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The slave trade was the capturing, selling, and buying of humans brought to the United States from Africa. It created a debate between the northern and the southern states as to whether slavery should be legal. Eventually the slave trade was ended but slavery still existed. This created more backfire aimed at the south.

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Although the majority of the Founding Fathers were against slavery, there was at least one who refused to sign the constitution without allowing slavery to continue. Because of this, the constitution references slavery, but does not use the word "slavery" or "slave". This created heavy debate between the north and the south about whether the constitution had any mention of slavery and whether or not it is against Americas founding ideals.

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When the constitution was being written the founders referenced slavery but never used the word slavery or slave causing controversy over what the constitution meant involving slavery.

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As Territories in the North were founded, founders promoted anti-slavery at the state level. This was the beginning of the divide in beliefs on slavery between the northern and southern states.

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As more territories were formed, there was conflict on how the south was getting more population votes due to their slave count, while the north didn't allow slaves. This gave the south an advantage as the population was used to calculate how many seats each state received in the House. In compromise, the Three-Fifths act was established which stated, every five slaves, would only count as three people of that state's population.

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Jefferson negotiated with France to purchase New Orleans to use for transportation. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, which caused conflict between the north and the south about where slavery would and would not be allowed.

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The Slave Insurrection Clause was established to allow the President of the United States, to use the full force of the military in the event of a slave uprising. This angered the Northerners who were against slavery and who in many cases had assisted runaway slaves.

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In 1808, slave trade from overseas was banned. This caused southern plantations to become less successful, which upset southern land owners.

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In 1803 the Louisiana purchase doubled the size of the U.S. this land was split into territories that became states. To keep it even Illinois was a free state and Alabama was a slave state. When Missouri became a state there was heavy debate over whether it would be a slave or free state. There was a compromise made in which new states to the north of the line would be free states and those to the south would be slave states. This later caused controversy over whether or not the line should be extended across the U.S.

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A group of people who lived in Mexican Texas declared independence and Texas became part of the U.S. as a slave state. This caused an issue over slavery and started the American-Mexican war.

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Manifest destiny was a belief from the early 19th century that the expansion of the U.S. was both justifiable and inevitable. this caused rapid expansion, war with Mexico, dislocation and mistreatment of non-Europeans, and more debate of slavery and whether or not new states should be admitted.

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The land was divided, the U.S. got the southern half and Britian got the northern half. This was one of the first manifest destiny successes.

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A war between the U.S. and Mexico was started over boundaries. The U.S. paid Mexico 15 million dollars for the land. This once again started debate over what land would or would not allow slavery.

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After winning a war with Mexico the U.S. once again had to decide what parts of the new land slavery would and would not be allowed. As a compromise, California was added as a free state.

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The Fugitive Slave Clause, allowed slave owners to "reclaim" runaway slaves that they claimed belonged to them, with no more than an accusation. The Northern states had taken in slaves that were fleeing the south, even if it was a "free state" the runaway slaves had to be returned.

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After negotiating with Mexico congress spent 10 million dollars on a strip of land for a railroad. this established a border between the U.S. and Mexico and helped with lingering conflicts after the American-Mexican war.

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The Kansas Nebraska act allowed each territory to decide the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty. People on one side would flood different territories to ensure their side won the vote in as many places as possible. During this Kansas had become a breeding ground for political violence and became known as bleeding Kansas. This intensified the ongoing debates over slavery in the U.S.

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Abraham Lincoln Elected President of the U.S. 1860

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Abraham Lincoln Elected President of the U.S. 1860

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When Abraham Lincoln was elected president, he was known to disapprove of slavery. This worried southern states that he would ban slavery.

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For fear that a republican government would end slavery, several southern states separated themselves from the union to try to keep their slave-owning rights. President Lincoln decided they could not do this because it weakened the only democratic nation in the world.

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The Official Start of the Civil War April 12, 1861

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The Official Start of the Civil War April 12, 1861

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After decades of arguments on slavery between the North and the South, on April 12, 1861 Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's harbor. This event marked the beginning of the Civil War.