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The compromise of 1850 including the Fugitive Slave Act
The compromise was Texas surrendering its claims to California (present day NM), and in return got federal assumption for Texas debt. It was debated by Clay Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. Along with the fugitive slave act it was where slaves were required to be returned to their owners even if they were in a free state. The compromise was to settle the issues with slavery and move threats from the union. The Act pushed the nation more against slavery and made the south fear the end of it. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a small civil war in the U.S. It was fought between pro slavery and anti slavery supporters for the control of the new territories in Kansas. Stephan Dougles believed in popular sovereignty (people choose what happens with the territories.) he pushed for it, and James Buchanan openly helped the pro slavery side. It greatly impacted and led to a civil war because both pro and anti slavery were seeking to win over control and territories which led into war and bloodshed. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854 created territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Senator Stephan A. Douglas drafted the act and it passed and signed into law by President Franklin Pierce. The act was considered controversial because it raised the chances that slavery could be brought into territories where is was originally banned in. It caused tension and debate over slavery in the U.S which later on impacted the tension with the Civil War. -
Preston Brooks vs Charles Sumner
This was an attack in retaliation because of a bad speech that Sumner gave. In his speech, Sumner ripped on the idea behind slavery and the two Democratic senators. Andrew Butler, and a family member of Brooks. After brooks beat Sumner with a cane in the Chamber on May 22. The attack made Sumner unconscious/bleeding on the ground. This led to War because the issue of slavery was considered symbolic of the “breakdown of reasoned discourse” and to resort to violence which then led to war. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott was an enslaved African American who sued for his and his wife’s freedom in 1846, and his case got brought into the Supreme Court making the decision in 1857. In 1857 the Dred Scott V. Sandford became a court case that ruled to African Americans that they were not citizens of the United States and could not sue in federal court. The Dred Scott case created more tension within the country pushing it closer to a outbreak of the war. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Douglas was accusing Lincoln of being an abolitionist and Lincoln was accusing Douglas of wanting to nationalize slavery. It started from racial tensions created from the case of the Dred-Scott decision and from the idea of popular sovereignty. This lead to civil war because Douglas kept on attacking Lincoln’s views on race. -
John Browns Raid on Harpers Ferry
John’s brown raid took place in Harper Ferry West Virginia. John Brown was an abolitionist against slavery. Bleeding Kansas and the Dred Scott motivated his desire to bring an end to slavery. His raid at Harper was to free slaves and give them supplies to rebel. 16 people were killed in the fight, including ten of John’s men. John Brown, Aaron Stevens, etc were captured and taken to jail. The raid was a spark to the war, its believed that he marked the end of the compromise and led to the war. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln ran for president against Douglas, John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell. Lincoln was elected to be right before the Civil War started. The election of 1860 was a big impact on the future of the United States by announcing and abolishing the end of slavery and was also a time known for the unprecedented violence in the U.S. The economy of slavery was a very big controversy and a big part for the south, tension was around and eventually broke and lead to the Civil War.