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Election of 1848
In 1848 Zachary Taylor the Whig nominee and Lewis Cass the Democratic nominee faced off for President of the United States. Martin Van Buren was a nominee for the Free Soil party and received good amounts. This party was all about the new land out west being free of slavery. This election really started to separate the abolitionist North from the South. -
Compromise of 1850
The measures contained in this act caused a further divide between the North and the South. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The Fugitive Slave Act required all people in the North to help the Southerner's cath escaped slaves. The Northern did not like this because they already did not like the idea of slavery. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a series of safe houses for escaped slaves to stay at while trying to make it to the North. From 1800-1865 it is believed that about 100,000 slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad. -
Writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe truly turned normal people in the North into Abolitionists. This further divided the relation between the North and South. -
Anthony Burns
Anthony Burns was an escaped slave who fled to Boston and started to work there. After a year he was captured and sent back to Virginia to be enslaved once again. The people in Boston did not like this and it sparked large protests. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise. It created 2 new territories. This also sparked a debate if the new territories should be free slave states. -
Dred Scott Case
Dred Scott and his family tried to sue their owners to receive their freedom. The supreme court ruled that a black man was not able to be a citizen of the United States. -
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
During these debates, Lincoln and Douglas went back and forth about several issues. When it came to slavery Lincoln would say "A house divided can not stand." To that Douglas would say that it was up to the States to decide what to do about slavery. This really had the North wanting Lincoln and the Southerns wanting Douglas. -
John Brown’s Harpers Ferry
John Brown leads a raid with a small group of abolitionists against Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The goal of John Brown was to have the enslaved people there turn on their owners and fight with Brown to end slavery. This did not work out.