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Missouri Compromise
With the expansion in the west there was a big question that was raised about what should be done about slavery in the west. The compromise was that Missouri would admitted as a slave state, but would be balanced by the admission of Maine which was a free. Slavery was to be excluded from all new states in the Louisiana Purchase, North of Missouri's south border. It settled most of the slavery argument but then its repeal began the sectional conflict that eventually brought the nation into war. -
Tariff of Abominations
Tariff of Abominations protected northern and western agricultural products from competition with foreign imports. The negative effect to this was that it raised the cost of living in the South and would cut into the profits of New England's industrialists. It was still approved ayways and This angered many southerners. It almost led to a bloody civil war but just was a spark of the flames because South Carolina threatened to seceed but changed its mind when Calhoun suggested nullification. -
Abolitionist Movement
The purpose of the abolitionist movement was to end slavery, as well end racial discrimination and segregation. Abolitionist felt very strongly that slavery should stop and they were not shy about expressing it. At the same time slave owners didnt like this but abolitionist ideas became increasingly prominent in Northern churches and politics. This fueled regional divisiveness, thus leading to civil war. -
Fugitave slave Act/ Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was composed of people who helped escaped slaves to freedom. The slave act was passed as part of the compromise between the North & South. What is stated was that that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters & that officials & citizens of free states had to obey this. This led to the war because the North was uncomfortable with the law & It raised the level of opinion in the North that felt it could not coexist being half slave & half free -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a novel that showed that exposed the harsh reality of slavery. The author of the book was a dedicated abolitionist named Harriet Beecher Stowe. The novel depicted the life of Tom, an African-American slave whose hard life touched others, and persuaded them to view slavery differently. The novel became very popular and soon everyone knew how slavery was horrible, which turned them into abolitionists and worked as an anti slavery tool that added to causing the civil war. -
John Brown and bleeding Kansas
Bleeding kansas is the violence during the settling of the Kansas territory. Since the Kansas Nebraska act overturned the Missouri Compromise, residents now would determine whether the area became a free state or a slave state. This caused people to go into Kansas to try to influence the decision. With both sides trying to fight for control violence happened. Abolitionist John Brown led anti-slavery fighters in Kansas.This huge controversy and pro slavery and anti slavery debate erupted into war -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an enslaved man who went to trial to sue for his freedom in 1847. Since Scott’s master had taken him to Illinois which is a free state (as well as other territories) and stayed there for a long period of time, it gave him the legal standing to make a claim for freedom.The supreme court held that Dred Scott was not free because African Americans were not considered U.S citizens. The decision was practically unanimous, since the North was against slavery this decision angered them. -
The election of 1860
In the election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln the republican, defeated three opponents—Stephen A. Douglas (Northern Democrat), John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democrat), and John Bell of the Constitutional Union party. Lincoln was able to win even though the southern states did not vote for him. Southern states where not happy about this and began withdrawing from the Union, setting the stage for a civil war and the creation of a new state. -
Southern secession
Describes a time when 11 states in the Lower & Upper South seperated their ties with the Union. The 11 slave states that did this, adopted the name of the Confederate States of America. Within three months of Lincoln being elected 7 states had seceded from the Union, because they thought that the government was becoming too strong. The first being South Carolina.The Civil War officially began with the Battle of Fort Sumter. There was just to much tension between the North & South about slavery.
