-
The Compromise of 1850 / the Fugitive Slave Act
The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws that was passed in September 1850. It dealt with issues of slavery and territorial expansion. The compromise admitted California to the United States as a no slavery state, but allowed some newly acquired territories to decide on slavery for themselves. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas was a political storm that occurred throughout the United States before the Civil War. It describes the period of repeated outbreaks of guerrila warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces following the creation of the new territory of Kansas in 1854. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 used to prohibit slavery north of 36°30 latitude. The 1854 bill allowed settlers of Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether slavery should be abolished. -
Preston Brooks vs Charles Sumner
The Preston Brooks vs Charles Sumner occurred on May 22, 1856, in the United States Senate chamber, when Representative Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina, used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from Massachusetts. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Dred Scott v. Sandford was when the Supreme Court held that former slaves did not have standing in federal courts because they lacked U.S. citizenship, even after they were freed. The case persisted through several courts and ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court, whose decision incensed abolitionists, gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement and served as a stepping stone to the Civil War. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Debate consisted of Douglas accusing Lincoln of being an abolitionist while Lincoln accused Douglas of wanting to nationalize slavery. Lincoln attacked Douglas for his support of the Supreme Court's notorious 1857 decision in the Dred Scott case, which denied citizenship to all Black people, enslaved or free, and accused him of seeking to make slavery legal throughout the United States. The main focus of the debates was slavery and its influence on American politics. -
John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry
On the morning of October 19, the soldiers overran Brown and his followers. Ten of his men were killed, including two of his sons. The wounded Brown was tried by the state of Virginia for treason and murder, and he was found guilty on November 2. Brown’s raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and thus became an import part of the Civil War. -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
The Election of Abraham Lincoln was held on Tuesday, November 8th. Lincoln ran on a political platform opposed to the expansion of slavery in the territories. His election served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the Civil War. After being sworn in as president, Lincoln refused to accept any resolution that would result in Southern secession from the Union.