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Period: to
The Civil War Era
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Wilmot Proviso
Wilmot Proviso tried to ban slavery in all territories acquired from Mexico. It failed in Congress but the South became scared it would pass one day. -
Compromise of 1850
Temporarily defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North dealing with the slve/free tatus of the newly acquired territories. This compromise avoided secession or Civil War and reduced tension between the North and South for four years. Caliornia is admitted as a free state, slave trade is banned in D.C and the Fugitive Slave Act is passed (act said that all runaway slaves can be hunted down and taken back into slavery). -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote an "anti-slavery" novel that depicted the lowly life of the slave "Uncle Tom". The North saw this as a revealing story of the life of a slave, the South claimed the entire book was was full of lies and were baised. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This Act passed in 1852 said that people in the Kansas and Nebraska territories could vote on whether to be a free or slave state. People from all over the country flooded these states to force it to become what they wanted it to be. -
Bleeding Kansas
A small scale civil war happened in Kansas between the abolitionist and pro-slavery settlers. The rallying cry for anti-slavery Northerners became "Bleeding Kansas." -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was a slave who tried to sue for freedom after having lived in the North with his owner briefly. The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and therefore could not sue in court, slaves were property. This ruling increased tensions between the Northern and Southern. -
Lincoln-Douglass Debate
Lincoln and Douglass ran for senator of Illinois, they called their debates "Debated Slavery". Lincoln said slavery was wrong but legal and should not be expanded. Lincoln lost, but became famous. -
Harper's Ferry
A man in Virginia, John Brown, seized the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. John Brown tried to stir up a slave revolt in Virgina and end slavery but the slaves did not rise too. Brown died a martyr along with 10 other men. -
Presidential Election of 1860
In this election voters decided on who they would vote for President based which part of the country they lived, North or South. Loncoln promised to kepp slavery from spreading into the new territories. The South threatened to secede if Lincoln was elected. They made good on thier threat and seceded when Lincoln was elected. They named themselves The Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as their President. -
Fort Sumter
The first battle of the Civil War was held at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Lincoln provoked the Confederacy by telling Davis he was sending supplies to the fort, which he assumed was in preperation for war. The South opened fire and the bloodiest war in American history began.
