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Missouri Compromise
During the1800s, US states were evenly divided into 'slave' and 'free'. Missouri requested to be made a 'slave state', so slavery could be legal. Maine wanted to be a 'free state'.Missouri and Maine became states. Missouri is a southern state, and Maine is in the north. Their acceptance to be states added more tension to the south vs north. The Compromise made a line of latitude separated free and slave states.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lincolns-political-landscape/ -
Wilmot Proviso
Congress proposal to prohibit the slavery in territory acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War. It was never passed. Inspired the building of the republican party, which was originally built to oppose slavery, due to the belief that the Federal Government should be able to decide whether or not slavery should be legal in all states. https://causesofthecivilwar.wikispaces.com/The+Wilmot+Proviso+1846 -
Compromise of 1850
Utah, New Mexico, and California were made states. California was instantly a 'free' state, the others were determined later. The South was allowed to pass the 'fugitive slave law', the allow of capture and return of slaves to their 'masters'. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lincolns-political-landscape/ -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas and Nebraska were given the choice to be 'free' states or 'slave' states. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, since Kansas chose to be 'slave' states even though they were in 'free' territory. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lincolns-political-landscape/ -
Republican Founding
The Republican Party was built to prevent the spread of slavery into western territories. Republicans beleived that the ferderal government could not end slavery in 'slave' states, but they wanted to prevent slavery from being established in new terriotories. https://gop.com/history/ -
Abraham Lincoln
In November of 1860, Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected as president. Nations that wanted a Democrat president, such as South Carolina, seceded from the union. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham-Lincoln -
Civil War Begins
No longer a Union State, South Carolina demanded that U.S. Army leave Charleston Harbor, so the Army moved to Fort Sumter, right near the entrance of Charleston Harbor. South Carolina eventually attacked the ships there. This event is regarded as the start of the Civil War, since it was the first battle inspired by the division of the Union and Southern States. https://www.civilwar.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter
