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The Missouri Compromise
Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was admitted as a free state, preserving the Congressional balance. (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/trigger-events-civil-war) -
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Fifty-five slaves, including Turner, were tried and executed for their role in the insurrection. Nearly two hundred more were lynched by frenzied mobs. (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/trigger-events-civil-war) -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 accomplished what it set out to do -- it kept the nation united -- but the solution was only temporary. Over the following decade the country's citizens became further divided over the issue of slavery. The rift would continue to grow until the nation itself divided. (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2951.html) -
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Bleeding Kansas
Several attempts were made to draft a constitution which Kansas could use to apply for statehood. Some versions were proslavery, others free state. Finally, a fourth convention met at Wyandotte in July 1859, and adopted a free state constitution. Kansas applied for admittance to the Union. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html) -
Abraham Lincoln’s Election
Lincoln’s party’s anti-slavery outlook struck fear into many Southerners as a Republican. (http://www.ushistory.org/us/32d.asp)
