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Missouri Compromise
This was the first of the long conflict between the North and South regarding the extension and Expansion of Slavery -
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Events Leading Up To The U.S Civil War
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The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso stated that all slavery would be banned in all the new Territories that America annexed in the Mexican- American War. This furthered tensions because it was a big event showing the struggle between the north and south regarding the expansion of slavery. -
Election of 1848 & the Free Soil Party
The free Soil Party Participated in the election of 1848, and did not do well, but kickstarted a new movement against slavery, raising the tensions for the civil war. -
Compromise of 1850
The slave trade in Washington DC was abolished, and the idea of Popular Sovereignty was introduced, which meant that states like Utah could vote on if they wanted to be free or slave states, while places like California were admitted as free states automatically. This made all parties unhappy and ended up failing, and putting both pro and anti-slave people against each other, raising tensions between the two sides. -
Fugitive Slave act & Personal Liberty Laws
Two laws were passed that were almost in response to one another. The Fugitive slave act meant that northerners were obliged to return runaway slaves, while the Personal Liberty law was to protect black people from false arrest and claim themselves to not be runaway slaves, in order to protect black people. This rose tensions because legislations were put in order both supporting and diminishing slavery -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which documented the horrors and hardships faced by slaves daily, and depicted slaves in a manner which humanized them for the white readers. Sparked conversation between pro and anti slave people, and caused many northerners to become more anti-Slavery. -
Bleeding Kansas
Often seen as the beginning of the Civil war, bleeding Kansas was the first Physical confrontation between the North and the South, arguing over whether Kansas should be a free or Slave State. The debate is slowly becoming more intense and important. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Was a political debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, with the main issue of the expansion of slavery. Douglas won the debate for the time, but Lincoln's views became more popular as time went on. Extended the political debate and climate, and raised tensions between the sides for slavery -
John Browns' Raid of Harper's Ferry
A raid led by John Brown, with the intension to start a revolution of the slaves, and eventually destroy slavery all together. Eventually went very bad, and John Brown was executed, but became a martyr. Heightened the tensions regarding slavery in the United States -
Election of 1860 and the Republican Party
Lincoln, a Republican, wins the election of 1860. Was very important that someone who was definitively against the expansion of slavery won, and this meant that more power was in place to stop the expansion of slavery. The South was very unhappy with this, and did not accept the results of this at first. -
Secession of the Southern States
Major political stance taken by the southern states. Complete removal from the country, the last straw, and eventually was the spark of the US Civil War.