-
Economy of North and South
The north was industrial with factories and the south was industrial with plantations. -
Wilmot Proviso
Representative David Wilmot proposed that Congress blan slavery in all territorites that might become apart of the United States. The proposal failed in the senate but passed in the White House. -
Free-Soil Party
Whig and Democratic parties hoped to win by not taking a stand on the issue of slaverty. They joined forces and became the Free-Soil Party. -
Election of Zachary Taylor
Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, the Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor, and the Free-Soil Party nominated Martin Van Buren. The hero of the Mexican-American War, Zachary Taylor, won the election. -
Fugitive Slave Act
Special government officials were allowed to arrest anyone acused of being a runaway slave. They had no right to trial and all it took was a white witness/slaveholder to swear that a suspect was a slaveholder's property. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Book that was written by Harriet beecher based on an enslaved man named Uncle Tom who was abused by his slaveholder Simon Legree. White southerners were very upset. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Douglass wanted to see a railroad built from Illinois through the Nebraska Territory. He suggested creating two new territories; Kansas and Nebraska. They'd both become free states and this made the southerners mad. Douglass suggested that the issue be resolved by popular soverienty. -
Bleeding Kansas
Porslavery and antislavery settlers all went to Kansas in attempt to win the majority. Kansas had 3,000 voters but almost 8,000 peple voted.Of the 39 people, all but 3 supported proslavery. Antislaveru settlers held another election. There were now 2 governments in Kansas, and then violence broke out. A proslavery sheriff was shot when he attempted to arrest an antislavery settler. He returned the next month with 800 men and attacked the town. -
Bloodhsed in the Senate
Charles Sumner was the leading abolitionist senator and made speeches about the proslavery legislature in Kansas. He singled out Andrew Butler, an elderly senator from South Carolina, in one of his speeches. His nephew, Preston Brooks, went into his office a few days later and beat him with his cane. -
Republican Party
The Whig Party split and a lot of northern Whigs formed a political party called the Republicans. They wanted to stop the spread of slavery into western territories. Their stand attracted a lot of northern Democrats and Free-Soil members. -
The Election of 1856
Candidate John C. Fremont waged a very strong antislavery campaign and won 11 of the 16 free states. James Buchanan won the election. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford Case
Dred Scott was an enslaved person who had once been owned by a US Army doctor. They lived in Illinois, where slavery was illegal. Scott sued for his freedom because he claimed he was free, considering he lived in a state where slavery was illegal. -
Compromise of 1850
Gold was found in California, and enough people had came for it to be admitted as a state. Considering that it was above the Missouri Compromise line, people wanted it to be a free state. The south threatened to secede. Senator Clay it'd end the debate for slavery. It was opposed by President Taylor but supported by new president (because he died) Millard Fillmore. -
The Lincoln and Douglass Debates
Lincoln and Douglass were political rivals, as well as personal ones. Lincoln had challenged Douglass to a lot of political debates. Many people came to hear them speak. Douglass defended popular soverienty, and Lincoln defended taking a stand againts the spread on slavery. Even though Douglass won the elections, Lincoln was now well known throughout the nation. -
John Brown Attacks Harpers Ferry
John Brown was driven out of Kansas after the Pottawatomie Massacre and returned to New England. He started a plot to free the enslaved people in the south. In 1859, Brown and a small group of supporters all went to tattack Harpers Ferry. He wanted to take control of the arms that the US Army stored there. -
Politial Parties Divide
The Democratic party split into two during the elction of 1860. This was because Northern Democrats wouldn't support slavery in the territories. Some of the southerners wanted to fix the problems between the North and South, and formed the Constitutional Union Party. -
Southern States Secede
Lincoln's election made the South feel like they didn't have a vocie in the national government, and they believed that the President and Congress were against their interests. South Carolina seceded first, and they called for a special convention. The convention passed a declaration that the union now subsisting between South Carolina, and the other states, under the name of the US is hereby dissolved. -
The Confederate States of America
The leaders of seven states that left the Union met in Montgomery, Alabama to form a new nation in February, 1861. They called this nation the Confederate States of America. They named former Senator Jefferson Davis as president. -
Crittenden Plan
A plan that was developed by Senator John J. Crittenden to compromise with the South one last time. It didn't pass. -
The Election of 1860
Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln to run for president in 1860. Northen democrats nominated Stephen Douglass, and southern democrats nominated John Breckinridge.The Constituional Union nominated John Bell. The election showed how fragmented the nation had become. Lincoln won all the free states and Breckinridge won all the slave states, except 4.