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The Mexican American War
Conflict between Mexico and America having to do with the annexation of Texas. America was constantly victorious, and the result of the war was the Americans gaining a large chunk of land from the Rio Grande westward towards the Pacific Ocean. -
The Compromise of 1850
A compromise made up of five bills, it allowed California to enter the union as a free state, allowed Washington DC to have slavery, but outlawed the slave trade there. It also admitted Utah and New Mexico as territories that could decide for themselves if they wanted to be free or slave states based on popular sovereignty. It defined new boundaries for Texas, taking it’s claim to part of New Mexico but gave them 10 million dollars in compensation. The last part was the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Part of the Compromise of 1850, this law said that Americans had to help stop runaway slaves and send them back, making sure no one would help them. It also took away slaves right to a trial by jury. -
Pro & Anti Slave Literature
Literature became a big part of the issue of slavery as both anti-slavery and pro-slavery people began to write books and stories trying to convince people of their side and tell stories. Anti-slavery literature especially rose up during this time. One book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe was a huge hit, and brought anti-slavery up as a household topic in a lot of northern homes. -
Bleeding Kansas
Also called the border war, repeated guerilla warfare between anti-slavery and pro-slavery citizens. After the Kansas Nebraska Act, people flooded to Kansas to try and sway the vote in order to get Kansas to be on their side of the issue. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing new states Kansas and Nebraska that were entering the union to decide for themselves through popular sovereignty, or the belief that the government’s power came from the people, whether they would join the union as a free state or a slave state. -
Republican Party Est.
After the Kansas Nebraska Act was passed, the Republican party rose to try and abolish slavery. They came from the former members of the Whig party, and quickly gained support from northerners who agreed with their no slavery ideals. -
Sumner-Brooks Incident
US Senator Preston Brooks repeatedly struck Senator Charles Sumner over the head with a walking cane. Brooks was a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, and Sumner was an abolitionist republican from Massachusetts. -
The Panic of 1857
A financial crisis stemmed from the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Europeans continued to buy less and less agricultural goods from the United States, causing the US economy to suffer. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
An enslaved man, Dred Scott, and his wife sued the government for their freedom. However, the government decided that enslaved people were not citizens of the US and could not expect the same protections from the federal government or the courts. The ruling also said that the federal government had no right to abolish slavery in any one state. -
Lecompton Constituion
One of the four proposed state constitutions for Kansas. It was written by pro-slavery people who wanted Kansas to have slaves, but Kansas citizens denied it. After the President tried to have them admitted under this constitution, Congress said no and they came to the compromise that Kansas could decide for themselves and they were admitted to the union as a free state in 1861. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debates
Abraham Lincoln, the republican candidate for Senate from Illinois, debated Stephen A. Douglass, a democratic senator, seven times over the course of a few months. Spectators and journalists flocked to the debates as the two talked about the maine issue facing the country, slavery. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown, an abolitionist, lead a group of his supporters to raid Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. He was trying to start a slave revolt in order to help with the abolition movements, and destroy the institution of slavery. -
Underground Railroad
A system that enslaved people used to escape bondage. People went in a lot of directions, but the most important thing was for them to get out of the country. People of all races, classes, and genders helped them by housing them and helping them get to their next place safely. After the fugitive slave act, it became more organized so people knew where the safehouses and people that would help were. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln(Rep.) and Douglas(Dem.) went head to head for the chance to be the 16th president of the United States. Of course, the maine issue of the day was slavery. In a pivotal election, Lincoln emerged victorious and was brought into the presidency in the middle of a national crisis that would end up almost tearing the nation in two.