend their opinion. -
Period: to
Bleeding Kansas
The first sectional crisis that turned into a national crisis. This event attracted many people representing extreme sides of slavery. It was a conflict between pro-slavery, free-staters, and abolitionists. As a result, Kansas entered the union as a free state in January of 1861. -
Period: to
Underground Railroad
A series of safe houses and hideaways that both men and women used. The main purpose was to allow slaves in the south to escape to the northern free states. As a result over 100,000 slaves escaped to enjoy their freedom. -
Republican Party establishment
After the antislavery political movement in 1854, a new party was formed called the Republicans. Lincoln carved out a message that perfectly explained the main ideas of the party. -
Sumner-Brooks Incident
After a speech to congress senator Charles Sumner was violently beaten with a cane by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina. This took place on the floor of the Senate chamber. Along with other accusations Sumner accused senator Andrew Butler (Brook's cousin) of SC. of defending slavery so he could have sexual access to Black women. Due to this, Brooks felt he needed to defend his cousin and nearly killed Sumner. -
Panic of 1857
It was a financial panic in the U.S. caused by the decline of the international economy. Over-expansion also played a part in the panic. The Southern states suffered little from this. However, the Northern state suffered greatly and slowly recovered -
Lecompton Constitution
The second of four proposed constitutions for the state of Kansas. It was strongly pro-slavery. The issue never went into effect. -
Dred Scott v Sandford
The decision ruled that Black Americans could not be citizens of the U.S. and could be transferred from state to state regardless of the state's law. This decision signified the government's idea of slavery expansion. As a result, the Supreme Court upheld slavery in the U.S., denied the legality of Black citizenship in America, and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. -
Period: to
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
It was a series of political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Abraham being the challenger and Douglas being the incumbent. It was over the issue of slavery extension into the territories. As a result, Douglas won, but Abraham had much of the spotlight. -
Period: to
John Brown's Raid
Brown's raid was an attempt to arm slaves and start a revolution in hopes of abolishing slavery. As a result, many of Brown's men were killed including his sons. Brown was imprisoned and sentenced to execution. -
Election of 1860
Projected to produce the nation's first antislavery president, the election of 1860 threw the nation into a path of war. Republicans were antislavery while Democrats in the South still favored slavery. This caused a lot of tension. Abraham Lincoln ended up winning the election with 40% majority vote and 0 southern state votes in the electoral college. -
Pro and Anti-Slavery Literature
The purpose for these was to help people understand their stance on the issue of slavery. It talks about the background of slavery and its benefits and downfalls.