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California Statehood
Under the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted as a free state, but tensions over slavery grew between North and South until the Civil War broke out. California supported the Union effort with soldiers and funding; driving Confederate troops from Arizona and New Mexico, playing a key role in the civil way. -
Compromise of 1850
The bills provided for slavery to be decided by popular sovereignty in the admission of new states, prohibited the slave trade in the District of Columbia, settled a Texas boundary dispute, and established a stricter fugitive slave act. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin gets published
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, sparked intense emotions about slavery in the 1850's, leading to the Civil War. The book, highlighting the horrors of slavery, became a global sensation, translated into over 60 languages. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, created two new territories, and allowed for popular sovereignty. It also produced a violent uprising known as Bleeding Kansas, as pro slavery and antislavery activists flooded into the territories to sway the vote. -
Caning of Charles Sumner
The beating nearly killed Sumner and contributed significantly to the country's polarization over the issue of slavery. It has been considered symbolic of the breakdown of reasoned discourse and willingness to resort to violence that eventually led to the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
Scott did three tramendiously important things such as, e
stablished that enslaved persons had no rights in federal court. Declared that slave states no longer had to honor the "once free, always free" rule. Stated that Congress should never have prohibited slavery in the Wisconsin Territory. -
Lincoln's A House Divided Speech
The verse Lincoln referenced is Matthew 12:22–28, where Jesus explains that any kingdom, city, or house divided against itself will fall into desolation. By saying this, Lincoln argued that allowing slavery in some states would weaken the union as a whole and used this observation to support his idea of containment. -
Election of 1860
The 1860 election was the first of six consecutive Republican victories. Despite Lincoln's commanding victory, this was the first election in American history in which the winner has failed to win his home county, with Lincoln narrowly losing Sangamon County, Illinois to Douglas.