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The compromise of 1850 including the fugitive slave act
September 18, 1850 by Congress, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. The act required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The act also made the federal government responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. -
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Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or border was was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. -
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Dread Scott v. Sandford
Dread Scott v. Sandford was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the court held the United States Constitution was not meant to include American citizenship for people of African descent regardless of whether they were enslaved or free. -
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Lincoln-Douglas debates, series of seven debates between the Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglas and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign, largely concerning the issue of slavery extension into the territories. -
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John Browns Raid on Harpers Ferry
Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and destroy the institution of slavery. -
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Election of Abraham Lincoln
The election of 1860 was one of the most pivotal presidential elections in American history. It pitted Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln against Democratic Party nominee John Breckinridge and Constitutional Union Party nominee John Bell. The main issue of the election was slavery and states’ rights.