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Missouri Compromise
By 1819, there were 22 states, eleven being free states and the other eleven being slave states. That same year, Missouri applied to join the union as a slave state, causing the free states to panic because of the unbalance of free and slave states. To settle the concerns of the free states a compromise was made where Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would become a free state. -
Nullification Crisis of 1832
The Crisis was about the issue of states' rights between South Carolina and the federal government. The crisis began over the concern of the"Tariff of Abomination" being passed by Congress in 1828. South Carolina politician John C. Calhoun denounced the "Tariff of Abomination" because he believed that it was unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive which then made Andrew Jackson political enemies because it was an attempt to break up the union, with South Carolina threats of leaving the union. -
Wilmot Proviso
Wilmot Proviso was an unsuccessful 1846 proposal in the United States Congress to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. Wilmot was not an abolitionist. He and many other Northern Democrats hoped that this proposal would keep African Americans out of the new territories to ensure that white settlers would not face competition from the salve planters. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 admits California into the Union as a free state, and Utah and New Mexico are new territories without any restrictions on slavery. Slave trading should end in DC, The Fugitive Slave Act is passed to placate the South, and Texas has to surrender the disputed land to New Mexico so that Congress can bear the 10 million public debt that Texas owed at that time. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe began publishing Uncle Tom's Cabin in weekly installments in an anti-slavery newspaper. The story which presented a fierce attack on slavery relates to the trials of Uncle Tom, a middle-aged and religious Kentucky slave who became under the latter of a cruel plantation owner who eventually beats Uncle Tome to death because Tom refused to surrender the location of two fugitives. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska bill (appealing to the South). Repealed the Missouri Comp. introducing popular sovereignty, divided the Nebraska territory into 2: Kansas and Nebraska. Signed into law by President Franklin Pierce. -
Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave then freed on Missouri grounds and sued Missouri court claiming that he was free on the grounds that he had resided in a free state and in a free territory. The case reached the Supreme Court which decided that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government the courts also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory -
The Panic of 1857
In 1857, the US was hit by a depression caused by the decline in the international economy and the Over-expansion of the domestic economy. This economic depression lasted for nearly three years and it increased the tension in the United States since neither Buchanan nor the government did anything to help. Causing the northerners to blame the Democrats since they blocked many of the Republican economic proposals( which help Republicans in the next mid-term election). -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown led 18 men to a federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry (West Virginia). Brown's aim was to seize weapons, retreat to the Appalachians and spark a slave revolt. Brown captures the arsenal, with a few slaves compelled to join Brown with hostages being taken. Then a train pulled into Harpers Ferry, and shots were fired. Brown stayed put, causing a 36-hour siege . 2 days later Colonel Robert E. Lee, ordered the engine house to be stormed, wounding Brown, killing his army. and 7 other people -
Election of 1860
The election was against Abraham Lincoln (republican) and Senator Stephen Douglas (Democrat). The main issue around this election was slavery and states rights. Lincoln won(16th pres) during a national crisis: The Civil War. Testing his leadership and resolve. Northerns voted for Lincoln because he seemed to represent their region, (against the slave power).