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Missouri Compromise
Established balance of power between slave states and free states. -
Tariff of Abominations
Raised tariffs, upset Southerners -
Nullification Crisis
South Carolina tried to nullify federal tariffs. 1832-1833 -
Gag Rule Controversy
Prohibited slavery petitions in House of Representatives. 1836-1844 -
Annexation of Texas
Added slave state Texas to the Union. -
Mexican Cession
Added Western territories from Mexican War -
The Compromise of 1850
New Fugitive Slave Act but California admitted as free state -
Publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Influential anti-slavery novel -
Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
Popular sovereignty for slavery in the territories -
Caning of Charles Sumner
Preston Brooks beat Sumner over slavery speech -
Dred Scott Decision
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Debated expanding slavery in the West -
John Brown's Raid
Abolitionist tried to start slave revolt at Harper's Ferry -
Election of Lincoln
The election of an anti-slavery Republican