A Nation Divided

After the Mexican-American War Wilmot Proviso – a proposed law that would ban all slavery in all territory gained in the Mexican Cession Popular Sovereignty – people in a territory or state could vote directly on an issue, rather than having elected officials decide

Compromise of 1850 To Please the North California would be allowed into the Union as a free state The slave trade would be outlawed in the nation’s capital The Please the South Other states created from the Mexican Cession would use popular sovereignty to decide on slavery A tougher, newer fugitive slave law

Uncle Tom’s Cabin This book was considered as propaganda by many Southerners

Kansas-Nebraska Act Stephan Douglas proposed that Kansas and Nebraska should be opened up to popular sovereignty

Bleeding Kansas Both proslavery and antislavery people began to move to Kansas so they could cast their vote Kansas had around 3000 residents, but there were 8000 votes cast on election day Kansas actually had two governments, one proslavery and one antislavery John Brown, a radical abolitionist, took his followers into Kansas and murder 5 proslavery men John Brown will later lead a raid on Harpers Ferry in Virginia His plan was to steal all the guns from the army and arm slaves to lead a rebellion Brown was seen as a hero to many people in the North and seen as a traitor to those in the South

Dred Scott Decision Dred Scott sued for his freedom because he argued that he lived in places where slavery was illegal The Supreme Court ruled that Scott could not file a law suit because African Americans were not citizens They went even further to say that a slave owner could take his slaves anywhere because slaves were not people, they were property

New Antislavery Party After the end of the Whig Party, northern Whigs created the Republican Party Their main goal was to stop the spread of slavery into the territories The party grew fast, especially in the North Abraham Lincoln grew prominent in the party after his Lincoln-Douglas Debates “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” – Abraham Lincoln

Election of 1860

Southern States Secede South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860 Not all Southerners wanted to secede, but their voices were drowned out by those in favor of secession They created the Confederate States of America and election Jefferson Davis as their President