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Missouri Compromise
This allowed Missouri to be a slave state. This also made Maine a free state. The U.S. did this to keep the balance of half slave, half free. -
Compromise of 1850
This let California become a free state. The South was unhappy with this. But they would allow it if the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850. This meant that slave owners could retrieve their slaves if they escaped to the North. This meant that slaves who wanted to escape had to get to Canada. -
Georgia Platform
Georgia did not like the Compromise of 1850. They feared that with California as a free state, slavery would be banned, so they made a "platform" that would not allow the creation of California unless the government passed the Fugitive Slave Act. So the government responded by passing the Slave Act. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. This book was about the life of a fictional slave named Tom. This led to many people try to help slaves escape. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The government created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska for settlement. They thought that it would work very well, but the settlers started fighting and burnt towns. This earned the name "Bleeding Kansas." -
Dred Scott Case
A slave named Dred Scott and his owner moved to the North, then back to the South. Scott sued for his freedom in Supreme Court. The Supreme Justice ruled against him, saying that slaves were not citizens and could not sue. -
Raid on Harpers Ferry
On October 16, 1859, John Brown and his sons raided the arsenal at Harpers Ferry to start a slave revolt. Soon, the U.S. Army came in and captured John Brown and killed his sons. Brown was convicted of treason and was hung in West Virginia. -
Lincoln's Election
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln ran for president against Stephen Douglas. The majority of the North voted for Lincoln, while most of the South voted for Douglas. In the end, Lincoln was elected president. -
Secession
The South are angry with Lincoln's election. They thought that he would end slavery once and for all, so they all form the Confederate States of America. Months later, the Confederacy would attack Fort Sumter.
