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The Senate tried to establish more compromises in 1860, but Abraham Lincoln made it clear that he would not let slavery extend to the territories. This was the last straw for the South, and they declared secession on December 20th.

Shown: Ordinance of Secession, written by the South to secede from the Union, 1860. [primary source]

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14. Abraham Lincoln is Elected President

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14. Abraham Lincoln is Elected President

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Even though Lincoln's name was not even included on the ballot Abraham Lincoln's presidency signaled to the South that they were now the minority, and they feared even more now that slavery would soon be abolished.

Shown: Depiction of first Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, from Abraham Lincoln Historical Society [primary source]

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Abolitionist John Brown seized the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry,  Virginia to arm slaves for a rebellion to end slavery. While he was captured, his motives made Southerners fearful.

Shown: John Brown holed up at a fire engine house at Harper's Ferry, Library of Congress (Retrieved from Smithsonian Magazine) [primary source]

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Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were opponents in the Illinois Senate election. Douglas argued that the Dred-Scott decision ended the controversy of slavery, but Lincoln viewed slavery as a moral issue, which made him a national figure and brought slavery in a new focus.

Shown: A portrait of Abraham Lincoln (1860) and Stephen Douglas (1859)

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Dred Scott, a slave who traveled with his master to a free state, brought his case to the Supreme Court  in 1857, arguing that his stay in a free state made him free. Chief Justice Robert Taney, delivered the Dred-Scott Decision, saying that:
1. Dred Scott could not sue for his freedom because he was not a citizen.
2. Scott was not a free man because slaves were property. The fifth amendment did not allow property to be taken from people. Thus, Scott's freeing would be unconstitutional.

This decision delighted Southern slaveholders, but Northerners became angry, and the New York Times called the decision "a wicked and false judgement."

Shown: Article in Newspaper announcing the Dred-Scott Decision by the Supreme Court, 1857 [primary source]

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In 1856, Senator Charles Sumner gave a speech denouncing the attack at Lawrence Kansas. A few days later, South Caroline representative Preston Brooks literally beat Sumner with a cane in fury until he was unconscious. The reaction from America, as expected, was polarizing. While some Southerners supported Brooks for defending the South's honor, Northerners were horrified.

Shown: Lithograph of Preston Brooks' attack, New York Public Library [primary source]

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Some settled in Kansas to support or oppose slavery. In 1856, pro-slavery settlers invaded the abolitionist town of Lawrence,  Kansas, looting homes and burning buildings. This sparked outrage in the North.

Shown: A depiction of the Lawrence massacre, by Harper's Weekly in 1863. [primary source]

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In 1854, Stephen Douglas of Illinois proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska so the US could build a railroad to California. Also, the settlers could vote on whether to allow slavery in these newly established territories. The second statement caused an uproar in the North, worrying that the regions of Kansas and Nebraska will become slave states.

Source: USHistory.org, a map showing the Kansas-Nebraska territories.

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Both Northerners and Southerners were unhappy with the Fugitive Slave Law. Northerners did not like the act because any person that helped a slave escape would be jailed, which created widespread opposition to the law. The opposition of the Northerners created a lack of enforcement, which defeated the purpose and made slaveholders angry.

Additionally, since the Fugitive Slave Act gave runaway slaves almost no legal rights, many slaves escaped to Canada instead or fight.

Shown: Notice for fugitive slaves, warning them of captors. [primary source]

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In 1850 (duh), Henry Clay proposed The Compromise of 1850, which would resolve the issue of California's statehood.
The four parts of Clay's plans are as follows:
1. California would be admitted as a free state to the union.
2. New Mexico and Utah could decide whether to allow slavery themselves.
3. Slave trade in Washington DC will be ended. (No slaves could be bought or sold.)
4. A stronger fugitive slave law will be created, allowing easier recapture for escaped slaves.

This plan was finally put into action after nine months of heavy debate between Northern and Southern Congresspeople, and some Southern members of Congress were still "wary" of the plan when it passed.

Source: USHistory.org, a map depicting that California was free, and that the Utah and New Mexico territories could decide on slavery through popular sovereignty.

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In 1849, California applied to be a free state. Northerners agreed, while Southern members of Congress opposed the idea. The debate grew heated, with some Southern members of Congress even threatening to secede.

Shown: Seal of California

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During the Mexican-American war, the Wilmot Proviso was created, stating that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist." This amendment was unpopular with Southerners, and they argued that "Congress had no right to decided where slaveholders could take their property."

Shown: Portrait of David Wilmot [primary source]

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Some individual slaves began escaping to the North, with the help of some Northerners, which the slaveholders saw as "bank robbers," because the slaves were like property. Slaveholders demanded that Congress pass laws that helped them recapture slaves.

Shown: Unnamed runaway slave poster in newspaper [primary source]

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In 1836, Congress voted to "set aside indefinitely" all antislavery petitions, which abolitionists called the "Gag Rule." Abolitionists then spoke out in public, which led to some Southern states, like Missouri, to pass laws to ban abolitionist speech and ideas.

Shown: Drawing of abolitionists demonstrating peaceful protest against Gag Rule in New Hampshire, 1836 [primary source]

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After heavy debate over if Missouri should be admitted as a slave state, Congress agreed to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which made Missouri a slave slate and Maine a free state and also established a line of Latitude 36* 30 in the Louisiana Territory, which forbid the practice of slavery above that line.

Even though this compromise protected the Union from possible civil war, Southern slaveholders did not like the ban of slavery in possible future states above the line.

Shown: Territorial Growth, by US Geological Survey, 1970