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Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay purposed it, and it consisted of 5 parts. He urged Congress to let California join the Union as free state, called for the rest of the Mexican Cession to be organized as a federal territory, addressed a border dispute between Texas and New Mexico, called for an end to the slave trade but not slavery in the country's capital, and he called for a new, more effective fugitive slave law. It was finally completed as a law on September 1, 1850. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress on September 18,1850. It mandated the return of runaway slaves, regardless of where in the Union they might be situated at the time of their discovery or capture. -
Stephen Douglas
Stephen Douglas, born April 23, 1813, supported building a railroad to the Pacific Ocean. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, came out a chapter at a time in weekly papers across the nation. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Purposed by Stephen Douglas, in mid 1854, this act would divide the rest of the Louisianna Purchase into two territories(Kansas and Nebraska). -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown lead eighteen men, 13 white, 5 black into Harper's Ferry. This was an attempt by the white Abilitonist John Brown to start an armed slave revolt in 1859 by seizing United States Aresenal.Brown's raid, accomplished by 20 men in his party, was defeated by a detachment of U.S. Marines led by Col. Robert E. Lee. John Brown had originally asked Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas. -
Election of 1860
The election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1860 and served as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War.The United States had been divided during the 1850s on questions surrounding the expansion of slavery and the rights of slave owners. In 1860, these issues broke the Democratic Party into Northern and Southern factions, and a new Constitutional Union Party appeared. Fortunately, the north secured enough electoral votes to put Abraham Lincoln in office.
