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Indian Removal Act
Partially due to potential prosperity out west and partially due to the Georgia Gold Rush settlers wished to move farther west into Indian lands. The US government passed the Indian Removal Act to appease the citizens. The westward expansion soon made the expansion of slavery a more pressing issue. -
Act of Nullification
South Carolina felt that they were being mistreated because of the great expense on them due to the Tariff of 1828 or Tariff of Abominations. The Act of Nullification was passed in Congress. It stated that states have the right to determine national laws null and void. John C. Calhoun was a major supporter and wrote The South Carolina Exposition and Protest. They threaten to secede if their needs weren't met. -
Repeal of Gag Rule
The gag rule tabled or took away antislavery petitions so that the House of Representatives couldn't debate them. John Quincy Adams allowed people to talk about abolitionist movements again which created tension in the House. -
Wilmot Proviso
In 1846 Representative David Wilmont of Pennsylvania proposed that new territories gained from Mexican War cannot become slave states. This would limit the expansion of slavery. The proposal didn't pass due to southern opposition, but was a good effort in trying to undo slavery. -
Compromise of 1850
A series of laws passed in 1850 that were efforts to resolve slavery disagreements having to do with the new territories. The key elemants include the passing of the Fugative Slave Act which benifitted the south, and the north desired for California to become a free state. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and caused many political parties like the Whigs to split. It allowed popular soverenty in Kansas and Nebraska so many pro and anti slavery supporters flocked to Kansas. This led to violence and what was called Bleeding Kansas. -
Brooks Attacks Sumner
Representative Preston Brooks Attacks Senator Charles Sumner on the senate floor. Sumner verbally assulted his family and their values in a speech given a couple days earlier. Brooks was extremely offended and protective of his family name so he beat Sumner with a cane. The south supported Brooks' actions and sent him canes in the mail, which infuriated the north. -
Dred Scott vs. Sandford
Dred Scott, an enslaved Afrcan, showed his case the the Supreme Court that he was a freeman due to his travels with his master into free states and territories. Supreme Court Judge Robert Taney decided that Scott wasn't free because he wasn't a citizen of the United States, that abolishing slavery was unconstitutional, and the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Democrat Douglas and Republican Lincoln engaged uin a series of firey debates. These debates were won by Douglas, but Lincoln gained national recognition. Debates mostly consisted of slavery, the Wilmont Proviso, and whether a "house divided cannot stand" -
Election of Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th president of the United States. He is the first republican president in 36 years, but appealed to the people due to his moderate views. He was against slavery which caused 6 states to secede from the union.
