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Missouri Compromise
An agreement made by Congress in 1820 under which Missouri was admitted to the Union as a state with slavery and Maine was admitted as a state without slavery -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
A rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831, led by Nat Turner. The rebels killed between 55 and 65 people, at least 51 of whom were White -
Gag Rule
A series of rules that forbade the raising, consideration, or discussion of slavery in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1836 to 1844. -
Wilmot Proviso
A proposal made in 1846 to prohibit slavery in the territory added to the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War -
Harri Tubman escapes slavery
On September 17, 1849, Harriet, Ben and Henry escaped their Maryland plantation. The brothers, however, changed their minds and went back. With the help of the Underground Railroad, Harriet persevered and traveled 90 miles north to Pennsylvania and freedom. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published
is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
An act passed in 1854 that created the Kansas and Nebraska territories and abolished the Missouri Compromise by allowing settlers to determine whether slavery would be allowed in the new territories. -
Bleeding Kansas
Kansans engaged in a violent guerrilla war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in an event known as Bleeding Kansas which significantly shaped American politics and contributed to the coming of the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
A Supreme Court decision in 1857 that held that African Americans could never be citizens of the United States and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
A series of political debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, who were candidates in the Illinois race for U.S. senator, in which slavery was the main issue -
John Brown raids Harpers Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown, from October 16 to 18, 1859, to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. It has been called the dress rehearsal for, or Tragic Prelude to, the Civil War. -
Abraham Lincoln elected
The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 6, 1860.