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Wilmot Proviso
This bill aimed to outlaw slavery in territories taken from Mexico. The bill passed in the House of Representatives but was defeated in the Senate thus causing a division in Congress. Although, not a success it led to the information of the Free Soil Party. -
Compromise of 1850
A compromise created by Henry Clay where California would be admitted as a free state and slave trade would be abolished Washington D.C. To please the South, no laws would abolish slavery in territories won from Mexico and Congress would pass stronger laws to help slave holders recapture runaway slaves. It unbalances the slavery in U.S. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
A bill that divided the Nebraska Territory into Nebraska and Kansas. It stated that slavery was to be decided by popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty would allow slavery in areas where it was banned by the Missouri Compromise. Many Southerners supported it for this reason. However, many Northerners opposed it. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
In May of 1855, a proslavery mob attacked the town of Lawrence and destroyed the offices and houses of the antislavery government. For revenge, John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, and seven other men murdered five proslavery people. As news spread, a small war broke out in Kansas which was known as "Bleeding Kansas". -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
A case where Dred Scott, a slave in Missouri taken by his owner to a territory where slavery is illegal but later taken back to Missouri, sues for his freedom. The Chief Justice, Roger B. Taney, states that Scott is not a U.S. citizen therefore he cannot sue U.S. courts and that he is bound by Missouri's slave code because he lived in Missouri. The result of the case allowed slavery to spread anywhere in U.S. territory and denied citizenship of free African Americans. -
Harpers Ferry
To inspire slaves to fight for their freedom, John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, and a few of his followers captured a U.S. arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown and his followers were captured and executed. The Notherners praised Brown for his fight against slavery. However, the South was furious at the Northerner's reaction of Brown's execution. -
Election of 1860
The presidential election of 1860 splits into 2 races: North and South. Abraham Lincoln, a candidate from the Republican party, receives the most electoral and popular votes and wins the election. Southerners view the Republican victory as a threat to their way of live because they believed Lincoln would abolish slavery even though he said he wouldn't. -
Secession
On December 20 of 1860, South Carolina withdraws from the Union with 6 more southern states to folow. They argued that states' had the right to enter the Union voluntarily and should be able to leave. They form the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as the president of the Confederacy. They later draft a confederate consititution that supports states' rights and protects slavery in the confederacy and allows it in territories it might acquire.
