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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was an attempt by congress to lift sectional and political rivalries against Missouri being admitted as a free state or a slave state. In the end Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine was added as a free state, now there were 23 slave states and 23 free states. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was designed to abolish slavery in the land gained from the Mexican War. Pennsylvanian congressman David Wilmot proposed an amendment to the bill, for fear of pro-slavery territory being added. The measure was rejected in Congress because it was a majority of southern congressmen. This started the growing controversy over slavery and led to the creation of the Republican Party in 1854. -
Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
Zachary Taylor took the office as the president in 1849. Before running for president, he had never voted before and held no political offices. He was a very strong nationalist, saying that he would hang anybody who tried to divide the country. He didn't want slavery to push into the new land and was against the Compromise of 1850. He died in 1850 due to illness and was replaced by his Vice President, Millard Fillmore. -
Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
Millard Fillmore was Zachary Taylor's vice president. He was given the position of president after Zachary Taylor died in 1850. He had very opposing views to those of Taylor. He was fine with sectionalism and signed the Compromise of 1850. -
Compromise of 1850
The compromise of 1850 was a collection of separate bills that was created to settle the land that was gained from Mexico. The north gets California as a free state, slave trade got prohibited in Washington D.C, and Texas looses boundary dispute with New Mexico. The south gets no slavery restrictions in Utah and New Mexico, slave holding permitted in Washington D.C, Texas gets 10 million, and the south gets the fugitive slave law. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act made it legal to capture and bring back slaves who ran away, even if they were free. Fugitives were not permitted to have a trial by jury. It asked citizens to try to capture runaway slaves. The law was repealed in 1864. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's best known novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, written in 1852, changed forever how Americans viewed slavery, the system that treated people as property. This book helped both people from the North and South who were against slavery understand the true condition of it, and enraged both Northerners and Southerners. Harriet Beecher Stowe was inspired -
Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
Franklin Pierce took office in 1853. He ran as a democrat. His biggest contribution was the signing of the Kansas Nebraska Act, which caused much conflict and fighting to erupt. -
Creation of the Republican Party
In Ripon, Wisconsin, former members of the Whig Party meet to establish a new party. This party opposed the spread of slavery westward. By February 1854, anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting to discuss the formation of a new party. One meeting led to the formation of the Republican party. They rapidly gained support of the years. -
Kansas Nebraska Act/Bleeding Kansas
This was a law passed on May 30th, 1854, allowing Kansas and Nebraska to vote for themselves whether they would be slave states or free states. This made many people rush into Kansas to affect the voting totals, and pro-slavery people won, upsetting anti-slavery people. The anti-slavery settlers held another election, though the pro-slavery settlers refused to vote again. Violence soon erupted, which was known as "bleeding Kansas", and the anti-slavery people were led by John Brown. -
Sumner Caning
Senator Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts antislavery Republican, addressed the Senate on the explosive issue of whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state. During this debate, Sumner talked negatively of Andrew Butler. In response, Representative Preston Brooks came into the chamber Sumner was in and beat him with a cane with no warning. -
James Buchanan (1857-1861)
James Buchanan was elected president in 1857. He ran as a democrat from Pennsylvania. He wanted to let the Supreme Court decide about slavery. He was the president during the Dred Scott issue over freedom and rights of slaves. -
The Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott was a slave who had lived with his owner in a free state before going back to Missouri, a slave state. Dred Scott argued that his time spent in the free states entitled him to freedom. The case was brought to court by Scott, though the judge disagreed with his opinion. The court claimed that no black person could claim US citizenship, therefore could not petition for their freedom in court. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of seven debates discussing the future of slavery. These debates were during the 1858 Illinois state election campaign. -
Harpers Ferry
John Brown and his family were very anti-slavery. He attended an abolition meeting in 1837 that inspired him to take part in destroying slavery. He traveled to Kansas with five of his sons to attack pro-slavery forces. He expected all the slaves to come and fight with him once he raided the federal arsenal of Harper's Ferry. He raised an army of over 20 men beforehand to help him fight. In the raid, 10 of his men were killed, and no slaves helped fight. Brown was executed after being captured. -
Lincoln's Election of 1860
Lincoln ran against John C Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas in the election of 1860. As a republican, Abraham Lincoln won the election with only 40% of the popular vote. He had the votes of the free states, but no slave states. Between the time that it was announced he won the election and the day of his inauguration, 7 southern states seceded. The Confederate States of America were formed, and this kicked off the civil war when the south fired against the north in South Carolina. -
Southern Secession
Secession was a series of events starting on December 20, 1850. The first 7 seceding states of the Lower South set up a provisional government at Montgomery, Alabama. After, the border states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the government, which moved its capital to Richmond, Virginia. These states disagreed with the government's decisions and felt that a new government and a blank slate would be better. Within 3 months of Lincoln's election, 7 states had seceded.
