Key Events Leading to the Civil War

Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise

Admitted Missouri as a slave state; Maine as free.

Henry Clay

Proposed the Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850.

Wilmot Proviso

1846 proposal to ban slavery in new territories.

Free Soil Movement

Opposed slavery in territories; supported free labor.

Free Soil Party

Coalition opposing slavery in Mexican Cession territories.

Compromise of 1850

Admitted California free; allowed popular sovereignty.

Fugitive Slave Law

Required return of escaped slaves to owners.

Underground Railroad

Network aiding escaped slaves to reach freedom.

Harriet Tubman

Famous conductor of the Underground Railroad.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Novel highlighting the cruelty of slavery.

Impending Crisis of the South

Argued slavery harmed Southern economy with statistics.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Allowed settlers to decide on slavery in territories.

Bleeding Kansas

Violence between proslavery and antislavery factions.

Caning of Senator Sumner

Sumner attacked for anti-slavery speech; nearly killed.

Republican Party

Formed to oppose the spread of slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Supreme Court ruled African Americans not citizens.

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

Debates focused on slavery's moral implications.

John Brown's Raid

Attempted slave uprising; captured at Harpers Ferry.

Election of 1860

Lincoln won without Southern electoral votes.

Secession of the Deep South

Southern states seceded after Lincoln's election.

Confederate States of America

Government formed by seceding Southern states.

Crittenden Compromise

Proposed amendments to protect slavery in territories.

Popular Sovereignty

Settlers decide on slavery in new territories.

Fugitive Slave Cases

Handled exclusively by federal authorities.

Vigilance Committees

Groups protecting fugitive slaves from capture.

Southern Reaction to Uncle Tom's Cabin

Condemned novel as Northern prejudice against South.

Statistics in Impending Crisis

Used to argue against slavery's economic viability.

Transcontinental Railroad

Project influencing the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Slaveholder Migration

Proslavery settlers moved to Kansas for control.