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Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal statute in the United States that regulated slavery in the country's western territories. The compromise, devised by Henry Clay, was agreed to by the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress and passed as a law in 1820. -
Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. -
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Mexican War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States and the Centralist Republic of Mexico. -
Compromise of 1850
Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions on January 29, 1850, in an attempt to seek a compromise and avert a crisis between North and South. As part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C., was abolished. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman. -
Kansas-Nebraska act
In January 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas introduced a bill that divided the land west of Missouri into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. He argued for popular sovereignty, which would allow the settlers of the new territories to decide if slavery would be legal there. Antislavery supporters were outraged because, under the terms of the Missouri Compromise of 1820, slavery would have been outlawed in both territories. -
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Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War was a series of violent political confrontations in the United States involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the neighboring towns of the state of Missouri between 1854 and 1861. -
Brooks-Summer Affair
Sumner-Brooks Affair. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner sat as his desk in the nearly empty Chamber of the United States Senate on May 22, 1856. He had recently given a speech called “The Crime Against Kansas” on abolishing slavery in the United States. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott sued for his freedom. Abolitionists believed this case could end slavery Supreme Court ruled African-Americans were not citizens and had NO RIGHTS. Congress had no right to ban slavery in any territory. “Slavery was Lawful and Legal” Slaves were property, thus protected by the 5th Amendment in the Constitution. -
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Lincoln-Douglas Debates
1858 Republican Abe Lincoln ran against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas for the Illinois US Senate seat. Lincoln argued in the HOUSE DIVIDED SPEECH “a house divided against it cannot stand” Lincoln believed slavery should not be expanded. Douglas (Little Giant) argued slavery should be decided by popular sovereignty. Douglas won a close race, but Lincoln made a name for him and his new party. -
Harper Ferry Attack
Abolitionist John Brown had a plan to inspire slaves to fight for their freedom. Brown and several white and black men attacked a US Marine arsenal to capture weapons and supply a slave revolt. The attack failed and John Brown was captured. He was hanged for murder and treason. Southerners were outraged by his actions, northerners praised his deeds. “I am quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood.” – John Brown -
Election of 1860
North Dem. :Douglas
South Dem. :Breckinridge
“Constitutional union”: John Bell
Republican: Lincoln
Results:
Lincoln 40%
Douglas 30%
Breckinridge 18%
Bell 12%
Outraged…the south threatens to secede.Dec 20, 1860 South Carolina Secedes. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas soon follow -
South Carolina Seccedes
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to declare its secession and later formed the Confederacy. -
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The Civil War
