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Abolitionist Movement
Abolitionism was the movement in opposition to the institution of slavery, which demanded immediate emancipation of all slaves. This was considered radical, and there were only a few adamant abolitionists before the Civil War. Abolitionists were quite vocal in voicing slavery as a nationwide issue, and as most all abolitionists were from the North, led to a division between North and South. A newspaper known as The Liberator, was banned in the South due to its "incendiary" contents. -
Prigg vs. Pennsylvania
Edward Prigg was a slave bounty hunter hired to find and capture Margaret Morgan, who had allegedly fled to Pennsylvania from slavery. When he abducted Morgan, Pennsylvania charged Prigg with a felony for forcibly removing her from the state. Prigg then appealed to the South Carolina, saying that the Pennsylvania law violated the Constitution, which led to a Fugitive Slave Act and sectional tension with the free states of the North. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise makes it so slavery became outlawed in Washington D.C. California was admitted as a free state, and states like Utah and New Mexico were determined through popular sovereignty. However, the Utah and New Mexico area were populated mostly by Mormons (avidly against slavery) and the land in New Mexico is mainly desert so no plantations would be made there. At this time, the Fugitive Slave Act is passed. Sectionalism was high because none of the states were going to be slave states. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through popular sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory. The 36-30 line was raised. Northerners payed people to move to Kansas and Southerners payed Border Ruffians to keep the North out. The territory of "bleeding" Kansas was divided. -
Panic of 1857
Inconveniently, a recession occurred in 1857 during the sectional tension between the North and the South known as the "Panic of 1857." The causes were due to poor investments in internal improvements and the free labor, which mainly affected the North. This caused sectionalism because it nullify the North's argument that free labor and the industrial North apparently was not economically logical in opposed to slavery. -
Brown & Harper's Ferry
Brown & Harper's Ferry was the a rebellion led by John Brown and his abolitionist sons. Harper's Ferry was a West Virginia arsenal on an island and because of the lack of communication, there were no slaves, only Harper and his sons. Also, as the arsenal was on an island, Harper was eventually captured after all his sons were killed. His last words were, "The guilty crimes of this nation will never be purged away, but with blood. I have no regrets." This rebellion furthered the sectionalism. -
Presidential Election of 1860
The Presidential Election of 1860 was the last straw for the South. The four candidates running were: Abraham Lincoln (Republican), John Bell (Constitutional Union), Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat) and John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat). The Republican party won because the Democratic party was divided over the institution of slavery. Abraham Lincoln accepts leaving slavery were it is, but not allowing the extension of slavery. South could not increase slaves states, thus: secession.
