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Compromise of 1850
package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War -
California becomes 31st State
Congress finally accepted California as a free labor state under the Compromise of 1850 -
"Uncle Tom's Cabin"
novel, first published serially, by Harriet Beecher Stowe; it paints a grim picture of life under slavery -
Election of 1852
the incumbent president was a Whig who had succeeded to the presidency upon the death of his war-hero predecessor -
Gadsden Purchase
agreement between the United States and Mexico, finalized in 1854, in which the United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for a 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
ended the peace established between the North and South by the Compromise of 1850; The act enforced popular sovereignty upon the new territories but was opposed by Northern Democrats and Whigs -
"Bleeding Kansas"
a series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery "Free-Staters" and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian", or "southern yankees" elements in Kansas between 1854 and 1861 -
Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks Incident
United States Senate Preston Brooks beats Charles Sumner with a cane. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was an avowed Abolitionist and leader of the Republican Party. After the sack of Lawrence, on May 21, 1856, he gave a bitter speech in the Senate called "The Crime Against Kansas." -
Election of 1856
Democrats nominated Buchanan, Republicans nominated Fremont, and Know-Nothings chose Fillmore. Buchanan won due to his support of popular sovereignty -
Dred Scott Decision
Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott was a black slave and not a citizen. Hence, he could not sue in a federal court -
Douglas/Lincoln Debates
series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, when both were campaigning for election to the United States Senate from Illinois. Much of the debating concerned slavery and its extension into territories such as Kansas -
John Brown Raid
raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery
