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The Missouri Compromise of 1820
The Missouri Compromise was an effort to maintain the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states. The Missouri Compromise was attained in 1820 granting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. -
The Mexican Cession of 1848
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States. Mexico resigned to the U.S. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. The Mexican Cession was the third largest of territory that was won by the U.S. -
Adding California
In 1849 the request of California to join the Union as a free state resulted in heated debates on the floor of Congress. Many viewed the situation as a great menace to the existence of the Union. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850, was a plan of legislative measures performed by Congress to settle the differences existing between the North and South. Regarding the topic of Slavery in newly formed Territories of the United States. -
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
The passing of the Fugitive Slave Act made it more resolved to put an end to slavery. The Underground Railroad became more active, hitting its peak between 1850 and 1860. The act also brought the issue of slavery before the nation. Many who had previously been uncertain about slavery now took a decisive viewpoint against the foundation. -
New Political Party
The Republicans rapidly gained supporters in the North, they won 11 of the 16 Northern states. By 1860, the majority of the Southern slave states were publicly threatening secession if the Republicans won the presidency. -
Nebraska Kansas Act of 1854
The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Opening new lands for colonization. White male settlers in those territories can determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each district. -
“Bleeding Kansas”
Bleeding Kansas was a series of violent political confrontations with the United States calling for anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery. It took place in the Kansas Territory and the neighboring towns of the state of Missouri between 1854 and 1861. -
Election of 1856
The 1856 presidential contest was a three-way affair involving Democrat James Buchanan, John Fremont, and Millard Fillmore, the former president. Buchanan, aspired to forge a national consensus for compromise on the difficult matter of slavery. -
The Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott went to trial to sue for his freedom in 1847. After a decade of appeals the court reverses, his event was finally brought before the United States Supreme Court. The court also found that the federal government did not have the power to prohibit slavery in its territories. Scott, needless to say, remained a slave. -
The John Brown Raid
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an attempt by the white abolitionist John Brown to start an armed slave revolt in 1859 by seizing a United States armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown's raid, accompanied by 20 men in his party, was shot down by a detachment of the U.S. Marines led by Col. -
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln was a respected state politician in Illinois. He was attractive to the Republican delegates because he was a talented speaker, had a moderate position on slavery and was a Westerner who could mount a challenge to Douglas. -
Lincoln’s Views
Lincoln often expressed moral opposition to slavery in public and secret. Initially, he expected to bring about the eventual extinction of slavery by giving up its further expansion into any U.S. Territory.
