-
Wilmot Proviso
This bill aimed to outlaw slavery in territories taken from Mexico. The bill passed i the House of Representitives but was defeated in the senate, thus causing a division in Congress. -
Compromise of 1850
A compromise created to please both the North and the South, which made California a free state, abolished slave trade in Washington, and passed a law that made it easier to recapture runaway slaves. -
Kansas-Nebraska act
A bill that split the Nebraska territory into Nebraska and Kansas, destroying the Missouri Compromise. -
Bleeding Kansas
Five thousand Missourians voted illegally for the territorial legislature. Due to this, civil war broke out in Kansas. -
Caning of Sumner
Sumner had a speech berating proslavery forces. Preston Brooks later attacked him with his cane, as revenge. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri. He was taken by his master to free territory, After his master died, Scott sued for his freedom. This case reached the supreme court. -
Attacks on Harper Ferry
John Brown and his army of eleven captured the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry. Brown attempted to arm slaves, but no one joined him. Brown was captured and hung. -
Election of 1860
Lincoln, Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell are all candidates in the election. Lincoln and Douglas were stringly against slavery. Lincoln won the election by a landslide.