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Decade of Crisis
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1850-1860
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a series of laws that
attempted to resolve the territorial and slavery
controversies arising from the Mexican-American
War
 One part admitted California as a free state
 The Slave TRADE was abolished in Washington D.C.
 The Fugitive Slave Law was passed which required
Americans to help capture runaway slaves, even if
they were in free territory
 Allowed popular sovereignty over the New Mexico
Territory
 Popular Sovereignty is the idea that a state can vote
whether to enter the Union as a free state or a slave
state

Compromise of 1850
Opposition to the
Compromise
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Many southerners opposed the Compromise
because it disturbed the balance of power in the
senate
They also thought it unconstitutional to abolish
the slave trade in the D.C.
However the south supported a fugitive slave
law, but that law was opposed in the north
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin is
a book about the
sufferings of Slaves
The south will ban it,
the north will become
more abolitionist
Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Happens because of the
Transcontinental Railroad
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of
1854 created the territories of
Kansas and Nebraska and allowed
the settlers to decide whether or
not to have slavery.
This is known as Popular
Sovereignty
This Nullified the Missouri
Compromise
The result was bleeding Kansas
where hundreds died in a mini
civil war trying to make Kansas
either Slave or Free
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Changes from Missouri Compromise to
Kansas-Nebraska Act
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Caning of Sumner
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Senator Preston
Brooks will beat
Sen. Charles
Sumner in the
Senate over a
debate about
slavery
Birth of the Republican Party
1.
Coalition of Whigs, Free Soilers, and
Know Nothings, who opposed slavery
Opposed expansion of slavery to new
territories
b. Did not adopt an anti-slavery campaign
c. Free Soilers oppose the expansion of slavery
d. Know Nothings are anti immigration, also
known as Nativists
a.
Dred Scott v. Sanford
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Dred Scott was a slave from Missouri, his
master moved him to free territory
He sued to be free since he was in free
territory
The supreme court said no “A black man
does not have any rights a white man
must respect”
This nullifies all compromises and says
that slavery can go anywhere
James Buchanan
John Brown’s Raid
-Hoped to seize weapons at
federal arsenal in Virginia and
give them to slaves.
-It failed and John Brown was
hanged by Virginia John Brown
Results of John Brown’s Raid
• The south believes northern abolitionists
are trying to advocate slave rebellion
• The south begins to form militias to help
put down any rebellion
• This is the beginning of the Confederate
Army