-
Introduced in 1846 by congressman David Wilmot, this new bill was created to ban the institution of slavery in any territories acquired during the Mexican American War. While Northerners supported the lack of the spread of slavery, Southerners were outraged and did not believe the United States government had the right to infringe their rights of property (Varon, 279) -
Part of the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was created to satisfy slaveholders who had lost runaway slaves. The government deployed federal police to find and capture these slaves and bring them back to their masters. This put many now free African American escapees in danger of their freedoms being taken away from them. In response, the North established liberty protection laws that attempted to stop this evil. (Varon, 235) -
Frederick Douglass was a leading abolitionist at the time who had firsthand experience with being a slave and watching the horrors of slavery himself. During his speech at the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1851, Douglass called for the end of slavery and how it was a political and moral evil. He also preached about opposing the growth of slavery into new territories and resisting the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. (Varon, 238) -
Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, and it quickly became one of the most influential pieces of American literature. The story displayed the terrible and brutal nature of slavery and brought these terrors to light to the American public. It pushed a lot of Americans to become more anti-slavery. In the South, this novel was widely banned because it was seen as a misinterpretation of slavery. -
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska while also granting these new territories the ability to vote for the institution of slavery. Created by Stephen A. Douglas, this act caused turmoil between abolitionists and slaveholders who wanted to make sure these territories would be on their own side. Newspapers called this commotion "Bleeding Kansas", dividing the nation even more than ever. -
The Know-Nothing Party was a political party between 1854 and 1856, and it had a very unsuccessful election stint during that time period. The party's main issue was conflicting internal issues about slavery, hence why they got very little votes in elections. The Know-Nothing party had the main goal of keeping their policies native or country-related, which hurt them in the long run because most Americans wanted a party that would handle the institution of slavery.
(Varon, 259) -
Charles Sumner was a United States senator from Massachusetts who fiercely condemned slavery. After giving an anti-slavery speech criticizing the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, South Carolina representative Preston Brooks beat Sumner unconscious on the Senate floor with his cane. This event became national news and deeply divided the nation between slavery and ant-slavery. The North saw this as a tragedy while the South celebrated Brooks for his actions. -
President James Buchanan is credited with being the President that did nothing to stop the oncoming Civil War. Not only was Buchanan very inactive during his presidency, his lack of action with certain pressing events happening across the United States showed the nation's citizens how incapable he was to create a significant change. Buchanan's inaction left the nation clear for Abraham Lincoln to deal with the pending Civil War.
(Varon, 287) -
Dred Scott was an enslaved man who was, at the time, living in territories that prohibited the institution of slavery. He believed that because he was in a free territory, that would make him a free man. This case went to the Supreme Court and was under the jurisdiction of Chief Justice Roger Taney. Taney claimed that African American men were never considered citizens in the first place and that prohibiting slavery was unconstitutional, angering many Northerners. -
John Brown was a wanted violent abolitionist who saw slavery as completely evil and was a murderer of anyone who was pro-slavery. He had a "calling from God" to lead a mass slave revolt, so him and a small band of men captured Harper's Ferry, a military arsenal. However, not that many slaves revolted so the plan ultimately failed, and John Brown was executed a couple months later. Northerners saw Brown as a martyr and the South saw him as a terrorist, which seriously divided the nation.