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The Compromise of 1820
The compromise was agreed to by both the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress and passed as a law in 1820, under the presidency of James Monroe. (Blue) - both states agreed on it. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century enslaved people of African descent in the U.S. in efforts to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of Abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. -
Missouri Crisis
Crisis over whether Missouri will be a free state or a slave state. (Red) - tension between both sides. -
William Garrison publishes The Liberator
Was an abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Issac knapp in 1831. (Red) - Caused tension with the slave-states that most likely did not approve of the newspaper being made. -
Nat Turner's Slave Revolt
A slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia. Led by Nat Turner, rebel slaves killed 55-56 people, the highest number of fatalities caused by any slave uprising. (Red) - Increased tension since slaves were rebelling. -
Texas Annexation of 1844
The incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America, which was admitted to the Union as the 28th state. (Blue) - Decreased tension since it was admitting a new state to the Union. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War. Soon after the war began, President James K. Polk sought the appropriation of $2 million as a part of a bill to negotiate the terms of a treaty. (Red) - caused tension in the south since they were trying to negotiate and end slavery there. -
Compromise of 1850
Was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between the slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican - American War. (Blue) - Decreased tension since it defused a confrontation about territory. -
Fugitive Slave Law
Passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. (Red) - Increased tension since it required any non-slave states to turn in slaves and they didn't get fair trial. -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
A anti-slavery book that was written by author Harriet Beecher Stowe . Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War". It also illustrated slavery's effects on families, helped readers emphasize with enslaved characters. (Red) - Started tension with the Slave states since everyone who read the book knew how the slaves were being treated and how cruel slavery was. -
Formation of the Republican Party 1854
The first statewide convention that formed a platform and nominated candidates under the name "Republican" was held near Jackson, Michigan on July 6, 1854. It declared their new party opposed to the expansion of slavery in new territories and selected a statewide slate of candidates. (Red) - Angered the Slave states since they didn't have a group that represented them. -
Formation of the Republican Party 1854
The first statewide convention that formed a platform and nominated candidates under the name "Republican" was held near Jackson, Michigan on July 6, 1854. It declared their new party opposed to the expansion of slavery in new territories and selected a statewide slate of candidates. (Red) - Angered the Slave states since they didn't have a group that represented them. -
Kansas - Nebraska Act
Passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 3630'. (Red) - Whichever side they chose it would start tension between the states about allowing slaves or not. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bloody Kansas or the Border War was 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. (Red) - Confrontation over the territory of Kansas between the Anti-Slave states and the Pro-slave states. -
Dredd Scott supreme court decision
Sandford, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 6, 1857, ruled that a slave who had resided in a free state and territory was not thereby entitled to his freedom; that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the Untied States. -
Lincoln Douglas debates
The Lincoln Douglas Debates of 1858 were series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. -
John Brown's raid at Harper's ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by white abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. (Red) - would cause problems with slave-states since it was a revolt against owners and they were trying to rally together. -
Election of 1860
United States presidential election of 1860, American presidential election held on Nov 6, 1860, in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C.Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.
