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Missouri Compromise
Missouri wanted to be admitted into the US, but there was debate on whether it should be a slave state or a free state. Congress did not want to break the balance between slave and free states. As a compromise, Henry Clay proposed that the US could admit both Missouri and Maine, Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. This kept the balance and temporarily kept the peace between the North and the South. -
Wilmot Proviso
From the Mexican-American War, the US gained new territory from Mexico. There was debate on whether Mexican Cession states should be slave states or free states, since at the time there was a balanced 15 of each. David Wilmot proposed a ban on slavery in all Mexican Cession territories. The bill was passed in the House but not the Senate. It angered southerners, who felt it was an attack on slavery by northerners. This event increased the tension between the North and the South. -
Fugitive Slave Act
As part of the Compromise of 1850 proposed by Henry Clay, Congress passed the fugitive slave act. This act let officials arrest anyone accused of being a runaway slave and called for northern citizens to help. Northerners who didn’t would be punished with a fine and/or jail time. No black person was safe anywhere, even if they were free. More northerners came to believe that slavery was wrong. -
Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay proposed a compromise that passed both anti-slavery and pro-slavery laws in an attempt to appease both sides. California would be admitted as a free state, the slave trade would be ended in Washington DC, the New Mexico and Utah territories would decide the slavery issue by popular sovereignty, Congress would pass a strict fugitive slave law, and Texas was to give up New Mexico in return for $10 million. This settled the peace a little bit but angered both sides with the new laws. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book about the horrors of slavery. The book became a bestseller. She wrote it because she was horrified at the fugitive slave act. Northerners became aware of the horrors of slavery, now believing slavery to be a moral issue rather than a political view, and spurring them to action. Southerners believed the book to be propaganda, meant only to further the agenda of the North. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act/Bleeding Kansas
The Kansas-Nebraska Act by Stephen Douglas let the people in the territories decide on slavery by popular sovereignty. Southerners hoped the states would be slave states. Northerners were angry at the possibility of new slave states. A bunch of antislavery and proslavery people migrated to Kansas to vote. The two groups clashed and violence broke out, giving Kansas the nickname "Bleeding Kansas". Violence between sides contributed to increased tension between the north and the south. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a slave who sued for his freedom in the Missouri courts. Because Scott lived in Illinois and Wisconsin, two places where slavery was illegal, he believed it should make him a free man. The court ruled that Scott was not a free man because blacks were not citizens under the US Constitution. This caused all the work that abolitionists had done to become void. Slavery was now legal everywhere. Dred Scott remained a slave, and the Missouri Compromise was void. -
Lincoln Douglas Debate
Lincoln and Douglas both ran for Senate. Douglas, to increase his chances, decided to campaign for Democrats in Illinois. Lincoln followed behind him until Douglas finally agreed to debate Lincoln face to face. Douglas believed that individual states should decide on the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty, while Lincoln believed that slavery was wrong and blacks should have rights. Douglas won the election, but the debate brought Lincoln and his stance on slavery into the spotlight. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown was a radical abolitionist. He was raised deeply religious and told about how bad slavery was. Brown assembled a group of followers and attacked the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia in hopes of arming themselves and starting a slave revolt. Brown was captured, and was found guilty of treason and hanged. Southerners saw Brown as proof that northerners were out to get them and destroy their way life. This created more tension between the north and the south. -
Southern Secession
After Lincoln's election, South Carolina voted unanimously to repeal the constitution and secede. 6 other states followed, and they formed the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as president. The secession of South Carolina caused US troops stationed in Fort Sumter to become trapped. They were swarmed by South Carolina militia, and they starved until they made a deal and surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederacy. After Fort Sumter, more states seceded and the Civil War began. -
Lincoln Election
The issue of slavery was dividing the nation. The Lincoln Douglas election divided the country further and there were many parties that wanted different things. The Republicans made Abraham Lincoln the poster child for labor and made him seem like he worked his way from the bottom. Lincoln won through electoral votes. He won all of the northern states. Lincoln didn't even appear on some southern ballots and only got 40% of the popular vote. Southern states became angry and left the Union.
