The 1850's; Social And Political Events Leading Up

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The years leading up to the Civil War are full of political and social events that fueled the differences between the northern States and the southern States. All the events leading up to the bloody war were significant; however, the following had the greatest impact on deciding the country’s future: The Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 which included the Fugitive Slave Act, The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, The Dred Scott decision of 1857, John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, and finally, Lincoln’s election to President in 1860. Of these political and social events, the most important one, which lead to the division of our country, was the Compromise of 1850. This act alone set the course and helped deeply divide the country over the issue of slavery. All the other events fueled the fire and eventually lead to the only war fought on American soil. The Civil War has its roots 40 years earlier in the Missouri Compromise of 1820. After a big debate in Congress, Missouri is admitted into the union as a slave state. To keep the balance of free vs. slave, Maine enters into the union as a free state. This compromise also stated very specifically that any territory above the 36 degree 30’ latitude line would be a free state. The Missouri Compromise is later repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. In the Compromise of 1850, California is admitted into the union as a free state, giving the free states a majority in the Senate. It also introduced the idea of popular sovereignty where the people of a state would decide if they would be a free state or a slave state. Lastly, it included the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act said that any federal official who did not arrest a runaway slave would have to pay a fine. This was the match that started the fire. It angered Northerners and Abolitionists. It stoked the fire of the

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