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Missouri Compromise
Description of the event: The Missouri Compromise was an agreement made by Henry Clay to help end the conflict over Missouri's application to become a slave state, which would have ruined the balance of power between free and slave states. The Compromise was that Missouri would be a slave state and Maine would be a free state.
Significance: The Missouri Compromise outlawed slavery above the 36-degree 30' latitude in the rest of the Louisiana territory -
Compromise of 1850
Description: The Compromise of 1850 were a set of laws that were made to address disputes that occurred after the Mexican and American War about the territories that were won. Certain states such as California were declared as free states while Utah and New Mexico territories were unsure but ended up banning the slave trade and not slavery. The Fugitive Slave Act made Northerners have to help capture slaves that escaped.
Significance: Eased some tensions but overall caused outrage. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This Act formed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska allowed people to decide if there would be slavery or not and replaced the Missouri Compromise. This Act would help cause violence to erupt such as "Bleeding Kansas" and would cause more tension between the North and South.
Significance: The Act sunk America into a greater divide between the North and the South with violence and radical reforms further pushing the country into the Civil War. -
Dred Scott Decision
This Supreme Court case happened between Dred Scott and Sandford and the court ruled that African Americans were not U.S citizens and had no legal right to sue in federal court. They also ruled that Congress lacked the authority to prohibit slavery in the United States.
Significance: This decision in the Supreme Court angered Northerners' while aiding slaveholders and Southerners' who supported slavery raising tensions even more. -
The Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln who was a part of the Republican Party won the election of 1860 even without the electoral votes from the Southern states. Southerners were outraged by this while Northerners rejoiced. Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories.
Significance: This election was a huge threat to the South, slavery, and way of life and resulted in Southern states starting to leave the Union forming Confederate states, and starting the Civil War. -
2023 citations
Levy, Michael. "United States presidential election of 1860". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Dec. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1860. Accessed 16 December 2024. -
2024 citations
2024 Citations Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Missouri Compromise". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Oct. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Missouri-Compromise. Accessed 16 December 2024.
Urofsky, Melvin I.. "Compromise of 1850". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Nov. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Compromise-of-1850. Accessed 16 December 2024. -
2024 citations
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Kansas-Nebraska Act". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Dec. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kansas-Nebraska-Act. Accessed 16 December 2024.
Urofsky, Melvin I.. "Dred Scott decision". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Nov. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Dred-Scott-decision. Accessed 16 December 2024.