-
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was when The United States bought 827,000 square miles of land that was west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million. This lead to a potential for more states that had to be either slave or free. Leading to an argument about which states were which. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an attempt to preserve the balance of slave states and free states. The Missouri Compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also stated that slavery was prohibited in Louisiana territory with the exception of Missouri. This was a poor attempt to balance everything because it gave more land that was to become free states then it gave the slave states. -
Period: to
Events leading to the U.S. civil war
-
Texas Annexation
Texas was annexed into the Union on 1845 before this time Texas was its own sovereign state known as the Republic of Texas. Texas wanted to be a slave state in the Union which once again threw off the balance of slave and free states. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal in 1846 that aimed to ban slavery in all territories obtained by the Mexican-American War. The proviso had passed in the House but it had failed in the Senate. The proviso lead to more hate between the free states and slave states. -
Oregon Treaty
The Mexican-American War was still going on so to not fight a war with Mexico and Great Britain James K. Polk retracted his 54-40 or Fight mantra. He signed a treaty setting the border between the U.S. and Canada across the 49th parallel. This added to the problem of having more land north of the Missouri Compromise line adding more future free states. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This is the treaty that ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico seceded 1/3 of Mexico to the U.S. for $15 million. This once again added more land that needed to decide whether they are going to be a free state or a slave state. California was omitted as a free state throwing off the delicate balance again. -
Popular Sovereignty
Popular Sovereignty was a political doctrine where the people of a given state get to choose if they want to enter the union as a slave state or as a free state. This was first used when establishing the Utah and New Mexico territories in 1850. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1800 was how the balance that California threw off was restored. The north got California while the south got a more strict fugitive slave law that the northerners must follow to reduce runaway slaves. Buying and selling slaves was abolished in Washington D.C. and the territories of Utah and New Mexico were established allowing popular sovereignty. This was essentially putting a band aid on an open wound. All it did was lower tensions a little for a short amount of time. -
Kansas–Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The Kanas-Nebraska Act also repealed the Missouri Compromise and once again allowed slavery above 36 30. It again implemented popular sovereignty letting the people decide on the topic of slavery. This act lead to a series of battles known as Bleeding Kanas which sparked tensions once again. -
State Secession
Southern states had warned that if a politician of the GOP get elected president they were going to secede and when Abraham Lincoln was elected they did just that. Eventually the states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia formed the Confederate States of America. This lead to hate between the Union and the Confederacy. The Union saw the Confederate as traitors and the Confederacy saw the Union as new rivals
