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Missouri Compromise of 1820
In order to maintain balance among representation in government between the North and the South, Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Massachusetts split its northern territory to form Maine, a free state. The 36 30 parallel line was also established as the border between slave states and free states. -
Wilmot Proviso
Congressman David Wilmot brings up the topic of slavery to congress - everyone is stunned because nobody wanted to talk about it. Since congress had to address every issue brought to the table, Southern politicians were forced to defend their stand on slavery. -
Zachary Taylor
Taylor was a war hero who had never held political office. During Taylor's 16-month presidency starting in 1848, he sought to keep the nation together. He stopped the spread of slavery and was against the Compromise of 1850. He died from severe stomach pains from eating cherries and milk. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay creates another compromise. California is admitted as a free state. Utah and New Mexico are to be decided by popular sovereignty (people from the area vote for or against slavery). Texas also drops its claim to land north of the 32nd parallel. Finally, the slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C. (but not slavery itself). Neither sides were very happy with the Compromise. -
Millard Fillmore
Fillmore was regarded as a faker or poser. He belonged to the Whig party, and was Zachary Taylor's vice president. He was elected president shortly after Taylor's death. He was from the North, and signed the Compromise of 1850, which made both the North and South furious. -
Fugitive Slave Act
*Part of the Compromise of 1850.
The Fugitive Slave Act (nicknamed the Bloodhound Law) was strengthened - It became illegal to assist or hide runaway slaves. All free Black men and women must carry papers, or they faced getting sent back to the South. The North is FURIOUS. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes this book to expose the reality of slavery. Number one novel for the century. The North was horrified by the stories within the book, and felt that they had to do something. The South felt misinterpreted - they banned the book. -
Franklin Pierce
Signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. Did not do anything to help Bleeding Kansas. Allowed slavery to go westward. -
Creation on the Republican Party
The Republican party forms in the North in an attempt to rally against slavery. Founded by anti-slavery activist in 1854 due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The first convention was in Jackson, Michigan. Abraham Lincoln was the GOP's first president, elected in 1860. -
Kansas Nebraska Act/Bleeding Kansas
Stephen Douglas, a Democrat from Illinois, introduces an act that will open Transcontinental Railroad through Chicago, Illinois. Kansas is also decided by popular sovereignty - tons of people from both sides flock to Kansas so that one of the sides can gain a state. Missourians and Northern Yankees were extremely violent in fighting for Kansas and as such the act was nicknamed "Bleeding Kansas." -
Sumner Caning
Charles Sumner (R) verbally attacks an elderly South Carolina Senator named Andrew Butler. The next day, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina comes to the Senate and BEATS up Sumner with a cane. This violence within Congress further splits the North and the South - major cause of the Civil War. -
James Buchanan
Democrat from Pennsylvania, Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. Buchanan tried to keep peace between the North and the South. -
The Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott (slave) is moved to the North with his master. He sues his master for his own freedom - Supreme Court rules 7-2 that Scott is property and NOT a citizen. Also ruled that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.
The North is very angry. -
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Lincoln-Douglas Debate
These 7 debates addressed their views on slavery. Douglas was for slavery, as Lincoln was against it. The debates explored the issues of slavery expanding into the territories and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. These debates were all about the key points where the North and South had disagreements. -
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Harpers Ferry
John Brown raided a U.S. arsenal in Virginia hoping for a slave revolt that didn't happen. Brown was defeated by the U.S. Marines led by First Lieutenant Israel Greene. Colonel Robert E. Lee was in control of the operation to take back the arsenal. John Brown was found guilty of treason and hanged. In the North John Brown was seen as a hero. In the South he was a terrorist. -
Lincoln's Election of 1860
Lincoln was elected as the 16th president, a Republican with 40% of the popular vote, beating the 3 other candidates. Lincoln favors the North in stopping slavery. 7 states have seceded from the Union by the time of his inauguration and they formed the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis elected as president. -
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Southern Secession
The 11 Southern states severed their ties with the Union, adopting the Confederate States of America. This was their step for revolution in America, leading to the Civil War.
