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Events leading to the Civil War
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Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 consists of five laws passed in September of 1850 that dealt with the issue of slavery. Also, California entered the Union as a free state. Texas sgreed to give up its land claims in New Mexico. In exchange, the federal government gave Texas the financial help it needed. It also outlawed the slave trade in the nation's capital and produced a new fugitive law that replaced the previous law of 1973. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act made it a federal crime to help runaway slaves. The act let officials arrest runaway slaves where slavery was illegal. Commissioners who rejected a slave holder's claim recieved $5 for their services. Those who returned a suspected fugitive to the slaveholder in the South recieved $10. Anyone who hid or helped a runaway slave had 6 months of jail and fined $1,000. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
This powerful antislavery novel was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852. The main character is Tom, an old slave, who was seperated from his wife and sold. Tome becomes the slave of a cruel cotton planter in Lousiana. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
Kansas Nebraska Act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty whether they would allow slavery within each territory. The act was designed by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The initial purpose of the Kansas–Nebraska Act was to open up many thousands of new farms and a Mid-Western Railroad. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown first took over the federal arsenal. Then he sent of his men to get slaves to come to Harpers Ferry. Brown hoped the slaves would join him, but none did. They knew they would be severely punished if they were caught taking part in an uprising. White southers from Harpers Ferry and the surrounding area armed themselves and attacked Brown. 8 of his men and 3 local men were killed from gunshots. The rest of the men hid safely in a fire house. They were shortly found and were captured. -
The Election of 1860
Although Abraham Lincoln gained less tahn 40% of the overall popular vote, he gained 180 out of 183 electoral votes in the free states. Breckinridge and Bell split the electoral votes of the slave states. The election results angered many southerners. Lincoln didn't carry a single southern state, yet he was the next president. This election proved that the South was losing its political power on the national level.
