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The Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a law that admitted Missouri into the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery from the rest of the Louisiana purchase lands located in the north. This decision angered many southerners and it was later repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska act. -
John C. Calhoun
Calhoun was an important political leader in the pre Civil War era and a part of the Whig Party. He believed that northern Whig's rhetoric of equal opportunity was contradicted by slavery. He strongly considered slavery an important American institution. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a piece of legislation that was proposed at the end of the Mexican-American war. The legislation wanted to outlaw slavery in territories that the United States required as a result of the war. The Wilmot Proviso was denied, but the years of intense debate prompted the first serious discussions of secession. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was made up of 5 bills that attempted to resolve the disputes over slavery in the new territories of the United States. -
The forming of the Republican Party
The Republican Party emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas-Nebraska act and the expansion of slavery. They played and continue to play a big roll in politics today. With the election of party nominee Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party had a big roll in the Union's success in the war. -
Kansas-Nebraska act
An act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska with the goal of opening new lands to development. This act is most notable for repealing the Missouri Compromise and for increasing national tensions over slavery. They started the debate on whether new states should be free of allow slavery. -
Dred Scott decision
The Dred Scott supreme court case was a major component in the politics of the 19th century because it declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. The decision added fuel to the sectional controversy that plagued the country and helped pave the way to the Civil War. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas faced Republican Abraham Lincoln in a series of seven public debates. The debates propelled Lincoln into politics and he became popular and well known. The debates pushed Lincoln further into politics and alienated Douglas. -
The election of Abraham Lincoln
The election of Abraham Lincoln seriously affected how the events of history unfolded. He fought for the union of the southern and northern states and would not accept a divided country. His ideals helped shoot the country into the Civil War. -
Succession
On February 4, 1861, six southern states sent representatives to Alabama to set up a new independent government. Headed by Jefferson Davis, The Confederate States of America was formed and left the Union. This was the final breaking point in the fight between the North and the South.
