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Mexican War (1848)
-When the war ended, America was ceded western territories
-The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe
-Arguements broke out over whether or not this land would allow or prohibit slavery -
Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
-Passed by congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers
-the antislavery advocates gained the admission of California as a free state, and the prohibition of slave-trading in the District of Columbia -
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
-Harriet Beecher Stowe
-"So you're that little lady that started this war?" -Abraham Lincoln
-Stowe agreed to write a fictional piece about the lives of several slaves on a Kentucky Plantation
-The story was immensely popular
The effect of this emotionally powerful book was to galvanize public opinion against slavery in a way that no strictly moral or intellectual argument had as yet been able to accomplish. -
Kansas-Nebraska (1854)
-It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders
-The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.
-The act passed Congress, but it failed in its purposes -
Dred Scott Ruling (1857)
-the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the Dred Scott case, affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western territories
- had the effect of widening the political and social gap between North and South and took the nation closer to the brink of Civil War
-Anti-slavery leaders in the North cited the controversial Supreme Court decision as evidence that Southerners wanted to extend slavery throughout the nation and ultimately rule the nation itself -
John Brown raided Harper's Ferry (1859)
-Abolitionist John Brown led a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery
-Some of his men rounded up a handful of hostages, including a few slaves. Word of the raid spread, and by morning Brown and his men were surrounded.
-The wounded Brown was tried by the state of Virginia for treason and murder, and he was found guilty on November 2 -
Abraham Lincoln was elected president (1860)
-First president from the republican party
-By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established
-In 1863, as the tide turned against the Confederacy, Lincoln emancipated the slaves and in 1864 won reelection
-For preserving the Union and bringing an end to slavery, and for his unique character and powerful oratory, Lincoln is hailed as one of the greatest American presidents
