Pre-Civil War

compromise 1850

5 laws passed in 1850 aimed at resolving disputes over slavery in newly acquired territories from the MA war. admits cali as a free state

david wilmot

pennslyvania congressman. known for the “wilmot proviso,” an amendment that aimed to ban slavery in any territory acquired from mexico following the MA war. tries to PREVENT slavery.

edward gorsuch

maryland slave owner. killed in the christiana resistance in 1851. he tries ot recapture runaway slaves, thats why this happens.

anthony burns

fugitive slave from virginia. arrested in boston in 1854 under the fugitive slave act of 1850, creates riots, also protests from abolitionists.

harriet tubman

conducts underground railroad; frees hundreds of enslaved people.

david walker

african american abolitionist, writes appeal to the colored citizens of the world. dies right after book is published. denounces slavery, and encourages ALL enslaved people to fight for their freedom.

henry “box” brown

escapes slavery by shipping himself in a wooden create to philadelphia in 1849, shows it off (fred. doug. gets very upset)

soloman northup

twelve years a slave, a free black man from new york who is a muscian. gets tricked into taking an “offer" to preform at a show, ends up getting drugged and then gets shipped to lousiana.

stephen a douglas

american politican from illinois that designs the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

john brown

radical abolitionist. believes that violence is needed to end slavery. pottawatomie massacre.

zachary taylor

12th president, military leader of the MA war, Battle of Buena Vista. dies in office

millard fillmore

13th president of the US, known for his support of the compromise of 1850. fights for fugitive slave act.

franklin pierce

14th president, kansas-nebraska act

popular sovereignty

political concept that people living in a territory should decide whether to allow slavery within their borders.

bleeding kansas

period of violent conflict between pro-slavery and anti-slavery in the midwest territory during the mid-1850s

kansas-nebraska

law passed in 1854, creates two territories, popular sovereignty

slave power

political influence wielded by southern slaveholders in the federal government

charles sumner

prominent anti-slavery senator, massachusetts. crime against kansas speech. dies odd

preston brooks

pro-slavery, kills a senator (sumner), uses a cane, in response to crime against kansas speech

andrew butler

a south carolina senator who played a key role in the kansas-nebraska act, mentioned in this crime against kansas speech

dred scott

landmark supreme court case in 1857. a slave named ___ sues for his freedom, and court rules he cannot sue because he is property.