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War with Mexico
(1846 - 1848) Consequences of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were that the Rio Grande was considered the southern border of Texas, and the United States conquered the states of California and New Mexico. -
Compromise of 1850
Compromise made by Henry Clay to let California be a free state, adopt a new fugitive slave law, and decided other minor disputes. -
Fugitive Slave Law
The law was used to track down escaped slaves in the north and return them to the south. Antislavery Northerners forcibly resisted the law, and it created another divide between the north and south. -
Underground Railroad
(1850 - 1860) A network of both blacks and whites working together to free slaves from the south and bring to the north or Canada. -
Pro & Con Literature
(1852 - 1857) Northerners published books such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Impending Crisis of the South which attacked the institution of slavery. The South responded with books such as Sociology for the South and Cannibals All! which were made to defend slavery. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Stephen Douglas wanted to build a railroad west and needed southern approval. They decided to make a bill that divided the Nebraska Territory into the Kansas territory and Nebraska territory. Each one would be able to decide whether or not they would have slavery. This gave southerners a chance to expand slavery where they didn't have a chance before. -
Birth of the Republican Party
The Republican Party formed in Wisconsin as a reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and their goal was to prevent the spread of slavery into future states and territories. -
Bleeding Kansas
(1855 - 1857) Fights broke out in Kansas over the issue of slavery. Pro-slavery forces burned Lawrence to the ground and John Brown retaliated. -
Sumner-Brooks Incident
Senator Charles Sumner verbally attacked the Southern Senator Andrew Butler. Andrew's nephew Preston Brooks beat Sumner with a cane in retaliation. The North hated him and the South praised him. -
Panic of 1857
Economic depression that plummeted prices in the north, and caused high unemployment in the north. The south was less affected due to their stable cotton prices, and made them consider leaving the union as they felt superior to the poor north. -
Lecompton Constitution
(1857 - 1858) The Lecompton Constitution was a proslavery document that was not supported by the majority of Kansans. It did not pass in Congress and Kansas was able to stay antislavery. -
Dred Scott v Stanford
A proslavery decision that angered many Northerners. The decided that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and couldn't prevent slavery. It also decided that African Americans weren't meant to be citizens. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A series of debates between Douglas and Lincoln in the race for Illinois Senator. They debated slavery and Lincoln spoke against it. Lincoln lost but would become a national figure in the 1860 election. -
John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry
John Brown led a small band of radical abolitionists to try and start a slave uprising. He attacked a Federal arsenal and planned to distribute guns to the slaves. It failed and he and the others were sentenced to death. -
Election of 1860
The election that would test whether the union could survive. The Democrats were the best hope for a compromise but they broke up. Lincoln would end up winning the election.
