-
A series of laws aimed at keeping balance between free and slave states. California became a free state, and the Fugitive Slave Act forced citizens to return escaped enslaved people.
The North grew angry about enforcing slavery laws, while the South demanded their rights be protected — deepening the divide. -
-
Allowed people in Kansas and Nebraska to vote on whether to allow slavery.
This repealed the Missouri Compromise and caused violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. -
Fighting broke out between pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups in Kansas after the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
The violence showed that compromise on slavery was failing and that armed conflict was coming. -
Southern Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane after Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech.
The brutal beating symbolized the growing hatred between North and South and shocked the nation. -
The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress couldn’t ban slavery in the territories.
Northerners were outraged, believing the government was controlled by pro-slavery forces. -
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debated slavery’s expansion during their Illinois Senate race.
Lincoln’s strong anti-slavery arguments made him nationally famous and angered the South. -
Abolitionist John Brown led an attack on a U.S. arsenal, hoping to start a slave revolt.
The failed raid made Brown a hero in the North and a terrorist in the South, worsening tensions. -
Abraham Lincoln won the presidency without any Southern electoral votes.
The South felt powerless and began seceding from the Union, leading directly to the Civil War.