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The Missouri Compromise
In an effort to preserve the balance of power in Congress between slave and free states, the Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. .In 1854, the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This increased tension between the north and the south because it was criticized by many southerners because it established the principle that Congress could make laws regarding slavery -
Nat Turner´s Rebellion
Nat Turner and his supporters began a revolt against white slave owners with the killing of his owners. This was a rebellion led by slaves. This caused tension between the north and south because northern abolitionists continued to revolt while pro-slavery southerners tried to keep slavery. -
Trail of Tears
As part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. This created tension between the North and the south because many Native Americans lost their tribes and homes. -
The Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was a proposal to prohibit slavery in the territory acquired by the United States at the conclusion of the Mexican War. In 1846, David Wilmot a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, proposed the Wilmot Proviso. This created tension between the north and the south because of the land after the Mexican war. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. This caused tension between the north and the south because it left the topic of slavery unsettled. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This wasnpassed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This created tension between because slaves were treated as property in the South, slave owners felt it was their right to seek out and recapture slaves who had escaped to free Northern states. -
Uncle Toms Cabin
This made aiding or assisting runaway slaves a crime in free states. Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was first published in 1852, is thus a deliberate and carefully written anti-slavery argument. This created tension because anti-slavery northerners promoted Uncle Tomś cabin when southerners didn´t. -
Kansas Nebraska Act
It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. This created tension between the North and the south because those from the North generally opposed slavery in Kansas. Election fraud, intimidation, and some violence resulted, when the two sides began to contest the territory -
Bleeding Kansas
This was a series of violent civil confrontations in the United States between 1854 and 1861 which emerged from a political and ideological debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. This created tension between the north and south because the north and the south were attacking each other to promote or end slavery. -
Brooks Attacks Summer
The Caning of Charles Sumner, or the Brooks–Sumner Affair, occurred on May 22, 1856, in the United States Senate when Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC) used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA), an abolitionist, in retaliation for a speech given by Sumner. This created tension between the North and south because those who favored slavery were attacked. -
Lincoln Douglas Debates
The Lincoln–Douglas debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. This created tension because these candidates were battling to win presidency and they all had different views on slavery. -
Raid on Harper´s Ferry
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown's party of 22 was defeated by a company of U.S. Marines, led by First Lieutenant Israel Greene. This created tension because more violent attacks were made as an effort to stop slavery. -
Election of 1860
Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckenridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.This created tension because Abraham Lincoln supported the anti-slavery movement so southerners were upset at his win.