-
Missouri Compromise
This Compromise kept the number of free and slave states equal. Also created a line (36,30') to designate future free & slave states. It kept the tension low until the Mexican-American War brought in new land. -
Mexican-American War
The war brought in new land that both the North and South wanted to influence. The North saw the war as a southern conspiracy to create more slave states so this event raised the tension of slavery between them. -
Wilmot Proviso
To appease the North, this bill proposed making all land won from Mexico FREE. The Southern Congressmen angrily blocked the bill from becoming law, which again raised the tension because they couldn't agree. -
California Gold Rush
"49ers" rushed to California to try a fortune after Gold discovered. This became a big hit, because now California was wanted which raised tension. -
Compromise of 1850
This determined the status of the land from the Mexican cession, including California. 1. North received California became a free state, 2. the rest of the new land was divided into the two territories that would decide on slavery using popular sovereignty 3. South reveived a stronger Fugitive Slave Act to catch runaways in the North 4. Slave trade banned in Washington, D.C. This compromise eased the tension for a short time period. -
Fugitive Slave Law
This law became most controversial part of the Compromise of 1850. It forced northerners to aid slave catchers and blacks wer falsely identified as runaways, etc. Northerners who had been indifferent toward slavery began to hate slavery and North and South became more divided over slavery. This law actually helped out and lowered the tension. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is published
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote this book about slavery. The bok was graphic and made slavery look terrible. The Northerners who had been indifferent toward slavery began to hate slavery. The Southerners banned the book, calling it propaganda and full of lies. The South and North became more divided over slavery, causing the tension to increase. -
Republican Party forms
Anti-slavery Whigs, Democrats, and the free-soil party hated the kansa-nebraska act. They joined together to form the Republican party, which existed in the north. Southerners saw republicans in the north as a threat to slavery so this raised the tension. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
This law was meant to organize new northern states in the Midwest for a northern railroad. The south worried b/c this land was above the 36,30' line. The Midwest was divided into a Kansas & Nebraska territory. Both territories would decide on slavery using popular sovereignty. The Northerns wer furious that slavery could now expand above the line. Political parties split over the issue. So b/c of this the tension raised. -
"Bleeding Kansas"
Abolitionists from the North and slave owners from the South poured into Kansas. Kansas had a civil war between abolitionists and slave owners. Popular soverenignty failed because people in Kansas could not agree over slavery. So the tension kept rising. -
Charles Sumner caned in Senate
"The Crime Aganist Kansas"- this speech, made in the Senate by Sumner, denounced slave states, esp. South Carolina. Preston Brooks, Congressman from S.C, about beat Sumner to death with a cane. The North outraged and the South was happy. This raised the tension and violence in Kansas and in Congress foreshadowed the civil war. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Supreme Court made a ruling about slavery in the West. Dred Scott, a slave, was taken by his owner into a free territory. Scott sued and argued that this meant he was now free. North were angry that slavery could legally spread west and South loved the ruling. -
John Brown's Raid
John Brown and his followeres seized a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown intended to smuggle military weapons to the South and start a major slave rebellion. Brown was stopped, captured, and executed. Abolitionists in North viewed him as a martyr and southerners feared more northern conspiracies to attack slavery, which increased tension. -
Southern states began to secede
The South felt it had no power left in the federal government. Southern states began seceding from the United States to form their own country. -
Abraham Lincoln elected for President
The U.S. broke apart after he was elected, and his effort to preserve the union started the Civil War. The threat saw him as a threat to slavery. Southern states "nullified" the election by seceding from the Union. Lincoln's effort to stop secession led to violence, starting the Civil War. This was a major raise of tension. -
Battle of Fort Sumter
By Lincoln's inauguration, the Confederacy claimed federal forts in the South. Lincoln decided to resupply Fort Sumter but S.C. claimed it belonged to the Confederacy. So when Fort Sumter refused to surrender, S.C bombed the fort. S.C captured it. This is the beginning of the Civil War, which the tension began to rise and rise even more.
