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Missouri Compromise
In 1820, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states. They, at that point, had equal power in the Senate. However, Maine wanted to become a free state, which would give the free states more power. Henry Clay proposed a Compromise, which would let Missouri join the Union as a slave state as well, giving both slave and free states equal power again. Another part of the compromise made a line called the Missouri Compromise line, which separated where slavery was and was not allowed. -
The Compromise of 1850
The Compromise was to reach an agreement between North and South and keep from having war. There were five parts: Admit California as a free state, uphold popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah, settle New Mexico and Texas border dispute, include fugitive slave act, and ban slavery within Washington D.C. Daniel Webster delivered his ideas in a speech known as "The Seventh of March Speech". -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
A book with an antislavery message written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It became famous internationally, but also controversial among supporters of slavery. -
Creation of the Republican Party
The Kansas-Nebraska Act caused political parties to split into groups. Democrats split into Northern and Southern Democrats. Northern Democrats were angry at representatives who voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Act. These Democrats wanted to stop the spread of slavery, so they joined up with abolitionists and former Whigs to form the Republican Party. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen Douglas in 1854 proposed the Nebraska territory be divided in two, and join either the slave or free states based on popular sovereignty. -
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas were Results of the Kansas Nebraska Act. Proslavery and antislavery activists went to Kansas to get the outcome of the popular sovereignty vote in their favor. Violence erupted, and in the end, 200 people were killed. -
Dred Scott Decision
Dred Scott was an enslaved person that lived in Missouri. He moved with his owner to Illinois and then to Wisconsin, where slavery was not allowed. After returning to Missouri, his owner died. Antislavery activists helped him file a lawsuit to let him become free, as he had once lived in a free state. However, the court said that he did not have the right to file a lawsuit since he was not a citizen and considered property. This outraged many people. -
Raid on Harpers' Ferry
John Brown went with a group of followers to raid a federal arsenal in Harpers' Ferry. He hoped there would be a slave uprising, but there was not. He was sentenced to death for the event, which took place from October 16-18, 1859. -
Election of 1860
Southerners wanted democrats to support slavery, but northern democrats refused. So, the Democrats split into two. Constitutional Union Party was formed to unite the North and South. The Republican nominee, Abraham Lincoln, wanted to stop the spread of slavery. Lincoln's support was all in the North, but he won the election. -
South Carolina's Secession
South Carolina was the first state to Secede. Before the election of 1860, some Southern leaders threatened to leave the Union if Lincoln was elected. As Lincoln was elected, before his inauguration, South Carolina seceded.
