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Following the election, senators attempted to find another compromise after hearing talk of secession. Lincoln's opinion was that he would not interfere with slavery in the South and would support the Fugitive Slave Act, but he would not let slavery into the territories. The, delegates in. South Carolina voted to leave the union and six more states followed soon after.

Source: ushistory.org

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#14 Abraham Lincoln is Elected as President

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#14 Abraham Lincoln is Elected as President

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Lincoln won the 1860 election even with just 40 percent of the votes. All of those votes were cast in the North because he was not on the ballet in ten Southern states. The election proved that the South was no longer the majority and could not shape politics as it used to. They believed Congress would eventually be able to abolish slavery.

Source: Constitution Daily

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Abolitionist John Brown planned to seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia rather than wait for Congress to act. He wanted to arm slaves and start a rebellion to end slavery. Although his raid failed and all of his men were killed or captured, Brown's words on the day of his hanging haunted Southerners because if a slave rebellion began, Southern blood would be spilled.

Source: Civil War Trust

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Lincoln and Stephen Douglas ran against each other for Senate. Douglas believed that the nation could go "half-slave and half-free" and that the Dred Scott decision had put the slavery issue to rest Lincoln believed slavery was not a legal issue, it was a moral issue. Although Lincoln lost the election, but became a national figure after the debates.

Source: Smithsonian.com

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A slave named Dred Scott traveled to Wisconsin with his owner and went to court upon his return because he claimed his time in a free state such as Wisconsin made him a free man. On March 6, 1857, the Court decided that Scott was not a citizen and could not sue for his freedom in a federal court. African Americans were not American citizens and the court rejected Scotts decision because the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional.

Source: PBS

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After Senator Charles Sumner gave a powerful speech called "The Crime Against Kansas," South Carolina representative Preston Brooks attacked Sumner with a metal cane in senate until he was badly injured and unconscious. Southerners applauded Brooks and Northerners were disgusted by the brutality of Southerners.

Source: U.S. Senate

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After the act was passed, settlers swarmed to Kansas where the struggle between governments turned violent. On May 21, 1856, armed men "burned a hotel, looted several homes, and tossed the printing presses of two abolitionist newspapers into the Kaw River." An abolitionist named John Brown invaded Pottawatomie, Kansas and hacked five men that they suspected supported slavery to death with swords two days after the Lawrence raid.

Source: Encyclopedia Brittanica "Pottawatomie Massacre"

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Senator Stephan Douglas created a bill known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act that got rid of the Missouri Compromise and created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. Settlers had the right to vote on if the two territories would be free or slave states.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

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The Fugitive Slave Act stated that runaway slaves had no rights and anybody that helped a slave escape or refused to help slaved catchers could be arrested. Northerners hated this act because they did not want to enforce it and Southerners were unhappy with how little was being done to return their slaves.

Source: Time

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Henry Clay came up with a compromise that just about pleased everyone by allowing California to join the Union as a free state as well as letting the New Mexico and Utah and territories decide if they wanted to be slave or free states. Clay need the slave trade in the nation's capital of Washington D.C., while also allowing slaveholder in Washington to keep their slaves. The compromise also included a strong fugitive slave act to reclaim runaway slaves. After nine long months and Southerners threatening to peacefully leave the union, congress finally accepted Clay's plan.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

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In an attempo to compromise, Southerners suggested that the Missouri Compromise line go all the way to the Pacific. There would be no slavery north of the line, but it was allowed south of it. Later, in 1849, California asked to join the Union as a free state. Northerners were excited to welcome California, however Southerners believed it would upset the balance between free and slave states.

Source: Arago "California Statehood Issue"

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In 1846, President James Polk asked Congress to fund the war in Mexico and David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania representative, added an amendment to the Presidents bill called the Wilmot Proviso. It said that slavery will not exist in any of the territory that might be acquired. Southerners were against this amendment.

Source: RACE "Expansion of Slavery in the U.S."

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After Nat Turners Rebellion, fugitive slaves continue to run away with the help of kind Northerners. Slaveholders saw slaves as valuable pieces of property and lost money every time they ran away. So, they tried to get congress to pass a fugitive slave act.

Source: Ohio History Central

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Abolitionists everywhere flooded Congress with petitions for antislavery, but Congress apparently had no power to get involved with slavery in the states. So, Congress decided to set aside all antislavery petitions by creating the "gag rule" because the court try would not be able to agree on abolishing slavery at the time. While abolitionists continued to fight slaver, southerners created strict new laws to control the movement of slaves.

Source: Encyclopedie Brittanica

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In 1820, Congress could not decide whether Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state, especially since Maine was now asking to be admitted to the Union as a free state. For the sake of the Union, Congress drew an imaginary line across the Louisiana Purchase where slavery was banned north of the line, except in Missouri, and slavery was permitted south of the line. Although this was done to balance the power between slave and free states, many were not pleased with the decision because the North considered Congress traitors.

Source: Heritage Society ¨1820 Missouri Compromise"