leading to the civil war

Between the mid-1840s and 1861, sectional tensions escalated.
Actions taken by the North, such as the establishment of personal liberty laws, were responses to the harsher Fugitive Slave Laws.

Designed to facilitate the capture of runaway slaves.
Northern states passed personal liberty laws to counteract these laws.
Example: Massachusetts prohibited state officials from aiding in the capturing of fugitives.

After the Compromise, the South aimed for a 16th slave state to balance the senate.
Prior to the compromise: 16 free states (32 Senators) and 15 slave states (30 Senators).
Notable Southern actions:
- Looking for new territories to establish as slave states, including Cuba and Nicaragua.

Filibustering: Unauthorized military expeditions by private individuals to capture foreign territories.
Cuba: A focus for Southerners, especially Narciso Lopez, who made three attempts to capture it (1849, 1850, and 1851), ultimately failing and facing execution.
William Walker: Known for attempts to take over Nicaragua; declared president in 1855 but was later captured and executed by the British Navy in 1860.

Secret proposal by U.S. diplomats (including President Franklin Pierce, Pierre Soulé, James Mason, and James Buchanan) to purchase Cuba for $130 million.
Phrase in the manifesto suggested the U.S. would be justified in taking Cuba by force if Spain refused.
The document leaked, causing embarrassment for the U.S. government and leading to an apology from President Pierce.

The literature of the time exacerbated sectional divides.
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852): Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel that showcased the horrors of slavery; wildly popular in the North but banned in the South.
The Impending Crisis: A Southern critique of slavery—focused on its economic inefficiencies, written by Hinton Helper, which further alienated the South.
Newspapers such as Charleston Mercury (South) and New York Tribune (North) contributed daily to tensions between the two regions.

Proposed by Stephen A. Douglas to organize Kansas and Nebraska as territories.
Key issues:
- Repealed the Missouri Compromise, allowing potential for slavery in previously free territories.
- Introduced the doctrine of popular sovereignty (the idea that residents of a territory should decide the status of slavery).
- Resulted in the emergence of the Republican Party focused on opposing the expansion of slavery.

Formation of the Republican Party in 1854 in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
- A sectional party primarily in the North opposing slavery in territories.
Southern Democrats solidified their control in the South.

A mini civil war sparked by the competing interests of pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Kansas.
Major events:
- Both Northern and Southern groups sent settlers to sway elections for Kansas' status (free or slave).
- Instances of violence, election fraud, and significant loss of life occurred (approx. 200 killed and $2 million in property damage).
Brooks-Sumner Affair (1856):
- Abolitionist Charles Sumner's speech against pro-slavery forces triggered the assault by Preston Brooks, resulting in severe violence in the Senate.
Sacking of Lawrence (1856): Pro-slavery forces attacked the anti-slavery town of Lawrence, leading to five deaths.

John Brown, an abolitionist, reacted to the violence in Kansas by retaliating against pro-slavery supporters after the sacking of Lawrence.
Led the Pottawatomie Massacre, where he and his followers killed five pro-slavery men in 1856 as an act of retribution.
Brown's continued activism marked him as a fugitive, escaping justice and remaining a significant figure in the anti-slavery movement.