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Cotton Gin
The cotton gin made it easier to clean larger amounts of picked cotton, so plantation owners started buying more slaves to pick the cotton. -
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of a large amount of land from France to the United States. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the states above a certain latitude, except for Missouri. It was meant to regulate where slave states were going to be in the wastern territories. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was the declaration that no European powers could settle any more colonies in the Western Hemisphere. -
Nullification Crisis
South Carolina attempted to nullify a tariff that was felt to unfairly favor the North. In the end, federal troops had to be called in to enforce the law. -
Nat Turner's Rebellion
A slave rebellion in Virginia that caused a widespread panic among slaveowners, leading to harsher laws against African-Americans. -
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Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution was the war between Texas and Mexico that ended in Texas declaring independence from Mexico. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
The treaty that ended the Mexican-American war, and gave the United States disputed land. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of bills passed in 1850. These included the Fugitive Slave Act, California being admitted as a free state, and slave trade being outlawed in Washington DC. -
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a controversial book about slavery that caused many people to take an anti-slavery stance. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to vote on whether they would become slave states or free states. -
Beating of Charles Sumner
After making an anti-slavery speech and insulting Senator Andrew Butler, Charles Sumner was beaten by Preston Brooks in the Senate chamber. -
Dred Scott Decision
The Dred Scott Decision ruled that Dred Scott, a slave who had spent two years living in a free state, was not free even in a free state. The also ruled that African-Americans were not citizens. -
Harper’s Ferry
John Brown attempted to start a slave rebellion at Harper's Ferry. It failed, but it became the asubject of a huge controversy. People who supported abolition in the North supported his actions, whereas the South viewed the attempted rebellion as horrible. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln is elected president, prompting the Southern states to secede. -
South Carolina Secedes
South Carolina secedes in response to Linoln's election.