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Missouri Compromise
This compromise kept the number of free and slave states equal. It created a line to designate future free and slave states. This compromise only applied to the Louisiana territory. It kept sectional tension low until the Mexican-American war brought in new land. -
Wilmot Proviso
This proposal was to appease northerners. It suggested making all land from mexico free. Pro-slavery congressmen made sure the Wilmot Proviso never passed. -
Mexican War
This was caused by tension over slavery. This war was a conflict between Mexico and America from 1846 to February 2, 1848. All compromises over slavery in this new land would fail. -
Compromise of 1850
This compromise determined the status of the land from the Mexican cession (including California). It was proposed by Henry Clay, "The great compromiser". -
Fugitive Slave Law
This law became the controversial part of the Compromise of 1850. It forced northerners to aid slave catchers. Blacks were falsely identified as runaways, denied jury trials, and kidnapped to the South as slaves. -
“Bleeding Kansas”
Kansas had a civil war between abolitionist and slave owners. It was the first real bloodshed over the issue of slavery. This was a series of violent political confrontations. This was between 1854-1861 -
Republican Party Forms
Anti-slavery Whigs, democrats, and the Free-Soil party hated the Kansas-Nebraska act. They joined together to form the Republican party, which existed in the North. The Republican Party Platform was slavery could not expand to the west. Southerners seen Republicans as a threat to slavery. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The purpose was to organize new northern states in the midwest for a northern railroad. The south was worried about this because this land was where slavery was banned. The Missouri compromise was repealed. The Midwest was divided into Kansas and Nebraska territory. -
Dred Scott vs. Sanford
The Supreme Court made a ruling about slavery in the West. Dred Scott, who was a slave, was taken by his owner into a free territory. Scott sued and argued that this meant he was now free. -
Charles Sumner caned in the Senate
Charles Sumner made a speech "The crime against". This speech denounced slave states, especially South Carolina. Preston Scott, a congressman from South Carolina, nearly beat Sumner to death with a cane. Violence in Kansas and in Congress foreshadowed the Civil War. -
John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry
John Brown and his followed seized a federal arsenal at Harper's ferry, VA. Brown intended to smuggle military weapons to the south and start a major slave rebellion. Brown was stopped, captured, and executed. -
Southern states begin to secede
In 186, South Carolina was the first state to secede. Seven other states in the "lower south" had seceded when by the time Lincoln was sworn into the office. This led to the Confederate States of America. Jefferson was the president of this. -
Abraham Lincoln elected President
Abraham was elected president in 1860. When he was elected, the South saw his as a threat to slavery. Lincoln's effort to stop secession led to violence, which started the Civil War. -
Battle at Fort Sumter
This occurred during 1861 after Lincoln became president. By Lincoln's inauguration, the Confederacy claimed federal forts in the South. South Carolina claimed the fort belonged to the Confederacy. South Carolina bombed the Fort when Fort Sumter refused to surrender. While using violence and force, South Carolina captured Fort Sumter. The Civil War began.
